Need someone to lead product management at your software company? I create software for people that create software and I'm looking for my next opportunity. Check out my resume and get in touch.

Digital returns

Freshness Warning
This blog post is over 17 years old. It's possible that the information you read below isn't current and the links no longer work.

Most people are honest enough that if they find a lost object they want to return it to its owner. Lose your wallet and you’ll probaby get contacted by the person who finds it, using the contact information they find in the wallet. The main screen of my phone shows a user-defined note on which I’ve put my name, email, home phone, and emergency contact information.

But when I lost my digital camera last year, whoever must have found it had no way of contacting me. On my new camera, I’ve changed that. I printed out a page that reads "This camera belongs to..." followed by my name and contact info. With an empty memory card, I took a picture of that sheet of paper and then write-protected that picture so it won’t be deleted when I pull the photos off my camera.

Now if someone finds my camera and looks at the pictures, they’ll at least know how to get a hold of me to return it.

mashby
May 15, 2006 11:07 AM

Great idea! I'm going to have to do that for my digital camera as well. Very clever, thank you.

Raghu
May 15, 2006 11:25 AM

One thing my Canon G2 does and I am sure most other cameras do now is allow you to modify a camera setting called 'Author' (or 'Owner' or something similar). This gets embedded into the EXIF data of every photo you take with the camera over any card and through formats etc. Instead of just Adam Kalsey, you can put in your email + phone#. Yes, it is a bit advanced for the average person that finds a lost camera, but if you got a camera back this way, it would make a great story!

Clay Loveless
May 15, 2006 1:33 PM

Less complicated with probably better chances of actual success in getting your stuff back: a label from http://www.stuffbak.com/

Reena
June 1, 2006 12:47 PM

Hi, I had the same kind of experience this memorial day weekend in pigeon forge.I lost my digital camera and later thought I should have kept some contact info on the pouch so that I might get it back.Now Im sad I dint get my camera. Reena

This discussion has been closed.

Recently Written

Mastery doesn’t come from perfect planning (Dec 21)
In a ceramics class, one group focused on a single perfect dish, while another made many with no quality focus. The result? A lesson in the value of practice over perfection.
The Dark Side of Input Metrics (Nov 27)
Using input metrics in the wrong way can cause unexpected behaviors, stifled creativity, and micromanagement.
Reframe How You Think About Users of your Internal Platform (Nov 13)
Changing from "Customers" to "Partners" will give you a better perspective on internal product development.
Measuring Feature success (Oct 17)
You're building features to solve problems. If you don't know what success looks like, how did you decide on that feature at all?
How I use OKRs (Oct 13)
A description of how I use OKRs to guide a team, written so I can send to future teams.
Build the whole product (Oct 6)
Your code is only part of the product
Input metrics lead to outcomes (Sep 1)
An easy to understand example of using input metrics to track progress toward an outcome.
Lagging Outcomes (Aug 22)
Long-term things often end up off a team's goals because they can't see how to define measurable outcomes for them. Here's how to solve that.

Older...

What I'm Reading

Contact

Adam Kalsey

+1 916 600 2497

Resume

Public Key

© 1999-2024 Adam Kalsey.