At a certain point in our lives, we transitioned to digital. This, of course, applies to those born before 2000. We trusted it without a second thought, signing up for free services where we uploaded our daily photos. We’re talking about what we call “social networks.” Holiday pictures, photos from important events, or simple daily snapshots ended up in the stream of images uploaded by billions of people every day. There was a time when we mailed letters home to our distant relatives, our loved ones, our friends – messages in envelopes that took time to write and send. Today, these have become instant digital messages. And unless we made an effort to screenshot a message (and maybe print it), nothing of it will remain one day. And it’s likely that if someone finds a message in a bottle, it will be from the last century.
Someone opening an old trunk might find an old USB device. A USB stick we’d forgotten about, on which we’d uploaded photos from a 2004 vacation. But it might not work; it could be an obsolete device no longer readable. This is because manufacturers of USB memory in this modern era don’t want to produce devices that last a hundred years; otherwise, how could they sell new ones? In short, it’s good old “planned obsolescence.”
We started taking photos constantly but forgot to do the most important thing: print them on photographic paper. It was like leaving a work half-finished. And everything remained in a series of 0s and 1s inside a hard drive.
But the problem arises right now: Social networks, which for years have freely hosted that sea of digital content, have decided to stop. In one hour, all social media profiles that haven’t switched to a paid plan will be deleted.
Here’s the message sent by the social networks to users:
“Dear user, due to decreasing traffic, our servers will no longer be available for free starting January 1, 2048. This means that all your messages, published posts, and especially all your photos and videos will be deleted. But don’t worry, we’re giving you time to decide what to do. You have the option to download everything related to you in .life format or subscribe to our paid service.
We want to recommend our “Pml” (Print My Life) service; you can print all your photos in an album that you’ll receive conveniently at home. We have a tip for you: don’t just print the photos, also include your friends’ comments published under the photos. They are sweet memories. The same goes for videos: transfer them to your digital container or receive the file at home in your preferred format.
Alternatively, you can keep everything available on our servers by subscribing to our paid plans. Do it now; it would be a shame to lose your memories.”
Let’s print our photos before it’s too late.