Kickstartnews Blog - Tech Views

News Aggregation vs. Real News Reporting - Who Pays for the Real Thing?

2010-02-10T00:55:00.005-05:00

In his zeal to promote his own fortunes by insisting, in a recent article that news aggregators are on the path to the future, tech expert Michael Arrington doesn't really acknowledge the foundational objections by media outlet owners such as Mark Cuban, Rupert Murdoch and others against aggregation.

Here's the rub . . . It costs real money - lots of it - to do something other than analyze and then (frequently) only regurgitate/reprint corporate and government press releases - a popular pastime of many bloggers. All those news and investigative reporters working for traditional media outlets are also real people who earn real money and tap into comparatively massive resources in order to check facts, challenge statements, and generally stress sources of information to determine what's real and what's bullshit. Arrington, by contrast, works in his home attic office and relies on the broader Internet 'community' for many of his leads, and primarily on himself for his analyses. Arrington and many others like him are essentially one-man bands, none of whom have access to the refining environments defined by the internal editorial peer review embedded in the structures of so-called traditional media.

I'm not suggesting that Arrington can't do good work. He frequently does. But his recent negative comments about paywalls bespeak his personal fear about not being able to freely feed a portion of his TechCrunch blog, and seem to me to be a poorly disguised plea for free information. Rupert Murdoch on the other hand (among others), seems bent on preventing Arrington and all of the news aggregators from freely profiting simply by sucking news leads from the web site of Murdoch's publications without contributing to the cost of assembling, checking, analyzing and writing all that original stuff in the first place.

Arrington, for his part, and many other well-known bloggers, would have us believe that new aggregation is great. After all, they say, don't MSN, Yahoo and Google offer home pages containing aggregated news? Absolutely! But unfottunately for Arrington, he does not have the refining resources that Google for one, brings to the table - Google and its competitors all have the financial resources to establish their own news bureaux and reportage if it comes to that. So in my view it's not a David vs. Goliath position that Arrington takes. I believe he's doing nothing more than trying to skew opinion to serve on his own self-interest.

If Rupert Murdoch and all his peers want to square off with Google, Microsoft/MSN and Yahoo, good luck to them all. But if Murdoch thinks he'll hurt Google, for example, he's dead wrong. There's nothing to stop Google from going into direct competition with Murdoch and either equaling him or beating him at his own game. Frankly, I hope it happens because I'm just as fed up as Arrington seems to be with traditional media. The problem is, I think Arrington isn't telling us his real reasons for deriding paywalls, and that's not what blogging and news reporting and real communication are all about. Sorry Michael - I don't buy it.

iPhone Camera Hype? Look — it's NOT a good camera!

2010-01-22T10:43:00.005-05:00

I have a beef with the heavily marketed notion (by Apple, Canon and Nikon in particular and in that order) that every person must have some sort of camera at the ready at all times. The Nikon D700 mated with almost any modern lens ever made by Nikon, represents a pinnacle of technical achievement which leaves only the photographer at 'fault' for capturing poor light, poor balance, poor composition or boring subject matter. The D700 is a bit of a load and it's therefore not glued to my hip 24/7. Sometimes, despite my enthusiasm about photography in general, I actually wander around without a camera (gasp!).

Chase Jarvis' insistence (along with Ken Rockwell, Scott Kelby, Steve Simon and dozens of other respected photography proponents, all of whom earn as much of a living from the sales of books and instruction courses as they do from photography and product endorsements) that "The Best Camera is the One You Have With You" is all well and good, but speaks to me of some urgent push to purchase an iPhone rather than any sort of genuine need to be in possession of a camera at all times.

Frankly, iPhone photos are mostly only marginally well focused, vaguely color accurate, and offer only limited dynamic range. The same is true for the vast majority of point & shoot cameras in conventional form factors. They're all perfectly useful in varying degrees of limited shooting conditions. So we snap shots, at every opportunity, of mundane things which catch our eye, and then spend yet more time sorting, approving, collating, cataloging and classifying hundreds (or thousands) more photos? For what purpose? To what end? Do we refine our photography eye in this way? Not with an iPhone.

Apple successfully promotes and supports a lot of surreptitiously effective marketing. "The Best Camera is the One You Have With You" is another example. I liken it to the widespread promotion and sale of MP3 music on iTunes and so many other music sites. MP3 files, even on the best reproduction systems, represent to me far too little of the originally produced CD or DVD. Given that even a cheap stereo system is capable of reproducing more detailed and accurate music from an original CD than any typical MP3 purchased through iTunes, what on earth have we accepted as a standard? MP3 is a huge step backwards.

