Every once in a while I see a new app that really makes me wonder about a lot of things. Recently I read about a disposable camera app by Photojojo for your smartphone. The app allows you take 27 exposures and submit them for printing, all without seeing any of the images. Then you have to *gasp* wait ~10 days to receive the hardcopy printed images. The app is free, but you have to pre-pay $12.99 for printing and delivery.
The advertisements appeal to our sense of nostalgia for the good old days when we took our time to take an exposure and then had to wait and see how the pictures turned out. I suppose the element of surprise and anticipation is mixed in too. Here’s where I really start to wonder: Does anybody miss waiting for pictures to get developed? I thought people enjoyed the instant gratification of seeing the picture right away. Additionally this is useful to ensure you captured the photo you need. And people who care about taking time to take a picture will do that regardless of a disposable app.
As a child my parents always restricted the number of pictures we could take on vacation, mostly because of the cost. I was excited about digital cameras because all of a sudden I could take as many pictures as I wanted. I certainly wouldn’t appreciate using a digital app that limited my picture taking. Definitely not something I ever feel nostalgic for.
Some of the promotions also push DIY projects you can do with the printed images. I’d just like to mention that I’ve seen my fair share of physical photo chaos and disorganization. Who doesn’t have a shoebox, drawer, bag, box, etc. of old printed photos still in the original envelope from the store with all the negatives? I sincerely doubt the novelty of receiving printed photos from a disposable digital app is going to motivate people to get creative with their photos, or to start organizing them properly. And if you did want to get creative with printed images, wouldn’t you want to pick and choose which ones are worth the money to print?
As I mentioned in an earlier blog on Digital Scrapbooking, numerous apps are available for DIY digital photo projects. Other than marketing to nostalgic hipsters, I’m not really sure why this app would be appealing.
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