It seems to be fairly common that as we get older, we not only accumulate more objects, but we also increase the need to acquire more objects to achieve some satisfaction. Over the past year, I’ve felt the overwhelming need to pare things down. This means a massively thorough cost-benefit analysis before purchasing something, and a review of what I own in order to decide if something might have better value on eBay, as opposed to in my possession.
As the new year rolls around, I want to delve into this more deeply. In addition to paring back the “stuff,” I want to minimize what’s left as much as possible. This means digitizing as much as possible - books, media, etc. Why I even have physical media for anything at this point remains a mystery. All books should be “PDF’d,” and all music and movies should be on local storage, or available for on-demand access elsewhere.
For some reason, fewer things to worry about never gave me the stress reduction I’d hoped for until now. But paring things back and putting my reclaimed energy into high-value tasks is already bearing great fruit.
A great song for a warm, windy LA night. Also reminiscent of the music I’d listen to while staying up late to study for law school exams…nothing like a driving beat without the distraction of lyrics to motivate a sleepy mind.
A recent release from I’m From Barcelona, and also the first video I’ve watched on YouTube using the new WebM format. It appears to work just fine, and if you like, the trial signup is here: http://www.youtube.com/html5
The famed usability of Apple products has yet to impress me, but perhaps I’m too critical of a system that does, despite it’s frustrating flaws, seem to rescue itself from debilitating errors quite well.
Not having turned on my iPod Touch in a week or so, I attempted to power it on. No luck, the battery’s dead. I charge it, only to see that the date upon restart has reset to December 31, 1969. No problem, I think to myself. I’ll just leave it and go update my apps on the app store. I have 12 updates, but because the date is wildly incorrect, the Touch can’t create a secure connection to the app store. It tells me this with 12 separate notices that say the same thing, all of which require my “OK,” and only after which can I dig through the settings menu and change the date.
Now back to the app store, where I’m prompted for my iTunes password for apps that I’ve already purchased. Why this password policy exists for app updates remains a complete and total mystery. (Not to mention presenting a security risk in itself because it drives users to pick easy-to-enter iTunes passwords.) Now the apps begin to update, but at a painfully slow pace across my wide open cable internet connection. An hour later, I have three updates complete, and the rest with no indication of forward progress.
I reset the Touch. Wonderful…the apps have begun to update at an expected pace, but alas, all of the ones awaiting an update have pushed themselves forward from their usual pages on the Touch to the first available positions on each app page. Time for more reorganization…
As I mentioned above, I do consider it a positive that app update errors don’t lead to a piece of software (or even a device) that’s permanently frozen without a factory reset. But in a number of ways, this morning’s experience does very little to confirm Apple’s vaunted user experience.
This shot was taken with Kodachrome 64 (K64) film at some point this past summer, probably around July 2010. I didn’t get around to having it developed until a few weeks ago as there were a few shots left on the roll and I never found the right opportunity to use them.
K64 is a slide film that’s been around in one form or another for over 70 years. But Kodak’s discontinued the product, and there’s only one shop left in the whole world that can still develop the film. They stop on December 31st. (Just Kodachrome requires a special dye developing process; not all slide films are going away.) So I wanted to shoot just one roll just to say I’d had the chance.
The shame about Kodachrome isn’t just that it’s being discontinued, but that there’s nothing similar to replace it. Frankly, I don’t love it as a film. It doesn’t handle scenes with more than a few stops of latitude all that well. But K64 film is really a metaphor for longevity - or lack thereof - in the digital age. Kodak’s cancelled the film with the longest archival stability.
It’s estimated that a K64 transparency will last over 150 years with minimal dye loss, and this picture may live on for over a century in some family archive. But what will become of the shots that we’ve taken on our digital cameras? Even if we print them, dyes on paper don’t make it nearly that long. The best we can hope for is that standard digital formats remain compatible with future technology for as long as possible, and that web upload sites (Flickr, Picasa, etc.) remain in business and preserve all user content when upgrading their platforms.
So far, so good on the compatibility. I have JPEGs shot on a Mavica from 1997 that are fully compatible with any software that reads that format. Let’s hope future photo software designers keep the long-term view.
