50 things that are being killed by the internet
The Telegraph has written a fascinating article entitled 50 things that are being killed by the internet with much food for thought.
Three from their list particularly relate to the topic of this blog:
12) Letter writing/pen pals
Email is quicker, cheaper and more convenient; receiving a handwritten letter from a friend has become a rare, even nostalgic, pleasure. As a result, formal valedictions like “Yours faithfully” are being replaced by “Best” and “Thanks”.
13) Memory
When almost any fact, no matter how obscure, can be dug up within seconds through Google and Wikipedia, there is less value attached to the “mere” storage and retrieval of knowledge. What becomes important is how you use it – the internet age rewards creativity.
15) Photo albums and slide shows
Facebook, Flickr and printing sites like Snapfish are how we share our photos. Earlier this year Kodak announced that it was discontinuing its Kodachrome slide film because of lack of demand.
I’d tend to disagree on the photo albums front – yes, the tradtional “stick ‘em in” albums are falling by the wayside, but photobooks are fantastic. I feel they give a far more personalised and long-term momento of a chapter in a person’s life than a simple amalgamation of separate photos.
I love photobooks and the flexibility and value for money they give – and I’ve actually given photobooks as presents, whereas I’d have never have done the same with a traditional album.
Nostaligic for the days of the handwritten letter I’ve hit upon a way to utilize both the old and the new. I write my letter over a period of days, which usually makes me more careful about style and content than the quick post, then take a photo of it! I post that.
An added bonus of this technique is that one can include illustrations (photos, sketches, diagrams) if into the text by simply pre-calculating the areas of the paper one is writing upon and leaving them blank. A little photoshop work and one has a handwritten letter with illustrations which can easily be printed to pdf and mailed to one’s friend.
Tedious? Well, perhaps so, but that is how life was lived before. Things were done with time and care. Not like this post at all which is just off the top of my head.