You are your own photo center...

I bought my first (and to date) only digital camera back in Dec. 2000, prior to our honeymoon to Spain. It's a 2.1 megapixel camera that has served us well. I've taken over 7000 pictures in that time and have spent a huge amount of time cataloging and archiving them.

One of my kids' favorite activities (and mine when I've been run ragged by them) is to show them pictures of various people in our families and activities they've done. I love how we are creating and reinforcing memories as we move along.

The other night, I spent 90 minutes with Tamar helping her family assemble a set of pictures for a collage for her brother's going away trip. I was the point person for uploading all of these pics to the Costco photo center.

I noticed something....my relatively neophyte/technophobe in-laws were snapping some fantastic looking pictures! The clarity on the newer ones are phenomenal!

On top of that, my mother-in-law has a nice photo printer and she just prints it out at home.

It was a love/hate moment. I love it that so many people now have access to making these memories in their own homes. I hate how I am now "behind the curve" with a 6 year old camera and a basic color printer that does a terrible job of printing pics.

May have to get back in the market and take my level of digital photography to the next level!

If I'm going to continue to be the outsourced technology consultant for Tamar's extended family (28 people at last count) and mine (another 10) and the 4 other people who have contacted me in the last year for tech support/question of some kind (yes, I've counted :-), I need to get a bit more cutting edge....ok, a lot more cutting edge. It's great to be a Web 2.0 expert, but most of my network doesn't care about that...how to take, store, print, archive, and upload pictures. Now, that's a universal need. And I've got to maintain my position of valued consultant.

Note: This post is sponsored by HP.