Michael,
<Semi seriously though. I think 1998 is going to be the inflection point year for digital camera's and photography.>
I'm not sure if this is the year or not, but it's just a matter of time. I finally broke down and bought an Olympus D600L last week. At $1100 it's clearly not in the mainstream but it is absolutely awesome. As we all know, prices in the tech industry drop rapidly. Sooner than most people think, you'll be able to get a D600L quality camera for a few hundred bucks. Yup, just a matter of time. Digital photography is not a passing craze but a new era.
The storage media (SSFDC also known as Smartmedia) used in my camera is truly incredible and mind boggling. A little card about 1" by 1.5" and the same thickness as a credit card!! The two I got when I bought the camera hold 8 meg each. Everytime I look at one of these cards I shake my head in amazement. It's like magic. Take some pictures, pop out the tiny card, stick it in my notebook (via a PC Card adapter) and up pops and F: drive icon. At that point, it's just like having a new 8 meg hard drive. You can use DOS or Windows commands like you would on any other drive. Transfer rates are very very fast. When you eject the card, the PC beeps and the F: drive icon disappears. Very cool!
It's nice to see Intel getting involved in digital photography because this is a new exciting huge potential looming right around the corner. Many of the earlier digital cameras and most of the current affordable digital cameras still lack acceptable quality. This has left a bad taste in the mouths of many people and has led to a lot of bad reviews on digital photography. Rest assured, however, that the technology to produce stunning digital photos does exist and sooner or later (my guess is sooner) this technology will be affordable to the masses.
Good luck,
FF |
