Hard Copy Printing for Long-term Preservation as a Growth Engine for Prints and Photo Books

Abstract

Consumers today love the immediacy, ease of storage and ease of sharing of digital images. Storage of images "in the cloud" allows for anywhere/anytime access. Storage of images on their smartphone has similar benefits. Although slightly different in degree, both of these storage modalities also have risk of image loss due to long-term technology changes. In general, consumers are totally unaware of this risk, which could potentially leave a whole generation of picture takers, including Moms who are typically the "chief family photo officer", without a long-term record of their lifetime events. This paper will provide a brief overview of the history and concerns of technology obsolescence as it relates to the long-term preservation of consumers' digital image files and show how promotion of hard copy printing provides a simple and cost effective means to the consumer for secure, technology-proof preservation of their precious memories.