Similarly, broad acceptance that "The Best Camera is the One You Have With You" motivates us to snap away at anything, secure in the knowledge that the average focus and average general image fidelity of a photo made with an iPhone is just fine because, well, everybody is doing it. Score another one for Apple.

The point is that a D40 will do just as well to extend our abilities as photographers as a D700. In my opinion, an iPhone will not. So we're being told what by Apple (through intermediaries such as Chase Jarvis)? That an iPhone is just as effectively creative as any dedicated camera on the shelf? Apple can and does do anything and everything it can to sell its products. So does RIM. So does Sony. So do all the others. But let's not allow reality to be warped by any arch notion that we should divide our precious time still more because we really should be looking at millions of 'wonderful' photos being made with iPhones.

The world is awash in digital photos, most of them being family photos (which are not at issue here). As usual, 90% (or more) of everything besides family photos is complete junk, of vague interest mainly to the photographer who saw something and captured it in some blurry, unbalanced or poorly composed way. But he got the shot! Thank you iPhone? I think Apple has done a successful job of making us turn our heads from time to time away from quality and toward mere convenience. The iPhone and its photos are like MP3 players and files - poor stand-ins for the real thing. We've even come to accept iPod audio quality which is measurably, and more important, audibly inferior to competing players.

Saving money, considering all the alternatives, then carefully choosing a fine camera (from a used Nikon D70 or Canon Rebel XT on up) with which to pursue the hobby, avocation or amateur pursuit of photography, is a wonderful process which almost always includes the gradual acquisition of more knowledge about the art and craft of photography. In my opinion the iPhone speaks to none of that. My BlackBerry Curve 8330 is capable of capturing the same absence of photographic quality as the iPhone, so its handiness is just as perfect for snapshots of things which need to be remembered (mistakes, wine bottle labels, notes, etc., etc.). It's only a creative tool if we force it to be. The only way to do that, it seems, it to spend so much time using it (to capture only softly focused shots of limited dynamic range) that we have no energy left for a walkabout with a camera that is capable of fully reproducing what we observe. In other words, we make an inferior choice.

Ken Rockwell, Chase Jarvis and many others would have us believe (in my opinion, mainly to drive retail clicks on their web sites) that as long as light and composition are just right, well, that's that - it's a great photo. Nonsense! Most of Jarvis' photos - indeed most of his iPhone photo collection - is just like an episode of Seinfeld: all about nothing.

Rockwell and Jarvis and many others would have us believe that we can rock our world with tiny point & shoots, iPhones and put away the Nikon D700 or Canon 5D MKII forever. But when the newest cameras and lenses are released, there are all the boys reviewing and writing madly and ensuring that B&H Photo and Adorama links are prominent all over the place. What self-serving nonsense they all promote! Of course they're entitled to promote their 'fortunes' and I think they do it well. But an iPhone is just another piece of semi-useful gadgetry to suck dollars out of our pockets and into Steve Jobs overflowing treasure chests.

Step out of the hype for a moment and walk around without a camera. No D700, no iPhone, nothing. Find things - observe things, inevitably - which capture your attention. Return when it's convenient with the least expensive Nikon, Canon, Pentax, Olympus, Panasonic or Sony digital SLR and almost any lens you can put your hands on to shoot the subject. Leave the iPhone at home (no phone calls to distract you). Carry the digital SLR and a small lens instead. You'll be much happier with the results.

I think that if a Nikon D700 (or even an old D70, D40 or P6000/P90) are all just too bulky or too much weight for you some days, that you're really not in the right mood to be making photos in the first place. Once again, step outside the Apple (and Nikon, Canon, Pentax, Olympus, Panasonic or Sony) hype and leave both the iPhone and the digital SLR at home. The change will do you good.

Not to be outdone by any of the other guys, we're happy to push good cameras too. Our favorites these days are the Olympus EP-1 & EP-2, Nikon D300s, Canon Rebel XSi, Nikon D5000, Canon 7D, and the Panasonic GF-1.

