Analog Photography a hit with Millennials - Digital Cameras in Katy Perry's Teenage Dream

To see the world in a grain of sand,

And to see heaven in a wild flower,

Hold infinity in the palm of your hands

And eternity in an hour.

William Blake

On this Friday May 20^th 2011AD, one (1) day before Doomsday on Saturday May 21^st 2011AD, I am reflective, reading and crunching some statistical data as I get, getting ready for Sabbath or Doomsday, albeit Reverend Al Miller advises otherwise as stated in the article Judgement Day no cause for alarm, says Al Miller, published Thursday, May 19, 2011, The Jamaica Observer.

The article “'Awesome, it's the end of the world': Doomsday campers travel the country preaching the Apocalypse...on May 21”, published 8th March 2011 at 11:18 AM By DAILY MAIL REPORTER explains the math behind the believers calculations. This as in the traditional sense, they cannot be Christians, as no Christian would believe such a thing.

Harold Camping is a fellow Engineer and understandably a mathematician like myself as stated in the article Judgement Day, published Wednesday May 18, 2011, The Jamaica Gleaner.

But I have problems recalculating his prediction, as the year he has chosen as the Year of Noah Flood seems an auspicious starting point. This may be the source of error, so I am willing to bet (that’s statistical probability, tip my hat to Blaise Pascal!!!) that the God of Abraham is unlikely to make an appearance.

Doomday is tomorrow I am told, so this is double duty, I laugh to myself. Doomsday which is, eerily and coincidentally, on the Saturday May 21^st 2011AD. To Seventh Day Adventists such as my deceased NCTVET Audia Granston’s, who know better, that day is not the coming of the Jesus, Son of the God of Abraham.

It is merely the 21^st Sabbath, just five (5) weeks away from the next 13^th Sabbath on Saturday June 4^th 2011AD, a very important time for Seventh Day Adventists. That Audia Granston’s God of Abraham would choose to come on a Sabbath, assuming that God does exist, is strange.

Note that even Seventh Day Adventists argue for the God of Abraham’s existence, as even their literature expressing their fundamental beliefs readily admits they have strong evidence but no actual proof. Statistics, no matter how copious, is evidence, not proof, a theme echoed in this blog, which is a shrine to Audia Granston. Case closed!!

So to take my mind off this Sunday Worshippers brouhaha, I began delving into some News again, looking for more events that I had predicted back in April 2009AD to a bunch of brain-dead Shurpower Engineers and came across a gem.

Turns out teenagers are now more into Analog Photography than Digital as stated in the article “Teen hipsters discover joys of analog photography”, published MAY 16, 2011 4:00 AM PDT by Amanda Golden, Digital Media - CNET News.

The only other person who has noticed this strange phenomenon is Steve Huff, a professional photographer in his website article “Is film making a comeback? Why indeed it is!”, posted Friday May 13 2010 by Steve Huff, SteveHuffPhoto.

This is of course the norm with the Millennials [aged 13 to 28]; fads that they catch on to are driven by the coming of Summer and having nothing to do. So I initially did not take this story seriously.

But the stats presented by the Photo Marketing Association's are pretty convincing:

1. 2% drop in Digital Camera purchases between the Summer of 2009AD and 2010AD
2. 30% to 40% increase in Analog Camera purchases between the Summer of 2009AD and 2010AD

Peruse the Stats from the website yourself as stated in the article PMA Quarterly Printing and Camera Trends Report, accessed Friday May 20 2011, The Photo Marketing Association

Marketing people, who are constantly watching teenage trends, lie in wait, ready to offer products to ride out the trend like a spaceship hitching a ride on the gravitational tug of a passing comet, Space Above and Beyond (TV Series 1995 - 1996) style!

Except this fad looks serious, as for the first time in a long while, it is now statistically significant as the above suggests, making it appear to be a beyond-Summer-of-2011AD thing, much as the First Generation Apple iPad was regarded when it launched back on Saturday April 3^rd 2010AD and Sunday April 4^th 2010AD.

According to Apple CEO Steve Jobs, we are not just only in the “Post-PC era” as my blog article entitled “Apple iPad 2 and PC future - Doomsday in the Battlefield” and the article “Apple iPad, PC Makers and Battery Life - Lost in Space and The AppleByte”.

But we may be witnessing not just Netbook but Laptop and even PC extinction, if the statistics in my Geezam blog article “Are we witnessing Laptop and PC Extinction?” can be believed. But as with all things driven by human preferences, can this also be a fad too?

Same is occurring in the Camera world as in the computing world!!!

After all, when Digital Cameras came out a decade ago, they slowly began to prove themselves against Analog Cameras. This was aided by the convenience of printing your own photos with the increasing range of printers that supported photo printing, prefect pictures with every shot and no fear of film going bad.

Not to mention the obvious benefit of not having to lug around film. Win-win for Photography as more people gravitated towards Digital, with consumers having to beware of the poor quality Digital Camera masquerade as stated in the article “Help coming for judging phone Camera quality”, published March 24, 2010 10:26 AM PDT by Stephen Shankland, CNET News - Deep Tech.

Throw in the emergence of Camera phones, which reduced the Digital Camera down to a smartphone add-on, and it became clear that Digital Cameras in and of themselves, would soon be going extinct, even though mainstream electronics magazines do not seem to focus on Cameras or this uncanny prediction.

Even skeptical professionals used to their SLR (Single Lens Reflex) Analog Cameras have traded up for 20 MegaPixel SLR equivalents.

So this new trend among the Millenials is exciting, as it indicates a reversal of a decade of going Digital, with the novelty of fiddling with bulky Analog Cameras such as the Kodak, Minolta and Nikon Cameras and their uncertain picture output.

To quote eighteen (18) year old Alana Shaw, who is to matriculate into Bard College in the fall: “Digital photography allows for no mistakes by the Camera. The picture is flawless, and you are the only one to blame for its apparent ugliness. But with film, you never really know what's going to happen. It's a surprise every time you develop and print your film. Sometimes there can be weird color granulations, random light splotches or double exposures.”

Looks like the too-perfect crowd likes being seen as different, with even photography reflecting individualistic style straight from the film as opposed to PhotoShop-ing the Digital images and imperfection being seen as an acceptance of one’s self. Typical teenage trend this appears to be a fascination with the past.

But why a fascination with Analog Photography?

Group Director for InfoTrends Ed Lee, A Digital Camera analyst, posits the reason that is also bubbling in my mind as to this sudden interest in Analog Cameras, quote: “Digital Cameras have been in the mainstream market for over 10 years now and that there are many teenagers today that have grown up without shooting a roll of film. As a result, film is a novelty to them, and thus part of the appeal.”

Well said!! Sounds like the exact same thing I said April 2009AD as it relates to “young people” [Millennials or Generation Y] and their adoption and fascination with the past as an expression of individuality

Thus as we Jamaicans say, “dem pickney jus born wah dey yah” so to them, it’s something brand new. How long this trend will continue is completely up to the Millenials.....or whether or not Judgment Day is tomorrow, Whitney Houston - My Love Is Your Love Style!

But this looks a bit deeper………dare I say Game changer? Probably only in Katy Perry’s Teenage Dream, as tonight is a night of no regrets before Judgment Day, scheduled for Saturday May 21^st 2011AD, the 21^st Sabbath for Audia Granston and her Seventh Day Adventist clan!!