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Nokia has filed a patent that will allow a user to digitally write on the back of digital photos.  The patent allows a user to “flip” your picture over and label it.  This label can be written on a keypad, or, if your camera device has some sort of stylus, you can write on them just like a photo print. 

This patent has just been filed, so it is not known when it will be approved.  Something tells me that cell phone giant Nokia will probably find a way to get this program into the hands of the consumer and into one of its cell phones as soon as possible.  Once it does work, it will probably look something like a photo-viewer on the iPod.

It reminds me of the days when Polaroid used to have Instamatic film.  It really helped to have the photographer write on the front or back of the photo, just so others would know when, where, and possibly what the pictures are all about.  It sure worked to help Guy Pearce’s short-term memory loss problem in Memento. 

However, when you have digital photos, which take no time to develop, it is difficult to write on them.  I know that when I take photos on my digital camera, I don’t go out of my way to label them in any way.  I just look at the pictures in a photo viewer and use what I need.  I could wait until I developed the pictures, but will I remember what the subject was by then? 

Perhaps Nokia’s new process will help digital photographers everywhere record their memories easier. 

Read [New Scientist]

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