Teenage girl taking selfie outdoors
A recent study by Kodak Alaris of U.K. smartphone users estimates more than one-third of British people have lost photos on their smartphone, equaling about 11.8 billion memories.
One in 10 people don’t take any steps to protect their photos, whether printing, backing-up on a PC or posting to social media, the report said. More than three-in-four would print photos taken on a smartphone to put on display, they are deterred from doing so, either due to a perception that photos taken on mobile devices aren’t good enough quality (31%), are difficult to get from a mobile to a printer (15%) or because they simply don’t know how to print from a mobile phone (19%).
In our view, the research underscores the value of cloud services for backing up and for accessing digital photos. The research also showed half of 25-34 year olds use a cloud storage service to protect their photos compared to just 28% of those who are 55 years or older. Younger people are getting the message, but boomers are not.
With universal cloud access, it will be easier for consumers to create personalized photo products, for both preservation and for sharing. Interestingly, the study showed, even though younger people used cloud storage more than older people, younger people (16%) were more likely to print their pictures for safekeeping than the overall average (13%). Almost half of people surveyed (46%) are worried about being able to access their photos in the future (10 years’ time), with more than half worried about the fact technology will change.
The survey also showed a printed photo elicits a strong response. One-third of respondents said looking at physical photos elicits a positive response, with more than half adding looking at prints makes them “feel happy.”
These findings reinforce our belief that reducing barriers to access to image – coupled with attractive, intuitive UIs – will cause an increase in the amount of personalized photo prints and products.
