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Sunrise Junction, Microfilm Scanners by guest blogger Jay Phoenix

All aboard! Micro Com Express now departing the station! Have your tickets out please. Next stop, Microfilm scanning at Sunrise Junction.

On your left, Micro Com’s very own herd of Sunrise Scanners can be seen corralled and ready for action. It’s a heartwarming tale. Like a litter of puppies, these beautiful beasts were manufactured on the same assembly line, then ripped apart from the only family they ever knew when they were bought by independent sources. But don’t shed a tear. Reaching distances as far south as Mexico, Micro Com slowly gathered the litter and provided them with a good home and a solid purpose in life.

Seven Sunrise Microfilm Scanners, One Site

Welcome to Sunrise Junction, home to not just one, but seven magnificent Sunrise Microfilm scanners. But why has Micro Com taken the time to slowly gather the dream team? Simple.

Decades of microfilm has accumulated. A 100 years of information from cities, municipalities, regional districts, the ministry of magic, and federal and provincial governments locked away deep underground in ancient vaults guarded by dragons. Information that desperately requires conversion in the digital age where availability and accessibility are key.

A little known fact, but statutory obligation in Canada requires the ability to trace land back to the beginning of time, long before Link was frozen in ice for Dave and Stony to discover. But what happens when those records inevitably begin to deteriorate? Loss of crucial, historic information accompanied by a distinctive, and nose wrinkling vinegary scent.

Fiche and film are going the way of the Dodo

Fiche and film are going the way of the Dodo. Only to be seen in television and movies when the heroes finally discover that crucial piece of information to turn the tables. Film is no longer a viable technology, requiring specialized and bulky equipment to fully utilize, and manufacturers are slowly shutting down production and jumping ship. Big-wigs like Netflix haul in $5.5 billion annually as digital streaming conquers the globe while the skeletal remains of Blockbuster Videos are now Dollar Stores and Starbucks.

Still a little Scully? Here’s the hard truth straight from the mouth of Mulder. Film is physical. Like almost all known matter in the insignificant fraction of our explored universe, microfilm occupies space. On Earth, that space is more pricey than the Bard’s signature.

Stop storing microfilm

The world doesn’t need another endless warehouse for the Arc of the Covenant to disappear into and never be seen again. Not only is storing microfilm costly with rent on prime real estate, administration fees, maintenance, and de-lousing tacked on top, but microfilm has to be physically retrieved. Based on individual circumstances, it may become the lengthy bureaucratic process Hermes Conrad lives for in order to requisition microfilm, or it could involve creeping down creaky stairs into the eerie basement with a single swinging lightbulb.

Save space, instant access

Digital information can be accessed with a few strokes of a key and easily distributed to all parties. No muss. No fuss. Granted, microfilm makes an excellent non-technological back-up for the day Croatoan engulfs humanity, but even naive, lovable Castiel has embraced the wonders of modern technology.

The process of film to digital formats

The process of film to digital isn’t all that different from document. Here in Sunrise Junction, sitting amongst the likes of the Waco Kid and Big Hoss – two of Micro Com’s prized beauties – our microfilm scanning technicians know how to coax out the perfect performance from the herd. Our Microfilm scanners are sturdier than a guild’s best tank, and even contain their own onboard computer that allows them to function independently, and possibly even navigate an asteroid belt with C3PO shrieking the odds in the background. Never tell our technicians the odds. They’ll beat them every time, even in the face of the impossible; create a dupe roll, drop the density, switch the polarity, or mask each individual frame for scanning with Monica Gellar precision.

The digital era is upon us

Far too often, history is lost. Hidden away in the dank and dark, and slowly forgotten like a lost city buried for centuries when it should be preserved for future generations. Everyday the world grows smaller with the rapid dissemination of Grumpy Cat’s latest meme, election controversies, and the never ending squabbles of countries’ unrest.

The digital era is upon us. Whatever your needs, professional or personal, MCS Vancouver Scanning services aims to ease the transition, bringing images stored on deteriorating film into high definition and at your fingertips rather than on clunky old machines gathering dust in library basements.

Time to crack open those X-Files.

Go Paperless, Contact MCS Vancouver

For any questions on our wide range of digitization and scanning services in Vancouver BC, contact MCS Vancouver today!