Our Digital Lives: Looking into the Past

I’m at home right now in beautiful Kentucky, and I’m digitizing all our family videos.  I’ve even collected old videos from my extended family.  Some of these go way back.

Back in 1993, my Grandpa did the same thing I’m doing; he took old media and converted it into the newer form of media–except he did it a little differently.  He took all his old film reels, spliced them together,  ran them on the projector, and recorded them on a video (VHS) camcorder. Now, I’m saving what he saved.

Here’s a few clips of my Grandparents and my dad and uncle during a day at the amusement park.  My dad is the older brother in the blue shirt.

It’s almost too picturesque– the hum of the film reel, waving at the camera, my uncle crying when mom gets on the big ride, little brother trying to imitate big brother, the boredom of waiting for the ride to start.

Yesterday, I bought a 500 gigabyte hard drive for a 100 bucks.  It’s less than the size of a wallet.  This hard drive is going to store all these videos, over 50 years of family memories.

Persistent memory and collective consciousness are powerful concepts within the human condition; we’re compelled to create connections that bridge time and minds.  Cultures have reached for these concepts through stories and traditions.  We continue reaching for such things in our digital life, and I’ll soon have an important piece of persistent memory in my pocket.

-Kevin
5.26.3010

p.s.  I have to wonder what things will be like when my grandchildren update this outdated form of digital media.