The JPEG image compression scheme and file format was developed in 1986 by the Joint Photographic Experts Group. Hence, J.P.E.G. was born. It was developed primarily to facilitate the reduction of large file sizes through the use of data compression. At the time hard drive space was tiny, by today’s standards. A large hard drive was just a few gigabytes. It was also slow and extremely expensive. Smaller files are more easily and quickly handled and stored. The JPEG format made it possible for photographers to store more images on their existing hard drives than they would have otherwise been able.
When the internet came along in 1989, file transfer speeds were painfully slow. So, again, it was necessary to use the smallest file sizes in order for them to be easily transferred over the internet at acceptable speeds. Once again the JPEG format answered the call. JPEG files were great for the internet, email, digital cameras and later on, cell phones because internet bandwidth, hard drive space, cell phone storage and cell network speeds were at a premium and large files transmitted far too slowly if at all over the internet. Hence, JPEG files became ubiquitous.