Best of the Best from CES 2010

2010-01-17T21:31:00.011-05:00

Microsoft has put a lot of eggs into its remarkable Project Natal. For the uninitiated, project natal is the cover name for a clutch of integrated hardware and software designed to be able to sense motion in multiple dimensions simultaneously, velocity, color, angle and deflection. Some of you are thinking, "Hey, didn't Nintendo do all that with the Wii?" You'd be right — to a point. The enormous difference is that with Natal-enabled devices, you don't have to hold a controller. Kicking a virtual soccer ball, swinging a golf club, pointing and gesturing don't require anything except a nearby natal-enabled device and you. As has happened with Microsoft's wonderful Surface operating system (those exotic table computers seen regularly on CNN - think John King's political reviews on that huge touch screen monitor - and in the movie Quantum of Solace), really creative and broadly useful ideas rapidly morph into technology that is itself as useful as it is fascinating. Microsoft is also putting its Windows 7 operating system into a variety of Slate computers (what every other manufacturer calls a tablet PC). No doubt Apple is gearing up to compete in the tablet arena within the next three months.

Yet more technology to separate you from the best part of $5000 will show up this Spring in the form of 3D televisions. Whether they'll niche out or gradually become the de facto standard to follow HD remains to be seen obviously, but don't hold your breath for bags and bags of content. Frankly, all of the current 3D implementations (spiral polarizing, single side-by-side anamorphic stereo, single strip over-and-under stereo, stereoscopic digital 3D) require glasses to present the image stream to the eyes, and they all give me a faint headache. Lots of other people feel the same way, so the 3D TV makers have a got a lot of work to do before they start selling migraine boxes into the mass market. A two hour 3D movie is one thing, but daily 3D couch-potato sessions lasting four or five hours each will melt your brain.

The Panasonic VT25 Plasma 3D HDTV will be available this Spring. Look for many others to follow. By the way, 3D HD content is slated to be delivered to consumers on 3D Blu-Ray disc.

Forget about traditional backlit LCD TV and computer monitors. The market in 2010 will be inundated with vastly superior LED backlit screens as well as native OLED screens. What you're going to see (and crave) amounts to a significant step up in color depth, color saturation, realistic color, great dynamic range, deep blacks and razor sharp pictures. Finally, I think, I'm going to take a 46" LED or OLED plunge.

Intel introduced its Wireless Display (WiDi) adapter. It's basically a receiver box/device with a short cable that you plug into your HD TV. Thereafter, any WiDi-enabled laptop or PC can wirelessly display on that TV. Very handy, and it beats having to install a dedicated media PC in your living room. Look for WiDi boxes and Widi-enabled laptops and PCs this Spring. Think presentations, media streaming and gaming.

Eye-Fi got a lot of attention with its new Pro X2 802.11n, 8GB SDHC card. Well deserved attention of course, and more digital SLR owners should consider these Class 6 SD cards. Now if only Eye-Fi would come out with one of these things in CF format, I'd buy one, like, in a second.

Plastic Logic Que ebook reader is, as mentioned in a previous post, big and good looking and very, very thin. The form factor is too large to stuff into a camera bag or purse, but it will fit easily into an attache case, briefcase or messenger bag. eReaders are all over the place now, so don't be surprised to find yourself looking at a Kindle, Cybook, Sony eReader or Que online sometime soon. I love my Sony PRS-600 eReader and it goes everywhere with me (and it fits into a front pocket of my Domke camera bag). The Alex Reader from Spring Design is Google Android-based and it seems to work extremely well. The only problem is, no e-ink. It's an LCD screen-based ereader/tablet. Surprisingly readable though.The iRiver Story is a bit better yet. eReaders and more eReaders.

I hate Windows Mobile, but T-Mobile in North American is about to start flogging the HTC HD2 in its stores (U.S. first). It's been a European model for the past few months and it's about time it crossed the Atlantic. All anybody says about this ultrathin, 4.3" touchscreen smartphone is, "Nice, really, really nice."

It was apparent at CES 2010 that small laptops and netbooks are sort of meeting in the middle. I (still) like my year old Acer Aspire One, so I'm going to hang onto it for another year of walkabouts, travel and so on. But Lenovo (IdeaPad), HP and Dell (Mini) are all coming out with much more powerful new models. Intel will no doubt be shipping lots of dual core Atom processors, and you're going to have a choice between Windows 7, Linux and Google Android operating systems. Some of these new netbooks fold into touchscreen tablets (the Lenovo IdeaPad S10-t) and may finally convince me that tablets have some use. So if somebody blends an ebook reader with a netbook tablet under 2 pounds (less than half a kilo), I'll line up to get one.

