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Archive 2020 · The famous photo 1 billion people saw

ArizonaImage
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p.1 #1 · p.1 #1 · The famous photo 1 billion people saw

This was worth the watch.

Jun 04, 2020 at 11:48 PM

graytrekker
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p.1 #2 · p.1 #2 · The famous photo 1 billion people saw

interesting
I had always assumed the hill was in the Palouse, WA somewhere - like the hill in the Robin Williams movie "Toy", which was from the Palouse, I believe

Jun 05, 2020 at 07:23 AM

John Webb
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p.1 #3 · p.1 #3 · The famous photo 1 billion people saw

Would not rate it as the most famous photograph in the world by any stretch of the imagination.

Jun 05, 2020 at 08:29 AM

moondigger
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p.1 #4 · p.1 #4 · The famous photo 1 billion people saw

John Webb wrote:
Would not rate it as the most famous photograph in the world by any stretch of the imagination.

If you're just counting the number of eyeballs x the number of views per eyeball, it's definitely the most famous photo ever taken. Not even debatable.

But sometimes people mean "revered" or "popular" or something similar when they say "most famous," in which case I agree that it's not the most famous.

Jun 05, 2020 at 09:49 AM

John Webb
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p.1 #5 · p.1 #5 · The famous photo 1 billion people saw

Is Mc Donalds then the most famous restaurant?"

Jun 05, 2020 at 11:08 AM

moondigger
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p.1 #6 · p.1 #6 · The famous photo 1 billion people saw

John Webb wrote:
Is Mc Donalds then the most famous restaurant?"

Probably. Again, that depends on your definition of "famous."

That said, I think Subway has the most franchise locations. Something like three times as many as McDonald's.

Jun 05, 2020 at 11:24 AM

Camperjim
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p.1 #7 · p.1 #7 · The famous photo 1 billion people saw

This is my first time in 70 some years of being on earth that I have seen this photo. I guess I never used XP and certainly never used Windows wallpapers longer than necessary.

Jun 05, 2020 at 12:23 PM

moondigger
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p.1 #8 · p.1 #8 · The famous photo 1 billion people saw

Camperjim wrote:
This is my first time in 70 some years of being on earth that I have seen this photo. I guess I never used XP and certainly never used Windows wallpapers longer than necessary.

Maybe so, but having worked in IT during the entire 18 years of XP's official/extended/full support window, I can attest that there were thousands of PCs running with that backdrop in the companies I worked for. The vast majority of employees who saw that backdrop every day never saw an Edward Weston, Dorothea Lange, or Steve McCurry photo -- or if they did, it was nowhere near as often as they saw the Windows XP backdrop.

The one possible exception to this might be Ansel Adams, who, in the 1980s and 1990s, probably achieved the most name recognition of any photographer due to the widespread popularity of his calendars in the United States then. But even so, the majority of people who received these calendars as Christmas gifts probably couldn't identify just ONE of his photos as the 'most famous one.' I love Moonrise Hernandez, but for every person out there who can name that photo, there are a hundred who more readily recognize the Windows XP default backdrop.

Jun 05, 2020 at 12:51 PM

Jeffrey
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p.1 #9 · p.1 #9 · The famous photo 1 billion people saw

What a pile of crap. I never saw it before. So it was marketed to be used with windoze, an OS I never had or used. That doesn't make it great. That's just a product. That's not about art. Popularity contests are a waste of time. It's a pretty picture but that's all.

Jun 05, 2020 at 01:04 PM

moondigger
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p.1 #10 · p.1 #10 · The famous photo 1 billion people saw

"I never saw that photo" is not evidence that it isn't the most viewed photo in history. There are seven billion people on the planet. If a billion people saw it, and especially if they saw it every day for a period of years, that probably makes it the most famous photo ever. But that also means that six billion people didn't see it.

Jun 05, 2020 at 01:07 PM

01Ryan10
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p.1 #11 · p.1 #11 · The famous photo 1 billion people saw

I understand the intent of the threads subject, and I would agree.

Probably a more acurate subject line would be...

"The most viewed photo of all time". Especially when you consider instances it was viewed, (everytime you sat in front of your computer or minimized all open applications). Hell, by that definition and working in IT the last 22 years, I probably viewed this photo close to a couple hundred thousand times.

Jun 05, 2020 at 05:14 PM

chez
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p.1 #12 · p.1 #12 · The famous photo 1 billion people saw

moondigger wrote:
"I never saw that photo" is not evidence that it isn't the most viewed photo in history. There are seven billion people on the planet. If a billion people saw it, and especially if they saw it every day for a period of years, that probably makes it the most famous photo ever. But that also means that six billion people didn't see it.

Most viewed does not equate to most famous. Let's not confuse the two.

Jun 05, 2020 at 05:34 PM

chez
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p.1 #13 · p.1 #13 · The famous photo 1 billion people saw

01Ryan10 wrote:
I understand the intent of the threads subject, and I would agree.

Probably a more acurate subject line would be...

"The most viewed photo of all time". Especially when you consider instances it was viewed, (everytime you sat in front of your computer or minimized all open applications). Hell, by that definition and working in IT the last 22 years, I probably viewed this photo close to a couple hundred thousand times.

Enslaved to Microsoft propoganda. I always change my home screen to a photo I took.

Jun 05, 2020 at 05:36 PM

moondigger
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p.1 #14 · p.1 #14 · The famous photo 1 billion people saw

chez wrote:
Most viewed does not equate to most famous. Let's not confuse the two.

As I said above, it depends on your definition of "famous." I think "most viewed" or "most familiar" or "seen by the most people" are fair definitions for "most famous."

