...and the situation as you describe David is an improvement how, exactly?
Actually there's still plenty of room for small shops that provide good customer service - only very few people with the skill set. Ritz was never about service, but an impossible combination of merchandizing & service. I find it ironic that it's their film processing that brought them down - I hardly believe it. Hunt's in the Boston area is still in business, and walking into the one in Providence, RI is different from any Ritz only in how much film you see behind the counter, and the still active chemicals isle.
Elias On Feb 24, 2009, at 3:12 AM, David Sadowski wrote:
The handwriting has been on the wall for conventional photography for the last 10-15 years. It's been only a matter of time before digital photography reached a quality level acceptable to most people. When you think about it, other than the sharpness issue, digital has so many advantages of convnetional photography that it isn't even funny. For one thing, it's better for the environment. For another, in the long run, it's a lot cheaper. The cameras can be made smaller and easier to use. The pictures are easy to view manipulate on a computer, easy to store, upload to a web page or e-mail to someone else. I worked in labs for many years and had many skin problems as a result of allergic reactions to the chemicals used. This could happen just from touching lots of prints. Digital photography has opened the field to a lot of people. While I am nostalgic about old cameras, old film and old processes, I don't want to put down the new way of doing things. Your friendly neighborhood camera store has almost entirely disappeared now, and this process has been happening for a long time. The old way was based on personalized customer service. The customer needed a lot of service, and the sales person was there to help. Now, the "sale" is largely confined to the camera, which is a commodity- the same item wherever you buy it. It's expected that the consumer will take it home and figure it out- little or no customer service is needed. Under these conditions, the little guy can't compete and there is no need for the experienced person behind the counter. --- Rollei List - Post to rollei_list@xxxxxxxxxxxxx - Subscribe at rollei_list-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with 'subscribe' in the subject field OR by logging into www.freelists.org - Unsubscribe at rollei_list-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with'unsubscribe' in the subject field OR by logging into www.freelists.org- Online, searchable archives are available at //www.freelists.org/archives/rollei_list
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