CES 2010 — Real New Products You'll Be After This Year (most likely)

2010-01-07T18:34:00.003-05:00

First up? We told you that Microsoft would come up with some sort of tablet thingy and they did. Now however (Bill Gates being mostly gone), Microsoft President Steve Ballmer is calling them "Slate" computers. Whatever. He showed off three units, one from HP (Kindle-size at approximately 9" x 6" x 0.3"), one from Archos (which looks like an oversize iPod Touch), and one huge thing from Pegatron (we couldn't find out the exact size but it looks about 8.5" x 11"), all powered by Microsoft.

Google's Android operating system is attracting some serious attention. All those touch screens on iPhone and Android smartphones enable a lot of effectively useful convergence. For example, the most obvious thing in the world is to combine a GPS with a touch screen smartphone. Navigon has done it for Windows Mobile and Android, and will release its MobileNavigator for both platforms in February and April respectively. Navigon's software already works extremely well and should be another boost for Android in its battle for market supremacy with the iPhone and BlackBerry.

Sony is showing off its 24.5" OLED 3D TV. That's right - another prediction come true. This is the biggest commercial OLED panel yet, and with the integration of 3D compliance (for at-home screening 3D blu-ray discs such as Avatar - you know they're coming), and the amazingly immersive and extremely detailed image, you know you'll be seeing even bigger panels like this when they hit stores next Fall. It's only money, man - only money. By all accounts, the Sony OLED screens are beyond stunning.

Samsung is showing off its NX10 Digital Hybrid SLR camera. It's got HD video, a really beautiful 3" AMOLED rear screen (better, significantly better, than even the very best 920K LCD found on the best pro digital SLR bodies right now), hi-speed video viewfinder (so there's no mirror hump), all wrapped around an APS-C sensor (that's bigger than four-thirds but smaller than full frame), all of which speaks to superior image quality with a long and distinguished line of lenses. We're rapidly reaching the point at which preferences for Nikon, Canon or whatever other traditionally top-of-the-line brand happens to dominate become irrelevant. Image quality (in the hands of a capable photographer of course) from all of the new crop of digital SLR cameras is so good, there's little to distinguish between them except feature and function sets.

Eye-Fi 802.11n Pro X2 SD memory cards contain geotagging capability, WiFi connectivity which helps you transfer files, and this version is class 6 which means it's had a speed improvement. It's still not as fast as the pro cards - nowhere near it actually - but Eye-Fi products have proven to be reliable performers. This one also contains something called Endless Memory which can be set to automatically delete images on the card after they've been uploaded to your laptop, PC or storage device.

Boxee is releasing its shiny new Boxee Box (by D-Link). It's the latest version of its streaming media box for the living room. We like it because the supplied remote and the user interface is so well done. Look for streaming media boxes like this to start showing up (and getting more popular as a result) quite early this year. Better than a Tivo, way better than some lame PVR from your cable provider, and way, way better than messing around with a PC in your living room running Windows Media Center. The software portion of the Box is in beta right now, so look for the new Box be early Spring.

New router (like we don't have about a zillion too many on the market already)! D-Link has released the D-Link Touch DIR-865. The Touch works at either 2.4GHz or 5GHz concurrently. It almost maintains multiple data streams which together allow a total throughput of up to 450Mbps as long as its communicating with 802.11N-enabled device. It will be really, really zippy and stable, but unfortunately carry a bit of a high price.

The Smartfish ErgoMotion Keyboard is one of the prettiest looking things at CES 2010. It's a motion-adaptable ergonomic keyboard which adjusts over time to your most comfortably ergonomic typing position. Is this (finally) a consumer-priced keyboard which will successfully displace expensive (albeit really good) ergo keyboards from Kinesis? The keyboard is sleek, looks gorgeous on a desk or keyboard tray, and most important offers excellent typing action and durability.

More to come . . .

Pre-CES Announcements . . . wherein all of the 'playahs jump the gun

2010-01-05T10:58:00.006-05:00

UPDATED 18:25 EST, JANUARY 5, 2010
UPDATED 13:30 EST, JANUARY 5, 2010
UPDATED 13:10 EST, JANUARY 5, 2010
UPDATED 10:10 EST, JANUARY 5, 2010

Digital Imaging

Canon has a new version of its already excellent 70-200mm f/2.8 pro zoom lens - updated optics with significantly reduced chromatic aberration, the latest image stabilization, and possibly slightly faster autofocus (we'll see about that).
Sony, never one to leave a good thing alone, has released its umpteenth version of its Alpha digital SLR, this one the A450 - another sub-$1000 digital SLR offering little besides feature creep, an tiny bit less power consumption, and the same 14 megapixel sensor found in several other Alphas.
Lexar is showing off a new Professional 32GB 300X CF cards - isn't that great? 32GB - really - fill it up (fast at 300x) and then sit for days in front of your computer sorting through thousands of images.

