M8.2 in M3 World

[koray]

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Well, in 50 years' time we will have microscopic MEMS super quantum computers suspended in a paste-like medium which also provides them with power, so no need for batteries any more. The user will squeeze a tube and smear the paste on the relevant surfaces of their antique M8 and the stale camera will start working just as it used to in 2008. Relevant surfaces will be the sensor area and the display area. As you might have guessed, it won't be necessary to smear the paste anywhere else, i.e. the SD card, since the photos will be uploaded to the whatevernet immediately. If the user wants privacy, they will dab a pea sized amount of the paste on their forehead and all will be fine.

 

The next iteration of the quantum computer paste will appear in 51 years' time: the quantum computer spray, which will ease things quite a bit.

 

On the the other hand. People will be looking at the user as if he is a freaking idiot, trying to take photos with a brick like metal thing since at those times one could easily acquire 5D representation of any given moment at any part of the earth, just by thinking about it. Possible, since the society had decided on planting ubiquitous sprinklers of quantum computers across the earth.

 

DON'T PANIC.

 

K.

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[wizard]

EVERYTHING becomes obsolete, everything is disposable. Some things more quickly than others. You pay a high adopter premium for Leica digital bodies but that does not buy you protection from the march of entropy, progress, or fashion. The M8 is dead-end tech. Enjoy it now, treat every day as a bonus.

 

Ahh, Bill, you made my day. Now I finally understand why digital shooters take so many more pictures than film shooters. They are driven by an incessant attempt of achieving a reasonable price per shot ratio, before their equipment becomes obsolete that is.

 

Boy, am I lucky to still shoot film, mostly anyway .

 

Cheers,

 

Andy

[!Nomad64]

So please tell me that my M8 will still functional when it becomes as old as my lovely M3.

Some cameras are disposable but I do not consider Leica to be one of them.

 

Short answer: No, it won't.

 

Elaborate answer: as already pointed out, digital cameras are part camera and part computer and it's especially with the latter that one has to deal with in the long terms.

 

In the early '90s when I started to work, 5.25" floppy disks were still standards, albeit about to being dismissed in favor of 3.5". Try reading one of them today. It's barely 20 years and it's already become impossible unless you have a working period PC and sharing those data won't be easy either.

My M3 and my IIIf are about to turn 60 in a short. How are you supposed to read your SD cards in 60 years provided that they'll be still functional? What standards will be in use by then? USB 2.0? Hardly.

The resolution of the M8 is 10 MP. Today's standards are towards 20/24 MP. What they'll be in 60 years?

In less than 20 years we switched from 640 x 480 desktop monitors to 2048 x 1536 iPads. What will be monitors resolutions in 60 years? Will monitors still exist? Chances are that your files will look like postage stamps.

Properly stored negatives might last 100/150 years, maybe more. You'll need to migrate your digital files from a support to another from time to time, because the supports will either physically deteriorate and become obsolete themselves and still you might face files corruption.

 

I could go on and on, but the sad truth is that all those embracing digital are forced to update/upgrade to new models as these become available because the older ones will be progressively become obsolete and unusable.

Sure, on the short term digital seems cheaper than film. Actually once purchased the camera and a bunch of cards all shots are virtually for free whereas the price of films (and lab processing) is going to increase as the request for them will inevitably shrink.

If you put the running costs of digital and film on a graphic you'll have a sort of parabolic curve for the film and a series of horizontal lines abruptly rising from time to time, like a stair's profile. These curves might meet several times, depending on the users' mileage.

 

I like to think that films will share the fate of vinyl LPs. These were granted for dead as soon as the CD appeared. Now, guess what? CDs are on the verge of extinction, turned obsolete by "liquid music" whilst vinyls are still surviving in small numbers thanks to a bunch of hardcore fans.

 

Sure, digital is the mainstream way to go, it's faster and easier to manage and share, but I'd place my bet on film as far as durability and usability are concerned.

 

Cheers,

Bruno