>As imaging technologies have been made obsolete through history, what >happens to them? Do they disappear completely? >Stone lithography? Woodcutting? Etching? > >No. They simply become "arts." Ever-smaller groups of artisans master them >and the knowledge of the techniques becomes more and more rare and esoteric. >And their prestige goes _up_, not down. I think the key things to keep in mind the are the phrase "ever-smaller" and difference between shortterm and longterm effects "through history". In the shortterm, people who may have spent many years learning their craft, acquiring their tools, and building their reputations, found themselves with little respect, competing, often at a disadvantage, with new people and new technologies. Painting is still an art form in the longterm, but in the shortterm the itinerant portraitist, his skill set, and his place in society was rendered null and void by the advent of photography. So, right, longterm, portraits are still being painted by a small number of people in the traditional fashion, with prestige and high prices to boot. Shortterm, however, a much greater number of people who had once been skilled professionals, found themselves possessing a skill set and an identity that technology had passed by. Sorry if the above is a bit muddled. I'm doped up on antihistamines at the moment. >Personally, I hope for two things: one, that digital takes over from film, >and two, that I don't get hit by a bus. Because if I can survive for 40 more >years, I'm going to be such an odd duck that they're write human interest >newspaper stories about me: "the aged Johnston still, remarkably, uses the >anachronistic 'photographic' techniques of the last century: ancient 35mm >cameras and stockpiled Kodak Tri-X from a storage freezer. He is among the >last practitioners of an art that is fast becoming lost..." > >Let the digital revolution get here already. I can't wait to be outmoded, so >I can raise my prices. <s> > Don't forget, in 40 years you'll still be competing with the other codgers eager to use the same skill set. Better wait 60-150 years and then you'll have the market all to yourself. <g> Great topic, Dan Scott [EMAIL PROTECTED] - This message is from the Pentax-Discuss Mail List. To unsubscribe, go to http://www.pdml.net and follow the directions. Don't forget to visit the Pentax Users' Gallery at http://pug.komkon.org.
