Originally Posted by
paulr
You are still describing details. Bigger than the difference between, say, one type of gelatin silver paper and another, but smaller than truly major shifts in technology that changed the way photography presented the world (like the invention of the hand camera, or color film). And much bigger than the truly revolutionary shifts--like the invention of photography in the first place.
I can think of only a SINGLE substantive change brought about with digital media. That is the existence of the disembodied image. With a digital image, you have an image that is separated from physical media in a way that is much more distinct than with any analog medium. So we have files that can be viewed on a screen, printed many different ways, transmitted instantly, etc. etc.
Everything else I've seen cited as a unique quality of digital photography has precedent in the analog world. Including ability to be manipulated by hand, the ability to be printed in ink (or other non-light sensitive media), the ability to be reproduced mechanically, etc. etc.
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