I think the transition to digital is causing some very interesting changes in the way people use their photos and videos. I'm not saying that the grand majority of folks will not want a stack of prints. I'm saying that the photo industry is just starting to figure out that there is a lot of money to be made if they can take advantage of these new markets.
This article <http://www.photoreporter.com/2004/08-15/processing_camera_sales_reports.html> summarizes the results of the recent PMA statistics on the photo finishing business. The bottom line? Film processing is down about 10 percent, discount stores have picked up a larger share of the market, and the "overall volume of prints made from digital still camera images increased by 71 percent." The PMA says "While there is no cure for the loss... independent labs should think about developing business accounts and offering custom services." Not bad advice, but I think it misses even better opportunites.
Another article in the same issue of PIR <http://www.photoreporter.com/2004/08-15/digital_minilabs.html> talks about finding a way to turn the mini-lab into a boutique to increase profits, similar to the way that Starbucks figured out how to charge $4.00 for a 50 cent cup of coffee. OK, maybe getting a little closer.
If you go to Barnes & Noble or Borders (or any relatively large bookstore) you'll find we're just starting to see a new category of books describing things to do with your photos. This is a very good thing for photography.
Last Saturday I noticed there were three different titles on the subject of "scrap booking" with your digital images. This recognizes the fact that women take the lion's share of family photographs and make up 99.99% of the new scrap booking hobby. Even Nikon has gotten into the act with <www.nikonscrapbooking.com> a scrap booking site and sponsorship of a scrap booking program on the DIY television network.
Microsoft Press has published an excellent book called "Sharing Digital Photos - The Future of Memories" by Dane M. Howard. I think it's probably the best book aimed at the consumer I have seen so far. There is an associated web site at <www.futureofmemories.com>
Howard has an great illustration he calls The Share Map. It's in the book and on the web site <http://www.futureofmemories.com/share_map.htm> This map does a pretty good job a showing the relationship of all the ways a typical consumer can capture and then share digital images. It's worth a look by you grizzled old vets just to put the consumer view into perspective.
Doing these things isn't as simple as it looks, and people need help. Consumers aren't going to get this kind of help at the local k-wal or big box electronics store. Helping the consumer figure out how to do things was always the niche filled by the local store. Now that it's easy and cheap to do the old familiar stuff, the local guy needs to figure out how to help consumers with the new, not so familiar stuff.
My point is that having images in digital form has opened a world of ways to share photos that were never available to the typical family photographer in the past, and if the typical photo shop is going to survive, they had better figure out how to help the consumer take advantage of all of these different ways to share, and figure out how to make a profit on each.
See you later, gs
---------------------------------- George Sinos e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Web: http://georgesoptions.net Photos: http://georgesphotos.net ----------------------------------
