Yesterday's post seemed to take technology for granted, so now I'm going to post in appreciation of technology.
I got my first digital camera five years ago. This may not sound like a lot, especially to readers who are older than me, so allow me to carry you back in time for a glimpse of digital photography technology.
Five years ago, when I got my first digital camera, film was still sold in every drug store. At school functions, people were likely to pull out a disposable camera to take that cheesy photo of themself and another girl, smiling big. The few who had digital cameras didn't bring them to school. When I brought my camera to school, people thought I was showing off.
The other difference was the size and looks of the digital cameras of five years ago. In those days, a digital camera was a large, clumsy, boxy looking thing. Their screens, quite different from the 3" LCD screens of today, were small, an inch at best, and hard to see. Their coloring was all wrong. Also, the quality of the pictures was awful. A printout from the best digital cameras looked like a cheap photocopy of an old picture.
Now that I've reminded you how things were, let me tell you the biggest difference in the world of digital photography over the last five years.
When I was in best buy, purchasing my new camera, my father mentioned that I would need a memory card for it. We asked the salesman how much it would cost, and he replied that I could get a 256 megabyte memory card for $95. I decided against it, deciding to use the included 32 megabyte card instead. I used it for a while, taking a couple of pictures at a time, then deleting them. After a few weeks, I decided to splurge. I went back to best buy and bought the card. Words can not describe the thrill I felt that afternoon, in a park, able to take up to eighty pictures!
Time progresses, and I eventually ran out of space. I bought a 512 megabyte card. Then, I had the thrill of a lifetime: a 1 gigabyte card! I was in ecstasy as I went to my school play, carrying a camera with enough memory to take a picture with every girl in the school.
No long after that, I bought a 2 gig card, then a four gig card. An yet, I've never spent as much on a memory card as I did on that first one. Today, looking at one of my favorite websites, deals2buy.com, I saw an 8GB memory card being sold for twelve dollars and seventy seven cents. If my math is correct (and it probably isn't. Perhaps Thinking Out Loud, who loves math, will help us), that first memory card I purchased was about 250 times the price of memory cards today.
Just to put things into perspective a bit...
14 comments:
That brings back memories.... My experience with digital cameras was pretty much like yours.
The first 'digital' camera I got (at 11 or 12) did not even have an LCD screen, but at least I was able to take hundreds of pictures and upload them to my computer, without my parents complaining about me wasting money (which was what I did when we used film). The quality was horrible, but I had fun.
We got a different digital camera when I was about 12 or 13, and it was pretty much like you described your first one, except that the pictures it took were actually of pretty good quality.
When that one broke down (two years ago or so) we got a Canon, and that's what I have today.
I also kept collecting memory cards over the years of different capacities.
I remember seeing the first digital camera on my graduation trip. I didn't dream that it would eventually become the standard camera.
I'm always the last one to get these new technological gadgets and by the time I get it, it's usually quite cheap.
Well, i must confess, I do not own a digital camera. Don't worry, it's not that I still use films, i just don't take pictures.
Now about the math - I'll just assume you weren't in school the day they taught divisions :P
95/12.77 will never equal 250. and even if you want to compare prices for the same amount of memory space you get, it still won't work... (if you want math lessons, you know where to reach me)
but yeah, these things are definitely cheaper nowadays :)
p.s. im really honored
ISH- Wow, we sound so old...LOL :-p
HS- Well, there is always an upside to being slow on the pickup. ;-)
BH- So where do you shop for memory cards? :-)
TOL- I am ashamed of you. You forgot that the 8gig card has 32 times the amoutn of memory as the 256meg card!
31.25 my dear :)
and that'll make it 232.48
pretty close, i'm impressed. i guess there might still be some hope for you...
I think it would be around $70 for a 250GB one. They come with different capacities though, so you can choose one that would suit your needs.
I use my external hard drive a lot actually. Most of my photos and videos are there, as well as many of my other files that would slow down my computer if I kept them on it. It is always connected to my computer, so accessing the files is just like opening any other folder on your computer.
i got it adar-nissan time from Office Depot. And inkstained hands, it's just a waste of $$$ for me cuz I don't think I'll ever look at it- but thanks for the info...
hey SD, (which btw is a name of a memory card) how do I become a member of the I Love Comments Club? ;)
Sorry everyone, but I made a little mistake... There are 1,024 MB in a GB, not 1,000 which means SD was right about the 8GB card having 32 times the amount of memory the 256MB card has.
Still doesnt equal to 250 though :p
It's amazing how much we in the Frum community have gained from technology, and we do, lulei demistafina, need to appreciate it.
Yep, and it's all in the merit of competition.
and btw, these companies make more money on the accessories, that's where they can rip you once you're their customer. Why do you think a BG meter costs $20 and a bottle of strips at least $50? or a memory card (at that time) $95...
So true. My first digital camera was a Kodak, and that was top of the line- with 2 1/2 MP quality. Phenomenal!
I just bought myself a 32 MB flash drive- for extremely cheap, and it brought me back to reminise when a 256 MB one was brand new.
Cool word verification: sunfire.
TOL- HA! SD is never wrong, don't you know that yet? :-p I was giving an approximate. And it only took me about a minute to get to my result, while I have a sneaking suspicion you took longer!
ISH- I am gonna need to get one cuz my computer's hard drive is almost full... :-/
BH- Cool, I'll have to keep my eyes out...
Freeda- Really simple! Email me and I will tell you. Email is on profile.
CJS- Yeah, we really do. :-)
Insp- I think youre right about the strips, but that wasn't the case with the memory cards. In those days it was new technology, and that was the prices. With strips, there is no competition, as each company manufactures their own propriatery strips. Not the case with memory cards.
NMF- Mine was actually a pretty good camera, was brand new technology in those days. Many say the Sony T1 revolutionized the digital camera industry. :-) But I remember my friend's cameras...
hmpf.
Post a Comment