"It’s national photo preservation month at the CES" (via Examiner.com)

Thanks to Dan Appleman and his “Gadgets Examiner” pre–CES column. 

Admission; yes, National Photo Preservation Month (NPPM) is a gimmick, and what marketing campaign isn’t? Do you know the millions of dollars invested in promoting tech products at CES? How much are Sony, HP and other giant conglomerates spending to attend CES? It’s nearly impossible to trump the primary noise at CES – the economy is in a free fall and hotels, like the Wynn Resorts ($159 a night) are having fire sales. Front row tickets to LOVE at the Mirage were still available two weeks ago (at 25% off) during what is the world’s largest consumer trade show, which is looking more and more like a no-show. Companies are cutting back and consumer interest is a million miles away from Las Vegas right now. With all this dire news, how can a smart, entrepreneurial company make news amidst all the media clutter? Launch the NPPM. Yes, it’s a marketing gimmick, but, as Dan agrees, is one that has an important mission. We want to help preserve generations of photo memories, quickly and affordably, and thus our NPPM was established. 

Excerpt from Dan’s column:

A high speed photo scanning service can help insure your memories. Did you know that January is National Photo Preservation Month? Most people don’t. You might wonder what act of Congress or executive order from the White House made January National Photo Preservation month. Only a cynic would imagine that National Photo Preservation Month is just a marketing gimmick created by ScanMyPhotos.com
in conjunction with the CES to encourage people to digitize their old photographs to DVD using their high speed photo scanning technology.

Cynical or not, that is exactly what it is – a marketing gimmick.

However, just because something is a marketing gimmick doesn’t mean it’s a bad idea. It’s heartbreaking to read stories of people who have lost their family photos due to fire or accident. Photos are among the few things we own that are truly irreplaceable. And there’s really no practical or economical way to backup large numbers of printed photos or negatives. But it’s easy and cheap to backup a DVD.

ScanMyPhotos.com will scan photos for under a nickle a piece. For $125 you can fill a prepaid box with as many photos as it will hold. Photos are scanned, and digitally corrected, and returned on a DVD. In most cases they offer overnight turnaround. Once you have a DVD you can make multiple copies and store them in a safe deposit box or using an online archiving service.

National Photo Preservation Month may be a marketing gimmick, but let us leave cynicism aside – it’s a good idea and ScanMyPhotos.com provides an important and economical service that everyone with boxes of old photos should consider.

Dan Appleman bio (via Examiner.com): He is a Silicon Valley entrepreneur with more than 30 years of experience in hardware, software and gadgets of all kinds. Author of How Computer Programming Works and numerous other technical books and articles, he stubbornly insists that technology be judged by its real value, and not just by how new or cool it is.