Computers

Lenovo has got new ThinkPad laptops coming out its ears - of the new T-series models we really like the 15.6" W510 that can be loaded with a Core 2 Extreme i7-920XM CPU (yummy), up to 16GB of RAM (yummier), and an nVidia Quadro FX-880M graphics card (yummiest). The new entry-level ultraportable X100e is the first one of its kind for Lenovo and is designed to go head-to-head with netbooks, while offering optional bluetooth and 3G, plus much more serious processing power from the Athlon Neo.
We're going to keep our eye out for a retail/buyable copy of Samsung's new netbooks - the new N-series looks terrific and the N220 is especially interesting with the ultra low power new Intel Atom "Pinetrail" CPU at 1.6GHz, lovely anti-glare 10" LED backlit screen, up to 12 hours(!?) of battery life, instant-on (via the integrated Phoenix HyperSpace tool), and enough storage space and usability to satisfy a lot of business users and a lot of traveling digital imageers. I want one.
3M will be showing off its Display M2256PW, 22-inch high-definition, multi-touch LCD display - its capable of responding to 10 different simultaneous inputs (10-finger touch sensitive in other words), and its native resolution is an impressive 1680 x 1050. This will be a really interesting product for designers and other pros in a variety of disciplines who need to physically interact more fully with their work.
USB 3.0 is here now, so get used to it. Western Digital is first out of the gate with its SuperSpeed USB 3.0 My Book® external hard drive, among the first devices certified. Throughput is almost 10 times faster than USB 2.0 hi-speed, and it's all allegedly backward compatible with USB 2.0 (ahem). The drive is supplied with a USB 3.0 card so you'll actually be able to use it with your now-obsolete USB 2.0-equipped computer. Lots more USB 3.0 products coming, so stay tuned.
In Store Solutions launched the Freetalk TALK-7181 HD PRO PLUS webcam for Skype HD - as long as you've got a minimum 800Kbps (up & down) web connection, you can use this thing to chat via high definition video. It uses embedded H.264 encoding to compress the video stream, and at 5 megapixels and an allegedly decent lens, might put competing products to shame. Let's just see how well it works and how often prevailing ISP throttling policies ruin the use of this product.

eReaders

Interead Cool-er - it's an ereader that's almost all screen (6"), making it the smallest form factor on the market (and the e-ink screen is very good too), with 2GB of internal storage, expandability via SD card slot, and a 3G version coming mid-year. This one may make grab my attention away from my excellent Sony PRS-300 and PRS-600.
The Skiff Reader seems to (finally) be a reality - it's a big momma with an 11.5" screen at 1200 x 1600 pixels and 174ppi, but the screen is a metal foil design that is really remarkable by all accounts and combined with the magnesium housing amounts to barely a pound in total weight. The specs boast an active week of battery life, but we'll believe it when we see it. For large form factor magazine and newpaper reading, the Skiff looks like a serious contender.

Home Entertainment

Polk Audio will be showing its single footprint surround-sound wireless speaker system - I know, I know, how can you generate surround sound from only one front-n-center positioned speaker enclosure? It's a conundrum, but several other speaker makers have already released (dreadful) similar products. Polk Audio (back in the early '90s) had a wonderful reputation for producing competitively priced, audiophile quality speakers. Then Polk seemed to have slipped overall for a time. Too many products perhaps? In recent years, Polk has been regaining its quality edge, so let's give this one a chance shall we? The system uses a method of controlled sound dispersion via individual speaker drivers in the enclosure.

