Photos scanned superfast: Hundreds of old pictures are ready in minutes
By TAMARA CHUANG, The Orange County Register, Aug 15, 2006
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh. Within minutes, a small machine inside 30 Minute Photos Etc. in Irvine has scanned nearly 1,000 photos.
Customers are bringing boxes of old photos for owner Mitch Goldstone to turn into digital memories. But the Kodak i660 super scanner is no toy. It cost Goldstone $60,000. It's one of maybe two available to consumers nationwide, says Kodak, which usually sells the machines to businesses that scan thousands of checks, documents and other files daily.
Digital photography turned Goldstone's business from one that helped customers develop a half-dozen rolls of film a year to one that has customers from all over the country ordering hundreds of photos at a time.
But the i660 is adding something else.
The machine, which looks like a small copier, can handle almost all photo sizes, from 2 1/2–by-3 inches to 11-by-14 inches. It can scan both sides in case there's writing on the back. When the order is done, images are burned to disc. The shop charges about $50 for 1,000 photos.
Goldstone enjoys the mysteriousness of the speedy scanner, especially when he presents a customer with the finished CD within minutes of an order.
But Goldstone gave the Register a special behind-the-scenes look at the machine. See our video of the scanner in action. For more on the service – and to see the results of our own order – go online to blogs.ocregister.com/gadgetress
[source: OC Register]
