Alex Chan: You should take more screenshots

Digital files exist in a context: they rely on particular hardware and software to be useful. The more time passes, the harder a context is to replicate. It is possible to emulate older systems, but it’s requires a lot of time and expertise; more than I’m going to spend for the sake of nostalgia.

Alex suggests doing this for your own work, and I’d agree, as well as add on basically anything you use on a regular basis. Just snap a screenshot every now and then so you can remember what software was like today many years down the road.

I have just over 10,000 screenshots in my photo collection, and even I get nostalgic for things now and then, and can’t find an image anywhere of that app I was thinking of.

Even if you can find those screenshots online today, don’t assume they’ll be there tomorrow. I’m continually disappointed by how many things I think about from 10 years ago, only to discover that the website that used to have that item no longer works, or even exists.