Wireless

Palm CEO Jon Rubinstein has told everybody that v1.3.5 of the webOS mobile will be officially launched at CES 2010 - download and store more applications, enhanced program and WiFi performance, improved battery life, and increased device speed and responsiveness are supposed to come together to make great products such as the Palm Pre work even better. Okey-dokey - we'll see - but Palm is a funny place, so many times a world-beater, but lagging far behind the market leaders for quite a few years.
The Google Android pre-CES press conference was a big deal actually. In addition to its existing T-Mobile relationship, Google announced new carrier deals with Verizon in the U.S. and Vodafone in Europe. Nice. Android phones are accelerating quickly in both quality and quantity, the operating system itself is terrific, and Google will outreach Apple very shortly because Google seems to be reeling in new carriers quite quickly.
(added @ 18:15 EST, Jan 5) Google again. This time the search supergiant has unveiled its Nexus One smartphone (or as ZDNet has dubbed it, the Superphone). According to ZDNet the Nexus One is 11.5mm thick (a BlackBerry Curve is 15mm thick), 130 grams in weight (an iPhone 3G weighs 135 grams), every text field is voice accessible (speak to compose an email?), it's fully multimedia enabled and also contains a 3D subsystem for Google Earth. Don't forget the gorgeous, gesture-enabled touch screen. If it actually makes phone calls too, it might actually be a real superphone.

Automotive

(added @ 15:08 EST, Jan 5) Kia Motors has announced its Uvo (powered by Microsoft) in-vehicle infotainment system (really - the pre-CES press release said "infotainment") - it's a voice activated system for controlling and configuring mobile communications and the vehicle's entertainment system (radio, CD, DVD) and turn-by-turn GPS. We promised there'd be plenty of this stuff in the wake of Ford's success with Sync, so here we go.

Nothing from Nikon, Panasonic or Sony. Apple will not be at CES, preferring - as usual in recent years - to do its own thing when its new product announcements won't be lost in the massive noise of CES. Apple's successful corporate individualism won't flag as long as Jobs helms the company. Google will not be at CES either, but has lots of products of its own in the pipeline and will be running (Google search, Google Chrome browser, Android) on almost every laptop (and many smartphones) at CES, (added 13:15 EST, Jan 5) and has a major press conference scheduled at its Mountain View, CA headquarters. We think Google probably has the right idea - just like Microsoft all those years ago: be needed and be everywhere.

Nothing pre-CES from an awful lot of companies, but it's a reflection of the times. Retail is off all over the place and manufacturers just aren't rushing new products to market right now. Makes sense. So will CES 2010 be a yawn? We'll see about that too.

More to come . . .

Consumer Electronics Show (CES) 2010

2010-01-04T20:09:00.006-05:00

It's b-a-a-ck! CES is here again. All the products any slave to media, entertainment, computing, gaming, communications and even small business technology could possibly want. Las Vegas, Nevada — January 7, 2010.

Here's what we'll be tracking this year, and why we think you and your small business enterprise will be interested in this particular CES:

(Added/updated January 5) Look for a boatload of USB 3.0 products. That's right - just when you finally got all your USB 2.0 hi-speed peripherals playing nicely together, along comes a newer, faster standard. Why? Tell me why? Please.
Netbooks and laptops. We'll be looking for new models of our favorite netbooks to show up with some really powerful processors and higher capacity hard drives. Now that I've learned to type on a smaller keyboard, and now that I've really gotten used to the smaller screens, I want some serious horsepower. I also want it at a low voltage that allows me to run the thing six hours straight. At the same time, expect to see the smaller notebooks and laptops (12.5"-15"), lighter in weight and with longer battery life, with even more power and more storage capacity.
Auto tech is all the rage. If Ford's SYNC technology (in partnership with Microsoft) that's been showing up in all sorts of for cars and trucks is anything to go by, all the automakers are going to be shortly doing the same thing. Sync/play/update your iPod and library, voice activated turn-by-turn GPS with maps updating over-the-air, integrated WiFi hotspot module for all your connected devices in the vehicle, and lots more. It's about time. Look for even more robust, integrated offerings from Audi, GM, Honda, Toyota and Volkswagen. How many miles to the gallon please, and does it come with 3G?
eReaders and more eReaders. Sony eReader, Amazon Kindle DX, Plastic Logic QUE, iRiver Story, Bookeen Cybook Opus, Interead Cooler, iRex iLiad (what's with all the "i" names?), Barnes & Noble Nook, and the Hearst/Sprint Skiff which is a large format ereader scheduled to debut at CES. All-new models are coming on which you'll be able to read your daily newspaper, review business documents, read books, make notes, and so on, all on those highly readable e-ink touch screens.
TV, TV, TV, TV, and more TV. Big TV. OLED screens (still too achingly expensive), lots more LED-backlit LCD models (bye-bye plasma I guess), and maybe even the first 3D integrated product lines (3D data player + 3D TV + optical quality 3D glasses even better than the ones at Avatar + 3D A/V decoder in new A/V receivers), along with a Logitech Harmony remote to control it all. Great. Where do I sign up?
New mobile and desktop operating systems. We said it here a couple of years ago. Google is aiming to put an operating system into the mainstream. Well it's happening now. The Google Chrome OS is heading for a desktop near you and we're predicting that lots of hardware vendors will be showing it off at CES. At the same time, Google's successful release of its Android mobile operating system is spreading rapidly. The main reason is that it's a terrific alternative to the major players, it's extremely well-supported now, and beyond anything else it works really well. Ask any HTC user — they're raving about Android.
Apple's rumored Tablet. We're not totally sure that CES is the best venue for Apple to release a major new product. On the other hand, people have gone broke predicting what Apple won't do. An Apple Tablet computer of some sort (combination ereader and netbook perhaps?) is surely in the offing, and we're guessing CES is a dandy spot to preview the thing. We'll see.
Gaming platforms - console vs. PC. As far as we can tell, it's status quo for Microsoft, Nintendo and Sony. No new gaming consoles this year. That's okay though, because we're just starting to see how good the existing hardware is with some of the new titles hitting the shelves. But as console games get even better, PC releases such as the incredible new Call of Duty 4 are taking advantage of incredibly powerful CPUs, videocards that are more powerful than many CPUs, huge desktop monitors and thunderingly accurate sound systems, all pushing the state-of-the-art even farther out. More to come.

