# What usefulness can I get from my digital picture frame? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 2, 2009, 10:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-usefulness-can-i-get-from-my-digital-picture-frame/512329 "2009-10-02T10:15:52Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![joazito](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/7feea3/32.png) [@joazito](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/joazito)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2009, 10:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-usefulness-can-i-get-from-my-digital-picture-frame/512329/1 "2009-10-02T10:15:52Z")
So I’ve got this digital picture frame hooked up next to the computer at work and it shows the same boring old photos I put in it some months ago. It’s just useless. What I was wondering was how can I use it to do something useful or not boring, like learning stuff. The first thought I had was some kind of images of flashcards, like I used when trying to learn German (first the English word / then the corresponding German one). Any more alternative uses you can think of? ---
**Author:** ![Petrobey\_Mavromihalis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/bcef8e/32.png) [@Petrobey\_Mavromihalis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Petrobey_Mavromihalis)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2009, 10:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-usefulness-can-i-get-from-my-digital-picture-frame/512329/2 "2009-10-02T10:28:28Z")
I’d be interested in response too! My dad got me one a few years back (I got very excited as I thought there might be an iPod in the parcel) and it’s sat in the box ever since. To see my photos I have random ones appear on my screensaver, or print them out and frame them properly. ---
**Author:** ![Harmonious\_Discord](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/74df32/32.png) [@Harmonious\_Discord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harmonious_Discord)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2009, 11:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-usefulness-can-i-get-from-my-digital-picture-frame/512329/3 "2009-10-02T11:11:43Z")
Serving tray Use it by your door for joazito is in or joazito is out. ---
**Author:** ![Maastricht](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a88e57/32.png) [@Maastricht](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maastricht)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2009, 12:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-usefulness-can-i-get-from-my-digital-picture-frame/512329/4 "2009-10-02T12:02:58Z")
Load it with pictures of yourself and give it to your doting (grand)mother. Or load it with pictures of all her (grand)children. ---
**Author:** ![BobArrgh](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobarrgh/32/2881_2.png) [@BobArrgh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobArrgh)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2009, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-usefulness-can-i-get-from-my-digital-picture-frame/512329/5 "2009-10-02T15:43:13Z")
> [@Maastricht](#): > > Load it with pictures of yourself and give it to your doting (grand)mother. Or load it with pictures of all her (grand)children. I did this for my mom who has Alzheimer’s. I used Microsoft PowerPoint to create a slideshow with one picture per slide. On each slide, I put in a caption of who was in the picture, in the form of, “My son, BobArrgh, with his wife Robin.” Putting the caption in this form allowed her to both see the pictures and names, but also provided her with some dignity by letting her show the frame to others to show off her family without her having to try to remember all the names and relationships. PowerPoint has an option where each slide can be saved as a graphical file (such as a jpg), which could then be copied over to the frame. Worked out pretty well. ---
**Author:** ![elbows](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b3f665/32.png) [@elbows](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elbows)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2009, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-usefulness-can-i-get-from-my-digital-picture-frame/512329/6 "2009-10-02T19:19:32Z")
I’m impressed by your idea **BobArrgh** , very smart! ---
**Author:** ![phreesh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/9fc29f/32.png) [@phreesh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/phreesh)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2009, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-usefulness-can-i-get-from-my-digital-picture-frame/512329/7 "2009-10-02T19:36:36Z")
> [@elbows](#): > > I’m impressed by your idea **BobArrgh** , very smart! I second this. That was really thoughtful. ---
**Author:** ![Zebra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/c0e974/32.png) [@Zebra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zebra)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2009, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-usefulness-can-i-get-from-my-digital-picture-frame/512329/8 "2009-10-02T19:41:27Z")
Well, not useful but… If you have a way to make the photos change via a ‘dissolve’, I would take a series of photos where the person in the photo moves little by little across the frame. It could drive your coworkers nuts. ---
**Author:** ![joazito](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/7feea3/32.png) [@joazito](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/joazito)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2009, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-usefulness-can-i-get-from-my-digital-picture-frame/512329/9 "2009-10-02T20:13:46Z")
**Maastricht** , **BobArrgh** , I’m sold on your idea. My grandma is suffering from a degenerative disease and I’ll do just what you suggested. Big captions included. That seems really thoughtful. ---
**Author:** ![Savannah](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b3f665/32.png) [@Savannah](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Savannah)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2009, 2:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-usefulness-can-i-get-from-my-digital-picture-frame/512329/10 "2009-10-03T02:28:16Z")
Just chiming in that that is a wonderful idea, BobArrgh. My husband wanted one, and he has pictures relating to personal fitness/bodybuilding and funny/cute pictures of animals in the waiting room of his gym. ---
**Author:** ![Maastricht](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a88e57/32.png) [@Maastricht](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maastricht)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2009, 3:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-usefulness-can-i-get-from-my-digital-picture-frame/512329/11 "2009-10-03T03:05:27Z")
Great idea **Joazito**! I’m sure your grandmother will be very pleased with it. I just wanted to say that a self-help book I read suggested that you load such a frame with all sorts of motivational crap, good intentions and reminders to yourself. ---
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2009, 10:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-usefulness-can-i-get-from-my-digital-picture-frame/512329/12 "2009-10-03T10:55:19Z")
> [@Zebra](#): > > Well, not useful but… > > If you have a way to make the photos change via a ‘dissolve’, I would take a series of photos where the person in the photo moves little by little across the frame. > > It could drive your coworkers nuts. Following on from this, if you have an artistic bent (and depending on how fast you can set the photos to cycle through), you could take a series of pictures and create a claymation-style animation. Get creative. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![joazito](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/7feea3/32.png) [@joazito](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/joazito)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2009, 1:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-usefulness-can-i-get-from-my-digital-picture-frame/512329/13 "2009-10-03T13:25:45Z")
> [@Maastricht](#): > > I just wanted to say that a self-help book I read suggested that you load such a frame with all sorts of motivational crap, good intentions and reminders to yourself. Such as? ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2009, 1:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-usefulness-can-i-get-from-my-digital-picture-frame/512329/14 "2009-10-03T13:39:16Z")
> [@joazito](#): > > Such as? These people [http://www.motifake.com/](http://www.motifake.com/) have plenty of material you can use, or use their tools to make some more. ---
**Author:** ![Maastricht](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a88e57/32.png) [@Maastricht](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maastricht)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2009, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-usefulness-can-i-get-from-my-digital-picture-frame/512329/15 "2009-10-03T20:22:04Z")
> [@joazito](#): > > Such as? Well, whatever has meaning to you.