For the last few months I’ve been thinking on and off about getting a little compact camera that I can carry around everywhere. Although they were once everywhere, the compact camera market has been decimated by smartphones. Now there are barely half a dozen available and they all seem to be perennially out of stock — and very pricey to boot. More than once or twice I’ve thought that there must be thousands of these things gathering dust on bookshelves and in boxes across the city.
A couple of days ago I was talking to my daughter in her room when my eye landed on the little Canon Powershot that has been sitting on her bookshelf untouched for the last four or so years. It was exactly the kind of thing I’d been looking for and I’d completely forgotten that she had it. Time to get snapping.
Left a chair out on the verge today to see if anyone would pick it up. It was structurally sound, but the white leatherette cushioning was flaking like dandruff so I had low expectations. Two hours later it was gone. Thank god I didn’t pay the $40 the council wanted to charge to take it off my hands.
I hate that I can’t share digital games, books, music and movies the way the we used to. Sad to think something I’ve bought and enjoyed has to just sit in the cloud, a bundle of ones and zeroes, not enriching anyone’s life.