Jun 05, 2020 at 05:55 PM

chez
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p.1 #15 · p.1 #15 · The famous photo 1 billion people saw

moondigger wrote:
As I said above, it depends on your definition of "famous." I think "most viewed" or "most familiar" or "seen by the most people" are fair definitions for "most famous."

I wonder if you did a poll on the most famous photo in people's mind if this most viewed photo would be on top. I would think not as I don't believe most people equate most famous as most viewed. This photo even though I might have viewed it thousands of times on a bunch of monitors just does not stick as its boring. Photos like the Vietnamese girl running down the road with her clothes ripped off by napalm sticks in my mind...making it more famous than a boring scene...even though no doubt I've seen the boring scene many more times.

Jun 06, 2020 at 09:33 AM

moondigger
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p.1 #16 · p.1 #16 · The famous photo 1 billion people saw

chez wrote:
I wonder if you did a poll on the most famous photo in people's mind if this most viewed photo would be on top. I would think not as I don't believe most people equate most famous as most viewed.

I think it depends on how the poll is conducted. If the “candidate” photos are shown to the survey respondents, and the respondents are a truly random sample of people from all around the world, then I think it’s likely this image would win. If you surveyed photographers, or art critics, or didn’t provide a list of candidates for the survey, then it probably wouldn’t win.

This photo even though I might have viewed it thousands of times on a bunch of monitors just does not stick as its boring. Photos like the Vietnamese girl running down the road with her clothes ripped off by napalm sticks in my mind...making it more famous than a boring scene...even though no doubt I've seen the boring scene many more times.

I return to an idea I expressed earlier in this thread: sometimes people mean "revered,” "compelling,” “important,” or “admired” when they say “famous.” By those definitions, the XP backdrop photo is not the most famous. But honestly, I don’t think “revered,” “compelling,” “important,” or “admired” are good synonyms for “famous.” “Fame” is mostly about recognition — the more recognized, the more famous. There are far more people in the world that would recognize the XP backdrop than would recognize the photo of the Vietnamese girl, even though there’s no question that most people would say the photo of the Vietnamese girl is more important, compelling, or admired.

Let’s go back to the McDonald’s example from earlier. They are certainly not the most admired or most revered restaurant in most people’s minds. But the golden arches are everywhere, and even a two-year old knows that the golden arches mean “french fries” or similar. McDonald’s is almost certainly the most famous restaurant in the world, and I think the XP desktop photo is probably the most famous photo, even if it’s not the most admired or most compelling or anything else.

Jun 06, 2020 at 10:25 AM

01Ryan10
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p.1 #17 · p.1 #17 · The famous photo 1 billion people saw

chez wrote:
Enslaved to Microsoft propoganda. I always change my home screen to a photo I took.

Me? I would never leave the default MS wallpapers activated on my desktop. Other people is a different story.

Jun 06, 2020 at 11:18 AM

chez
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p.1 #18 · p.1 #18 · The famous photo 1 billion people saw

moondigger wrote:
I think it depends on how the poll is conducted. If the “candidate” photos are shown to the survey respondents, and the respondents are a truly random sample of people from all around the world, then I think it’s likely this image would win. If you surveyed photographers, or art critics, or didn’t provide a list of candidates for the survey, then it probably wouldn’t win.

I return to an idea I expressed earlier in this thread: sometimes people mean "revered,” "compelling,” “important,” or “admired” when they say “famous.” By those definitions, the XP backdrop photo is not the most famous....Show more →

You don't throw photos in front of people and then ask them what is the most famous photo. You are just seeding your results. Do it blind, just ask them what they feel is the most famous photo they have seen. I'd bet nearly zero would say the MS backdrop.

Is the most famous baseball player the one in your home town that you've seen playing the game for the last 10 years, or would they pick someone like Babe Ruth who they never saw play. Is the most famous car the 2015 Toyota Corolla which there are tons out there, or maybe something like the 1966 Vet or Mustang.

I think the one that is seen the most is very rarely the most famous...unless famous is just a counter.

Jun 06, 2020 at 12:03 PM

moondigger
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p.1 #19 · p.1 #19 · The famous photo 1 billion people saw

chez wrote:
You don't throw photos in front of people and then ask them what is the most famous photo. You are just seeding your results.

Giving people a list of candidates in a poll is a perfectly valid and statistically sound method. I have never received a call for a phone survey or poll in which the candidates were NOT listed. For a visual medium, such as a question about photos, showing candidate photos would make perfect sense. How is it "seeding" results if (for example) the photo of the Vietnamese girl, Ansel Adams' "Moonrise Hernandez," Steve McCurry's "Afghan Girl," etc., and the XP desktop are all presented? How does showing people candidates for "most famous photo" seed the results in favor of one of them, if all of your candidate photos are ALSO shown?

Do it blind, just ask them what they feel is the most famous photo they have seen. I'd bet nearly zero would say the MS backdrop.

You're right, but that's because you're not talking about a poll or survey -- you're talking about an open-ended question that's specifically geared to get the result you want. People are more likely to think of "important" photos when asked an open-ended question like that, when the question isn't "what's the most important photo," but what is the most famous?

As I said before, fame is about recognition. McDonald's is the most famous restaurant because it's the most recognized. That doesn't make it the most important or most respected restaurant. You seem to be equating them, when I don't think they should be equated. The same goes for your other examples.

It's clear we won't agree on this...

Jun 06, 2020 at 12:21 PM

Richard Smith
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p.1 #20 · p.1 #20 · The famous photo 1 billion people saw

Some of us only use Macs. Never seen it.

Jun 07, 2020 at 10:23 AM

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