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[quote=Anonymous][quote]The quality of scans of old photos is very dependent on the exact process used and the technical know-how of the person managing the project. One wrong choice could corrupt the file data or make the scans unusable. A photographic print has detail far beyond that of what an average scan could preserve. The best and most accurate source of image data is always the original image. [/quote]

This.  There will be better scanners in the future.  If you throw away the originals now, you will never have a chance to get better scans.  It's sort of like people who had 16mm home movies transferred to VHS in the 1980s and threw away the film.  If they had kept the original, they could have a beautiful 4K scan made now, but they are now stuck with a miserable VHS copy (if that even survived) because they were shortsighted.

Also, the original material usually contains metadata--notes on the back, stamps from the photofinisher, etc.  This can be vital when trying to identify the subject of a photograph.

Anyway, as someone knowledgable about photography, digital storage, and archival practices (through different jobs and hobbies), I would say this:  scan anything that is extremely valuable and/or which you want to share online with people.  Post the images online and distribute them widely to ensure that someone, somewhere will have a copy in the future even if your house burns down.  But definitely keep the originals, or at least give them to someone who cares.  Don't toss them in the trash.  If anything, sell them on Ebay.  There is a market for this stuff.

And, yes, for anyone who is taking pictures now with a digital camera--print anything and everything that you value and want to have in the future.  You don't need to print every close-up of a flower, but definitely print the pictures of your kids, your pets, and your friends.  By "prints," I mean proper silver-halide prints from a photo lab, not some inkjet garbage.  Digital storage is great in many ways, but most people are just one failed storage device away from losing important memories, and even families that have an "archivist" family member might not have easy access to files if that person dies or is incapacitated.  Printed photographs will survive all of that, as well as technological change.[/quote]

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