Social impact

Throughout the history of photography, technological advances in optics, camera production, developing, and imaging have had an effect on the way people view images. Prior to the 1970s, most people in the United States used slide or chrome film and viewed the images with a slide projector. After that, people began to make prints from color negatives. The simultaneous increased use of the Internet and email, relatively cheap computers and digital cameras led to a tremendous increase in the number of photographic images in digital formats.

In the early part of the 21st century, the dominant method of viewing still images has been on computers and, to a lesser extent, on cellular phones (although people still make and look at prints). These factors have led to a decrease in film and film camera sales and film processing, and has had a dramatic effect on companies such as Fuji, Kodak, and Agfa. In addition, many stores that used to offer photofinishing services or sell film no longer do, and those that do have seen a tremendous decline.

Photographic images have always been prone to fading and loss of image quality due to sun exposure or improper storage of film negatives, slides, and prints. Since digital images are stored as data on a computer, the image never loses visual quality, detail, or fidelity as long as the digital media upon which it is stored remains intact. The only way to ruin a digital image is to delete the image file, to corrupt or re-write some of the image file's data, or to damage or destroy the electronic storage media (hard drive, disk, CD, flash card, etc.) upon which the file resides. As with all computer files, making backups is the most effective way of ensuring that a copy of a digital image can always be recovered.

It is likely that film will never again be purchased and used on the scale it was for most of the 20th century. However, it probably will not disappear altogether. At its advent in the early 19th century, many believed photography would supplant the painting of portraits and landscapes. In the same way that acrylic and oil paint are still dominant media in use by artists and hobbyists, it's likely that photographic film and equipment will continue to be an option for enthusiasts. It is also important to note that the difference between film and digital photography is far less than the difference between painting and film photography.