----- Original Message ----- From: "Jon Glass" Subject: Re: Re: down in the darkroom
. Of course, if the labs did find a way for dealing with the > computer aspect of digital, then I could see film going the way of the > dinosaur very quickly, but without that crucial element, I don't see film > going away... Digital photography requires a computer in much the same way that film photography requires a darkroom. The photo lab industry wants film to go away. It's always been the weak link for us. Too easily damaged, and too hard to keep dust free. > > And then there is also that element--namely people who will not go digital, > not because it's not better, but _precisely_ because it is new! I like film. > I enjoy film. I don't really want to go digital. Having said that, I hope to > purchase just this week a (shhhh, don't listen) Canon PS A60. :-) And I may > find that my Program Plus and gear are suddenly unwanted... I hope not, but > who knows... I do know this, my parents, who shoot a lot of film, are not > going digital--and they are not alone. There is a much larger percentage of people who will go digital for precisely the same reason, because it is new. The arguement that there isn't much penetration of computers/ digital labs in the developing world keeping film viable is kinda bunk. The first world doesn't really care much about what is happening in the third world, as long as they don't get uppity. When that happens, we just drop a bunch of bombs on em, set em back a hundred years and life as we know it goes on. Developing nations as a market, doesn't add up to much. Large corporations, such as Kodak or Fuji likely don't have the third world in their business plan. The developed nations are where their market is, when we stop buying enough film to keep it viable, they will stop making it. Try to enjoy yout A60. Judging from what I have seen for it's imaging quality, it isn't what I would be buying. I didn't really get overly excited about digital when I was using my G1, as a camera it left too much to be desired. When I got my SLR I got pretty excited about the entire thing though. William Robb