Stay with us throughout the coming week for all the interesting stuff coming out at CES 2010.

Another Consumer Burden — The Darker Side of Web Loyalty Programs

2010-01-02T10:22:00.001-05:00

The latest, pervasive consumer burdens spreading widely on the Internet are the so-called Web Loyalty campaigns that have been, until recently, a significant income earner for a shockingly long list of major online shopping sites including 1800Flowers, Buy.com, Classmates, Continental Airlines, Expedia, Fandango, Hertz, Orbitz, Priceline, Redcats USA, Shutterfly, Travelocity, U.S. Airways, VistaPrint and many other ultrahigh volume, online retailers.

Since July 2009, federal investigators in the U.S. have been probing three companies in particular: Affinion, Vertrue and Webloyalty. If you've shopped online, you've likely seen Webloyalty, Affinion, and Vertrue's efforts in the form of a secondary transaction page which pops up asking if you're interested in 'cash-back', coupon or discount offers against future purchases. All you have to do is enter your email address and that's the end of it, or so it appears. The problem is that what you've actually signed up for (merely by entering your email address — no other information) is a regular monthly charge by Affinion, Vertrue and Webloyalty of anywhere from $4-$20 on the credit card you supplied to the original retailer or site from which you made a purchase prior to seeing that pop-up offer. In other words, Affinion, Vertrue and Webloyalty, many online retailers, and the bank which issued your credit or debit card, are all in cahoots.

Check your credit card statements right now for those small recurring charges. All such charges and the associated so-called loyalty programs have fallen under the uncomfortable scrutiny of the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation.

Back in August, Affinion, Vertrue and Webloyalty denied any wrongdoing and argued that their services offer users savings and are valued by many subscribers. In my opinion, the three companies have only offered what sound to me (and, I think, to most members of the Senate committee) like rather vapid responses.

Subsequently, Webloyalty announced late in August that it would henceforth require in all its ads and pop-ups that customers enter the last four digits of the credit or debit card used in the previous/current transaction to confirm their agreement to pay the membership fees. Affinion similarly altered its requirements in November. New, more extensive and clearly worded language is being added to the pop-ups which specifically explain that you're about to sign up for a recurring charge. Visit Webloyalty and Affinion Group to find out more about the so-called loyalty industry of which these companies are a part. If you don't like what you read, complain loudly.

Caveat emptor big time. These companies contribute nothing to the world. They create profits without providing a service, without manufacturing anything, and without actually doing much of anything. They convince you to sign up to pay a recurring monthly fee for something they have determined quite accurately that most of us will forget about the moment we navigate off the web page. Will the 'cash-back', coupon or discount really work at some point in the future if you do remember you've got it? Yes — but only if the server is available, the campaign hasn't ended, and the item or service you've chosen next time actually qualifies. Remember though that as usual, and not unlike the rebate dodge in which retailers rely on the fact that almost 65% of rebate coupons are never sent in, the vast majority of people who willingly or inadvertently sign up for web loyalty programs either forget about the deals, lose their access codes, or never have an opportunity to take advantage of any legitimate deals simply because they don't do the required kind of shopping, all the while still paying a small monthly charge for long periods of time. Don't let down your guard either, because Affinion, Vertrue and Webloyalty aren't giving up this money maker without a fight. Their whole loyalty business model is based in my view on not fully presenting consumers with the reality of recurring monthly charges, as opposed to providing consumers with the sort of fully informed consent that actually reads and feels that way.

