In the early days of Cell Phones, I plotzed when I heard that they included a Camera in Cell phones (who would use that, and what for, I believe was my arguments about the validity of melding these two technologies), however (as usual), I have been proven wrong, and these two technologies are now permanently cemented together (much to the chagrin of Kodak and Polaroid, I would wager). The Cell Phone Camera has caused an explosion of media on the web, with folks sharing and posting pictures of:
- Food: what you are eating, where you are eating it, and who you are eating with, astoundingly interesting. That is the most significant use for Cell Phone cameras.
- Billions of photos of our children taking pictures of themselves in bathroom mirrors, in various states of disrepair (and or dress), smiling in odd ways (or even the infamous duck face). This has forced the porn industry into rethinking itself yet again.
- Very jerky videos of strange events as they occur.
And this only scratches the surface of what the Cell Phone Camera has touched in our lives. However, it can do a valuable thing as well (no, not supply blurry pictures for blogs) it can help us more easily catalogue the valuables in our houses.
As I mentioned in Theft and Insurance, having a valid home inventory which is up to date, with photos of your valuables, is a very good thing to have. With a Camera Phone, you have no excuse anymore.
Some tips that could make this even better:
- Create an account on one of the many picture archiving sites. Preferably one that allows for PRIVATE Albums of photos, which you can upload your pictures to.
- When taking your pictures, if your camera has GPS capability, use it to tag the photo as well. Never hurts when your insurance company gets the photos to say they were taken at your house.
- Make sure you are using your camera in the Highest Definition mode and download them in that format as well.
- Add a detailed description of what the picture is of, and possibly the value of the object
- Make sure the picture is clear as well (you can take many pictures, you only need 1 clear one).
With this, you now have an off-site backed-up archive of the valuables in your house, in case of a fire, or theft, and it didn’t cost you too much either. Upload your pictures using Wi-Fi as well, saves you high data charges by your cell phone company.
Give the insurance company as much information as possible, and you are more likely to get your claim dealt with quickly and concisely.
