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Re: [OM] Is the end of silver film anywhere in sight?

Subject: Re: [OM] Is the end of silver film anywhere in sight?
From: Tom@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Date: Thu, 29 Aug 2002 12:18:17 -0400
Also, these days much (most?) silver in photography is recovered, as colour 
labs extract it all in processing.

tOM

On Thursday, August 29, 2002 at 11:48, Larry Woods 
<olympus@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
wrote re "[OM] Is the end of silver film anyw" saying:

> (Was: Re: [OM] Bad processing of film driving people to digital)
> 
> To take the question of film's remaining lifespan off on another
> tangent, I recall a book from the early 70's called "The Limits to
> Growth" produced by an organization called the Club of Rome.  Its 
> thesis was that civilization was using up critical resources at a 
> rate that some resources would run out in relatively short times,
> forcing major changes to the way we lived.  
> 
> The book was later discredited, with its authors conceding that
> consumption rates were much slower than what they had put in their
> computer model.
> 
> I recall that the first resource to run out was going to be 
> silver, in about 8 or 12 years from when the book came out.  The 
> book noted that silver was being consumed faster than it was being
> mined, with the difference coming from reserves.
> 
> At the time, the only substitute I knew of was a non-silver
> reprographic film with a single-digit ASA speed.  I recall thinking 
> that things could get very interesting if the predictions 
> were true.  But of course the predictions weren't.
> 
> Digital photography (and videotape) have probably cut significantly 
> into silver consumption for photographic uses - or at least limited 
> its upward curve.  I would be curious to know if statistics are
> available on present-day silver production, consumption, and
> reserves, and if they indicate any end-of-life point for photographic
> film as we know it beyond the current speculation about it becoming
> obsolete for reasons of convenience or uneconomic because of low
> volume.
--
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tOM Trottier,   ICQ:57647974    http://abacurial.com
        758 Albert St, Ottawa ON Canada K1R 7V8 
        +1 613 860-6633 fax:231-6115 N45.412 W75.714
"The moment one gives close attention to anything, 
even a blade of grass, it becomes a mysterious, 
awesome, indescribably magnificent world in itself -- 
Henry Miller, 1891-1980


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