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> Because our phones are pulling from a huge, contextless pool There is so much context in your camera roll. So so much. Not all of it is understood yet, but i
by scosman 2y ago
> Because our phones are pulling from a huge, contextless pool
There is so much context in your camera roll. So so much. Not all of it is understood yet, but it’s finally getting good.
> The physical archives we amass in drawers or old shoe boxes aren’t free from the threat of bad memories or meaninglessness
But they are oh so incomplete. You can dig through your shoebox of ticket stubs once an every few years at most - anymore and they stop losing that charm.
> But mostly our phones are full of stuff that doesn’t matter
They are also full of stuff you didn’t know would matter at the time but now does. One off moments of how you kid used to carry his stuffed animal in his mouth when he crawled. Architecture details of an old house you had forgotten. A photo of you an a close friend meeting the first time. These often spark sharing, then real connection with others in your life.
Sure - put your ticket stubs in a shoebox. But you aren’t losing anything by having your memories in your phone. You have the potential to gain so much.
- dehrmann 2y ago> They are also full of stuff you didn’t know would matter at the time but now does. I can't seem to find it, but there was a Hacker News post a few months ago about how to take photos you'll actually want to look at in a decade. Unstaged, ad-hoc, slice-of-life photos are the sort to take and keep.
- creer 2y agoYes and this is one part I feel I still dont do enough. The phone (and associated deep storage) allow pics of all kinds of documents and pics to replace physical mementos. But we are still used to the idea of items that are somehow significant - which represent a trip or a day. And now we have space for more unscripted stuff. Someone was pointing out that there is no documentation of all their time spent in games. But there could be. There is now plenty enough space to retain some images, screenshots, videos. what's not here yet is some automation in us creating these records.
- scosman 2y agoDo that. Also: set up a widget on your home screen that shows a bunch of random old photos. You won’t “find them”, you want them to find you. There will be misses but the hits will be worth it. Apple’s is decent (disclaimer: I made it). I like even more randomness as well so a complete shuffle is fun.