Erfurt

A photograph from outside my hotel in Erfurt earlier this Fall. Now that digital cameras will make snapshots ubiquitous in our (now-ubiquitous) Web journals, we'll need to think again about why pictures matter and how to make them meaningful. I suspect that manipulation helps in Web memoirs -- manipulation through obvious cropping, unusual aspect ratios (a Powazek trademark), or redrawing, or blending images and words. It's not merely usability; it's also the sign that someone has taken care to make the image right.

Dan Bricklin makes a good point: it's a blessing to share pictures promptly with friends and family -- with people for whom they'll extend a happy event (link here, scroll to bottom). This could easily grow to be a family obligation. Pictures per se aren't very expressive, as Alison Monzy's pantscam demonstrates so hilariously. How do we actually use digital images?