Digital Imaging and Photography
2013
Looking at the industry from the point of what happens after you take a picture, we find that an estimated 17.9 billion digital prints will be made in 2009, versus four billion prints processed from film (PMA, 2007). Our old way of using images, i.e., the print, is not the only factor to look at here, as an estimated 20.2 billion digital images will be saved, but not printed. We will view, transfer, manipulate, and post these images on high-definition television (HDTV) and computer screens, on Web pages and in e-mails, in collaborative virtual worlds, and on phones and other handheld devices. Looking at these factors, it is clear that the photo industry is fully converged with the computer industry. Unlike the discovery of photography, which happened when no one alive today was around, we are all eyewitnesses to this major sea change. What will be the implications for our society as digital images leave the old boundaries of camera and photographic paper, jump to the screen, and enter seamlessly into all our media?