In the middle of the 20th century, the big exciting technological thing to do in the library/archive realm was creating a photostatic copy. (That, or microfilm.) Recently, Cristina and I came across a document discussing a project in the 1950s where some special documents were under consideration for such a process, but the exorbitant cost of $3.00 per page -- equivalent to more than $24.00 in today's currency -- was not feasible.
Today we have digital projects. We frequently talk about how much it will cost to get some books or church records or photographs scanned. However, the cost of doing so is inevitably what prevents us from automatically proceeding with the project.
If essentially making a photocopy -- something most of us don't think twice about -- was such a huge deal 60 years ago, what will be the thing that is taken for granted and the thing that is hard to do in another 60 years?
-Jessica
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