"I'm backed up baby..." Photo: Hilary Camilleri
I’ve said it before, but it would be remiss not to mention it again: Back up your data.
Sad reminder of this again when I saw a recent story on PetaPixel about a guy who is taking Apple to court over lost baby photos, saying the failure of a storage device caused him to lose priceless memories. Perminder Tung used an Apple Time Capsule to back up his photos. The Canadian man claims that the device failed and that Apple subsequently told him that data was gone forever. Tung, a lawyer, says the data included the birth of his child and is now suing for $25,000 to compensate for the lost memories. Sad. But is this really Apple’s fault? Hell no. Drives fail. As photographers and filmmakers who depend on the retrieval of data not just for nostalgia – but for our living – we must accept this fact and take the necessary steps to avoid being int the position of the forlorn Mr. Tung.
This is one of the most important fundamentals–not just for professional photographers and filmmakers like us–but for anyone with valuable digital content that’s worth backing up. You can review my workflow video on how to back up your data here.
The workflow video I hinted at above, under the link “said it before” walks you through steps you can take to NOT be this guy. This may well be the most important behind-the-scenes video we’ve made, not because it’s fancy or sexy, but because it covers arguably the most essential information on a set of topics that every photo and video person should understand: workflow, storage and backup of your precious images. This video covers all the ins and outs, the theory and the details of our complete photo and video workflow from capture to archive and everything in between. It’s a tad dated, given some updates in technology, but the theories are crucial and sound. So whether you’re a seasoned pro, an aspiring amateur, or just starting out in photography or video we’ve worked hard to make this worth your time.
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Too cute baby photo: Hillary Camilleri and Angela Smith
Hard drives fail – it’s inevitable.
The best indicator that your hard drive is about to fail is when you say out loud, “I should probably back this stuff up soon.” and then you don’t.
“Drives fail”. We know that, but does it really have to be this way?
If corporation like apple will be responsible for your data, maybe they will use HDD producer who will guaranty longer HDD live… Maybe then HDD producers will start compete for better standards…
Backing up will be always important due to human factor or disaster. …But corporations should start to take responsibility for their overpriced products.
I think am one of the most techno geeks on this earth. At times I am sitting in a coffee house and I have something going on with my iPhone in my left hand, my tablet in my right and while I am listening to my iPod. But sometimes I think about how far technology has taken us and the whole back up everything phenom. Perhaps sometimes instead of backing up everything, we should consider taking a step back as well by make a hard copy of anything you truly charish. And then updating that copy in your vault maybe once a year so you can ask yourself “is this still all that important to me? Do I need to keep updating this”? I know for some people this is a stupid crazy insane idea, but for me. It gives me a physical connection to the things I consider “important”. I feel Tung’s lost because I had some notes on my memo pad which I had created and backed up with iCloud and it glitched and was gone forever into that big iCloud Black Hole somewhere in the universe. I got mad, I cringed, I may have felt like crying, but never did the thought “sue Apple” enter my tiny little peanut. I sure hope Mr Tung keeps a hard copy of the court documents for this ridiculous lawsuit.
Do everything for a good external backup and Print! , for important memories there nothing like prints. If the moment is so special print it.
If this passes and the guy gets compenstated, then 100s and 1000s of additional attempts will follow. The compenstation based climate we live in now just keeps getting worse.
I think I have some old negs and slides somewhere that are scatched and damaged beyond printing can I hold kodak, ilford and fuji responsible for not suppling them in a scratch resistant case after development. Or is it my own fault for not STORING them correctly.
Regardless of storage type or media, the same care should be taken with all priceless memories, and photos are no exception, and with digital media being so convenient to back up online, on alternative or multiple storage devices and of course in print then I really dont think that Perminder Tung has a leg to stand on in court.
PS I do store all my files correctly and have negs that date back almost 25 years still in a perfect condition. Storage is crucial in the professional trade.