Missing The Point On Camera Phones
from the almost-comical dept
Sometimes you want to sit down folks and have them read (once again) Clayton Christensen's research on how disruptive technologies work. What's amazing is that, despite the popularity of his work, those who are facing the challenge of a disruptive technology never seem to notice it until it's too late. That's exactly what's happening with camera phones, and it almost makes the following article comical, as various people who have a vested interest in more traditional types of photography point out the weakness of camera phones. That, of course, isn't the point. Of course camera phones aren't as good for taking pictures. Camera phones aren't designed right now as a replacement for cameras. They're not competing with cameras. They're offering an alternative - and that alternative leads to new and different uses. People who use a camera phone don't take the same types of pictures that a normal camera user takes. That's not what they're for. However, as the quality does get better, there is going to be an increasing segment of the population who realizes that camera phones certainly serve the needs that they used to use a regular "snapshot" camera for. Already the quality of new camera phones is getting to be pretty good, and it's not like camera phone makers have hit their limits yet.
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No kidding
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Re: No kidding
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Nobody Told The Consumers
When cars first appeared, they were thought to be merely horseless carrages. We now know that the differences were much more important than the similarities. I've always thought the same thing about digital cameras. The technological significance of the camera phone is as a first example of that sort of difference.
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Other types of digital cameras...
What I'd be more interested in is one of those USB keyring cameras, like the one Philips makes, only with a built-in flash and true 1-megapixel capability. Once something like that hits the market, I might blow $100 on it.
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Um...
[Camera attachments for phones don't cut it for everyday pics unless you seriously plan to carry the attachment with you EVERY DAY, which I sure wouldn't...]
The ability to send pics to friends & family directly from the phone is just bonus, although I do find myself wishing I could send pics directly from the digital camera, heh...
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