The iPhone camera offers a way to remember things! One of many examples: Instead of parking meters in our town, we now have numbered spaces, and payment takes place at special machines. To keep track of your space number, you can take a photo, and pay from any of the machines on the street, or even pay online. As I have lived here a long time, I don’t have any trouble remembering where I parked, but of course this would also be a way to remember the location. It would work in a parking lot as well.
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| Our locker number in the entry hall of the VanGogh Museum in Amsterdam. |
Where have I been?
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| In the Netherlands many wildlife areas and parks had signs with the location, telling what wildlife to look for. I took photos to help me recall where I had visited. |
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| The images of birds really do help with identification (though our guide knew them all). |
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| On the National Geographic Explorer in Iceland, the maps were also helpful, and worth remembering through photos. |
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| This photo helped us remember when & where to get the bus. |
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| So many ways a photo can help with receipts or coded ids. |
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| Ikea even suggests taking a photo to make it easier to get your items in the warehouse area. (They still also supply stubby little pencils.) |
How did I cook that improvised dish?
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| I wish I could find these wild-caught shrimp again! I refuse to buy Asian farm-raised shrimp, which are destructive to the environment, exploitative of workers, and of dubious hygiene. |
Or just remember?
I would show you my photos of my documents and other important stuff (passport, driver’s license, immunization card, license plate on the car …) but I don’t think it would be a very good idea to publish them. However, I believe that these photos could be very useful in the unthinkable event that some of the items were lost.
Another type of memory photo is to keep an image of people one has traveled or worked with. In fact, with a small device that can display thousands of photos (both local and from the cloud) the extensions of one’s memory are many and varied.
Blog post and all photos © 2023 mae sander.
I've used my phone for lots of these things before -- but never for the new parking mechanisms (which I hate!) so thanks for a brilliant idea!
ReplyDeletePhotography is a great way to remember stuff. I always love to take shots of our working benches and rooms. SO fun.
ReplyDeleteI use my iphone camera for some of the same reasons. My memory is not the best, it is only getting worse with age. Take care, enjoy your day and happy weekend!
ReplyDeleteI use my cell phone for things like this also. Isn't it great to have those photos to look to when you need to get back to your card or something similar?
ReplyDeleteI must remember to take new photos of our passports before we travel. I use my camera as a memory tool often but sometimes I resort to pen and paper.
ReplyDeleteI use my phone camera to remember all sorts, from where I parked the car to how long left on a meter, and of course some nice scenery. It's an everyday part of life for me now.
ReplyDeleteHello Mae,
ReplyDeleteThe reserve in the Netherlands has a nice sign with all the birds that can be seen. Do you keep a life list of all the birds you see? I taken photos of many maps, especially trail maps. Your roasted squash sounds yummy. Thank you for linking up and sharing your post. Take care, have a happy weekend. PS, thank you for leaving me a comment.
Oh, am I glad I have no car no more!!!
ReplyDeleteA pain to remember where you parked.
I sadly have many picture but in my head as we had real film cameras back then. It was expensive etc, etc.
What good ideas! We don't travel much but I'll try to remember this. Enjoy your weekend!
ReplyDeleteYes, I agree. Often we ... hubby and myself ... looking for things. There are my eyeglasses, my handy, the key. And each time it costs nerves. But I try (!) to train my brain. And I have a trick, to lay down the things on certain seats.
ReplyDeleteNice to discuss with you!
Have a wonderful weekend.
The phone is a great way to remember things- if I remember to take a pic!! Your spices look interesting and I'm sure add some wonderful flavors to your recipes.
ReplyDeleteI sync my iPhone with google photos. That way the pics are a bit more organised and can be searched using keywords.
ReplyDeleteI rhink this is a great ideal I use my camera to remember places I've been, but never receipts or important papers. I think I will do that from now on.
ReplyDeleteA few years ago, I digitized all of my dad's old slides. What a strange feeling it was to see eight-year-old me and fourteen-year-old me again. I was swept up in a flood of emotions that went with the memories the pictures sparked.
ReplyDelete