Get Your Photos Off the Shelf

David Pogue has good things to say about ScanMyPhotos.com, a service that will scan in 1,000 of your old photographs for only $50. (See some of the results here.) After detailing his wife's discovery of 1,000 ruined photos after sitting in boxes for four years, Pogue writes:

Digital photos, of course, are another story. They can be instantly and inexpensively duplicated a million times, stored in lots of different places, stashed online, sent around to relatives. And the modern world of screen savers, slide show software, digital frames, DVD burners, photo books and other digital products make it infinitely easier to show your pictures — which, you could argue, is the whole point of having them.

...don’t be dissuaded, and don’t underestimate the emotional component of this service. There’s the joy (or shock) of unearthing all those photos and showing them to people who’ve never seen them, and there’s the immense comfort of knowing that they’re all digitized and easily backed up.

There is also, however, the terror of sending away your valuable photographs. ScanMyPhotos asserts that it has scanned more than eight million customer photos, and has never lost or damaged a single one. But there’s always a first time; consider the fate of DigMyPics.com, a rival company. In May, a fire burned its headquarters to the ground, destroying almost everything inside — including some customers’ original photos.

Yet there’s a risk of doing nothing, too. Photos kept in a dry, cool and dark place don’t deteriorate nearly as quickly as audiotape, videotape and film reels. In fact, properly stored, they can last a century or more. But because photos are still susceptible to a wide variety of destructive or negligent forces, the ScanMyPhotos service could turn out to be the best $50, plus shipping and optional services, you’ll ever spend.

The risk of doing nothing is the much bigger risk if you ask me. This service combined with a Flickr account can give you an always backed-up copy of your and your family's history to share with generations to come.

I have a couple boxes full of hundreds (if not thousands) of prints of many memories and travels stored in a couple boxes that I haven't looked at in years. If I could get all of them scanned in for $200 to $300, it would be money well spent and something I could cherish forever. I just might have to set aside a couple weekends this semester to go through my photos and give this service a try. There's no telling what memories I might unearth.

(HT Gadling)