Photos on mobiles v 'real' thing

I don't think access to the past will diminish - it just takes a different form. I've scanned lots of photos from when my sons were little, and from past generations, and shared them via computer. Photos now taken with phones / iPads can also be linked to family members and shared. There are lots of digital advantages. Nothing need be lost.

Having said that, it's great to have an old box or album of photos to go through occasionally

Doesn't having to use a computer bring in a 'third' party as it were? What happens to those who've not got a PC? Will photos always be compatible with or transferable to other forms of phones, computers etc?
I use technology on a daily basis in my work and enjoy it but yesterday made me think!

I think its a shame that so few people have prints made ,I have family photographs that are 150 years old ,they have been in frames on my wall and now are back in a box,but they're still here to see and they have names and dates on the back so we all know who they are .Technology is moving at such a pace that discs and memory sticks etc may well be obsolete in just a few years ,remember floppy discs? Ask any teenager about a floppy disc and he'll have no idea what you mean.As a professional photographer we try to make sure wedding clients in particular have paper copies of their photographs ,how sad if 40 years down the line their children and grandchildren cant see how Gran and Grandpa looked when they were young and in love or how great gran or great great gran resembles their own child.Many pro's do disc only packages nowadays ,,I'm pleased we still give paper proofs

I have a digital photo frame (WiFi connected so that it's simple to add pictures from my phone and also anyone with a link can add pictures too, so family in Canada can email pictures directly to it). I've also scanned a lot of old pictures and get great pleasure in seeing all these pictures pop up on the digital frame

Goldengirl. Have you thought of taking copies of those photos (well some of them) with your iPad and sending them to your son. I did this only last week and my sons were delighted to have them. There were some lovely photos of them in the sea and with me and my husband on holiday and now I can access them any time on my iPad, simple.