Slide shows are back but with a digital twist

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After Kodak came out with its first line of carousel projectors in the 1960s, the slide show became a common event in living rooms and rec rooms throughout the country. But popularity waned as consumers turned first to 8-millimeter movies and later to video recorders.

The advent of digital cameras is changing all that. Without the hassle of buying and loading film, people are taking a lot of pictures and sending them via e-mail to friends by putting together online photo albums. This got camera and computer makers to thinking about bringing the slide show back. And they've done it.

Canon and Nikon digitals have added a slide-show mode onto some cameras which plugs directly into a TV. Sony has a memory stick that transfers from a camera into a compatible TV for an insta-show. Apple's new software lets you download photos stored on your iPod.

The closest thing to the carousel show, say analysts for the Wall Street Journal, is the digital photo viewer, a box that sits on top of the TV. The viewer uses a memory stick loaded with photos from a digital camera to transmit pictures to the screen. It comes with a remote.

When you have many old slides of your kids and your travels, you can always send them out to have a video made. It doesn't cost much, and you'll never have to set up your carousel again.

Long Island Technology Articles > Slide shows are back but with a digital twist