One of the most important pronouncements that affects the entire photography industry was discussed by Google’s vice-president, Dr. Vinton Cerf, who is also the co-founder and pioneer of the Internet.
Genealogy and preserving historical documents has been the foundation for our success at ScanMyPhotos.com. It is the cornerstone of why we have digitally preserved more than one-quarter billion photographs. However, as Dr. Cerf warns, older storage technologies and even those analog photos can be lost forever. Yahoo! Tech’s founder, David Pogue had coined the best term that describes this threat; “Data Rot,” where environment and technology force obsolescence to past archival platforms.
As the chief internet evangelist at Google, Dr. Cerf raises concerns about lost generations of data and photos. He recommends you make prints from your digital files, we recommend you also make digital files from analog snapshots, 35mm slides and film. From our perspective, another thundercloud comes from decades old snapshots that are stored in unprotected boxes. These pictures risk destruction from mildew and other environmental conditions, even a child with crayons and scissors can jeopardize an entire lifetime of memories as they turn those precious moments of nostalgia into “art.”
ScanMyPhotos.com is Dr. Cerf’s biggest advocate and we have a simple solution. Beyond printing digital pictures, backup your past data with today’s current devices; as technology shifts from, say JPEG files to the next format, convert it again.
