What an Old Photo Album Taught Me About Tech

02 Sep 2025 #misc

50 or 60 years ago, taking a picture was an event in and of itself.

In the past weekend, I saw dozens of photos of my mom as a teenager and young woman. But one caught my attention.

It was on her 7th birthday. She was dressed up. My grandparents took my uncle and her to the only photo studio in the city for a birthday photo. Then they took her for ice cream.

Seeing that photo made me think about how photography used to work. The photographer had very few tries to get it right. They had to wait weeks to develop the film and see the final result.

These days, we repeat the same shot as many times as we need until we get a decent picture. We tap our smartphones and see the results in seconds.

That’s true for photography, writing, and pretty much anything else. Tech has shortened our feedback loops.