Your opinion on Instagram

[NormannTheDoorman]

It just doesn't seem, whats the word. Legit? They have an HD camera and use an app that turns the photos into Polaroid photos. We live in the 21st century and we have technology that can take beautiful photos of our surroundings, instead lets use Instagram.

 

[EyeSeeCold]

Well you can look at the larger perspective, that technology provides a simpler means of production or experience without the original effort.


People no longer have to catch their own fish or hunt their own game, meat is available for purchase at stores.

People no longer have to travel far & wide to see each other, online chat services allow video broadcasting.

People no longer have to rummage through libraries for hours to amass required or desired information, internet wikis and search engines provide access to an extremely comprehensive range of knowledge.


It's just the way of technology and social progress and I don't think it's necessarily a bad thing. What causes people to feel that way is a negative disposition towards change and feeling that certain experiences/methods are unappreciated, but I think it's also worth valuing the increased productivity that new technology brings.

 

[Hawkeye]

The whole point is to induce nostalgia. It has nothing to do with picture quality.

 

[Architect]

It also hides deficiencies in the original picture by overlaying new deficiencies. Kind of like how using vacuum tubes in audio amplifiers can often be.

Also the world is changing so fast on its way to a Singularity that people often attach to old technologies, such as records, vacuum tubes, clothing trends, and so on. Think about the Steam Punk movement, or the Maker movement (making things yourself instead of by machine)

 

[The Gopher]

Jazz music isn't modern we shouldn't make music for that genre :P I know that isn't exactly what is going on but I don't mind it. What I do mind is what people do with it...

 

[Kuu]

To add a simple personal reply to the OP: "beautiful photos of our surroundings" is subjective. Photography is not simply about documenting reality as technically accurate as possible, photography is an act of selection / reinterpretation of reality. It's not just capturing a measure of photons in a 2d representation, it's capturing an idea, feeling, atmosphere. If you think of it solely as objectively capturing what is out there you're missing out the point of photography.

I'll save myself further ranting (I was ranting about this just yesterday) and simply point you to this essay I found, which pretty much covers my opinion of it well.