It's a safe bet that you've got a box brimming with old photo film or a collection of home movie tapes just sitting. Waiting. Collecting dust.
Not for much longer! Now's the time to make the move and digitize your memories. But how do you know what output is best for you? Do you go with a thumb drive or a digital download? What's the different anyway?
Well, you're about to find out:
Thumb drive: Plug and Go
Thumb drives, USBs or flash drive - whatever you want to call them - are small and compact physical memory devices that offer the ability to save data - documents, music, videos, photos, pretty much everything. Their convenience mixed with their small stature yet large capacity all played huge roles in the demise of the floppy disk. Kids, if you don't know what that is, ask your parents. Or just look at you iPhone's save button.
Size
Thumb drives come in a wide variety of storage capacities, and if you're looking to archive entire photo and video albums, you're going to need something relatively large - probably 100GB or more. Think of it this way, as picture quality increases, the number of photos you can fit decreases. So make sure you plan accordingly. weighing the quantity and quality of your photos.
Speed
In additional to gigabyte capacity, you're going to want to keep transfer speeds in mind. Do you go with USB 2.0 or 3.0? The bigger question here actually hinges on what device you're transferring from and which port you use. If you've got a device that supports 3.0, just go with it. The transfer rate is up to 10 times faster than 2.0, which means downloading more photos - faster.
Security
Now, if you're just wanting a storage device to house your old memories, you're probably not looking too highly at security. Then again, who knows what kind of photos you're digitizing ... yikes. But, if you've got some sensitive information on your USB, you should probably lean toward a secure storage thumb drive option.
Digital Download: A cloud full of memories
Thumb drives seemed so innovative not so long ago. and then the cloud came along. Digital downloads offer nearly all the convenience, speed and security means of a thumb drive, yet without having to tote around the physical device - or worry about losing it. Imagine being able to access all your digital files and photos directly from your computer, phone or tablet.
All your beloved memories are stored easily and securely in the cloud, allowing you direct digital access anytime, anywhere - from virtually any smart device. It's cool. It's new. It's easy.
So whether you're a little more old fashioned, preferring a physical device to store your most memorable moments or you're a little more contemporary, perfectly comfortable using the cloud, the choice is up to you. Both options offer great quality, capacity and security to make sure that your precious memories stay with you - wherever you go.
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Looking to digitize your memories? With Southtree, you can preserve your family memories to last forever. Send in your aging tapes, film, pictures and audio recordings. You'll receive new DVDs or digital copies with your originals, safely simply.
