Twenty years of cameras

Playing with the Pocket 3 is bringing back fond memories of cameras I have owned. I do not think of myself as a photographer or videographer, I spent a lot of hours (and money) over the past 20 years and most of them got a post or two on this blog.

  • 5/1/2008 – iMage Webcam (CamTwist, Ustream)
  • 5/22/2008 – Flip Video Camera
  • 6/13/2009 – Ecamm BT-1 “World’s first Bluetooth webcam” (related: twitCam) –
  • 12/8/2018 – Sony Handycam DCR-TRV 74 (I’m sure I was shooting video with the Sony much earlier but getting that video off the camera and encoded on a computer was such a time-consumer nightmare, it’s not worth mentioning)

I’d have to say my favorite cameras during those early days were made by Casio:

In 2009 I bought my first iPhone and that was pretty much it for point-and-shoot cameras.

How Many Pictures Are There (2024)

The following statistics are from an article by Matric Broz at phototutorial.com.  The article presents “photography and photo statistics procured with scientific and mathematical methods, including answering questions like “How many photos are taken every day?”

How many photos are taken every year?

  • 1.81 trillion photos are taken worldwide every year, which equals 57,000 per second, or 5.0 billion per day. By 2030, around 2.3 trillion photos will be taken every year.
  • According to Photutorial data, 1.2 trillion were taken worldwide in 2021 and 1.72 trillion in 2022.
  • The global pandemic reduced the number of images taken by 25% in 2020 and 20% in 2021.

How many photos are taken every day?

  • The average person takes 20 photos daily. This number is higher among younger people and lower among older people.
  • According to Phototurial data, 4.7 billion photos are taken every day worldwide in total.
  • By region, the number of photos taken by a smartphone user is led by the US: 20.2/day, Asia-Pacific 15/day, Latin America 11.8/day, Africa 8.1/day, and Europe 4.9/day.

How many images are on the internet?

  • 750 billion images are on the internet, which is only 6% of the total photos that were ever taken since most of the photos we take are never shared.

How many images are on Google Images?

  • There are 136 billion images on Google Images.
  • By 2030, there will be 382 billion images on Google Images.

How many photos does the average person have on their phone?

  • The average user has around 2,100 photos on their smartphone in 2023.
  • iOS smartphone users have approximately 2,400 photos on their phones, while Android users have around 1,900 photos on their phones.

Other photo stats

  • 12.4 trillion photos have been taken throughout history. By 2030, this number will increase to 28.6 trillion.
  • Users share the most images on WhatsApp: 6.9 billion per day. 1.3 billion images are shared on Instagram daily, with about 100 million in posts and more than 1 billion on stories and chats.
  • 92.5% of photos are taken with smartphones, and only 7% with cameras.

“Describe this photo of John Mays”

ChatGPT: In this photo, we have a classic snapshot of radio broadcasting history. There’s a person operating a turntable in a radio station studio, which suggests this might be a DJ or a radio technician from the bygone era of analog broadcasting. The studio equipment, including the large control panel with various switches and knobs, the overhead microphone, the headphones, and the vinyl records, all contribute to the vintage feel of the photo.

The individual is focused on their task, which could be cueing up a record or adjusting the levels for a live broadcast. This scene captures the essence of an era when radio was a primary source of entertainment and information, connecting listeners to a world beyond their immediate surroundings.

Flickr Batch Organizer

Flickr launched in February, 2004. I created an account and started uploading photos in March, 2005. So I guess I’m a long-time user. My primary photo repository is the Photos app on my MacBook (mirrored in my iCloud account): 2,449 photos. I make some effort to only save “keepers.” Flickr is where I post photos I’d like to share with the world. All under Creative Commons license for unrestricted use. I have about 2,500 photos in my photostream organized into albums and collections.

This 12 minute video (I know, too long) is a very cursory explanation of how I use Flickr’s Batch Organizer to manage photos.