>>>I think you are right on with regard to tossing out the old film-based
I have seen this same discussion applied to lots of stuff. I do not think digital cameras represent a huge shift. It is just another a camera and most people know what a camera is. It takes pictures and for many, the underlying technology matters little because it is cheap and prints are immediately accessible.
Rather than darkrooms and paper, we have computers, PS and printers. It is nothing more than evolution. History shows that new technology replaces old and people do not like it. I do not like the loss of paper in 100 different sizes, surfaces, and grades; from a dozen manufacturers. Like Defender.
I remember when video tape came along. They largely replaced film. The film user was faced with the same general problems the video users faced. All that was left was the technology. Tubes and electronics replaced sensitized film stock and the public perhaps did not care. All they wanted was home movies.
Now we have digital cameras. The majority of users do not know about interchangeable lenses, Dektol, and Kodabromide because these things are not required. Now it is ink cartridges, not Dektol; paper for their printer, not light sensitive darkroom papers. So I suppose some comparisons will always be made. Perhaps not much has changed after all.
Some of us know the way it once was and we tend to compare things.
Here is an Einstein-esque Thought Experiment to try: What comes after digital? Can anyone think of some technology that could possibly replace the digital camera? I might suggest digital paper. That is a paper that could be imaged and then erased if the results are not to the photographer's liking.
Bob ...
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