As of this writing, Continental Airlines, US Airways, Priceline and VistaPrint have cut ties with Affinion, Webloyalty, and Vertrue. I suspect, more bad press and more consumer pressure will convince other online retailers to get either out of the web loyalty business or devise yet another surreptitious approach.

This latest online headache got caught because a few sharp-eyed consumers started questioning recurring charges appearing on credit and debit card statements. Make no mistake though. In my view, Webloyalty, Affinion, Vertrue and the retailers and banks with which they partnered, never believed for a moment that the income stream (in the tens of millions of dollars) would go on forever. They knew the programs would be questioned eventually, and that the government would slap them all on the wrist, waggle its finger and admonish them to not do it again. No punishment and no penalties. In the meantime they've all made their money, so it's on to the next scam.

Some people will note that almost every Affinion, Vertrue and Webloyalty sign-up page contains informative, consumer language in the fine print. If a few people inadvertently sign up, then complain loudly when they see the recurring charges, caveat emptor and too bad for those people. It is when hundreds upon hundreds of consumers began to complain that the effective visibility and comprehension of the consumer language on the sign-up pages was called into question. To Affinion, Vertrue and Webloyalty I say shame on all of you. Find something better to do with your ideas.

DHS and TSA Leak Like an Old Rowboat

2009-12-31T20:05:00.006-05:00

Associated Press reported on December 30 that the U.S. Transportation Safety Administration (TSA) is going after travel bloggers Steve Frischling and Chris Elliott. The two bloggers published details of a confidential TSA security directive or memo which was issued in the wake of the December 25th attempted bombing of a Northwest Airlines passenger flight. Frischling and Elliott claim to have received the details of the security directive from an anonymous source.

According to Eileen Sullivan's Associated Press report, the directive was dated Dec. 25 and was issued after a 23-year-old Nigerian man was charged with attempting to bomb a Northwest Airlines flight as it approached Detroit from Amsterdam. The bomb, which allegedly was hidden in Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab's underwear, malfunctioned and no one was killed. Authorities said the device included a syringe and a condom-like bag filled with powder that the FBI determined to be PETN, a common explosive.

The TSA and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) are in some important respects fractured organizations beset by intra-agency management power plays, and inter-agency communications difficulties. None of the problems are unusual in themselves — there isn't a big organization anywhere on the planet that doesn't suffer some of the same ills. The problem with these sorts of difficulties at TSA and DHS is that both agencies are responsible for people's lives. The horrible complexity imposed by inter-departmental communications — providing raw intelligence to various members and sub-agencies that can put it to use — amongst the dozens of players, security providers, investigators, intelligence organs and policing bodies over which DHS in particular is supposed to have jurisdiction, amounts to a mile high mountain that must be climbed every hour of every day. It's a hell of a lousy way to run a security and intelligence supervisory agency.

Information leaks out of government agencies like water from an open tap. It just keeps flowing and flowing. The most public thing the TSA seems to have done about this latest leak is to start pumping the bloggers for information.

The TSA and DHS are crippled by their own complexities. They and their sub-agencies need to redesign and re-implement their processes, procedures and poorly wrought inter-agency communications to create a truly cohesive and cooperatively efficient domestic security force. Fat chance. Sadly, it will likely happen only after so devastating a disaster takes place that even the most deeply entrenched, pork-barreling, party-loyal Senators, Congressional representatives and senior bureaucrats are finally heaved from office.

As always, the toughest decisions for national security are made only after the blood of citizens has been shed by some terrorizing monster bent on some insane mission. The problem which really creeps me out right now is that even in the long wake of 9/11, and after all the dead and wounded servicemen and servicewomen shipped home from Iraq and Afghanistan over the past few years, the politicians and senior bureaucrats are still jealously protecting their state and district empires, agonizing more about re-election than their constituents, and carefully tending to their big corporate sponsors.

Canada has little more to offer; the UK less still. Canadians are struggling with an insular federal government which spends more time talking to itself than its taxpaying citizens. The specter of a police state edging into view in the UK rears its ugly head with each successive arrest of yet another group of Islamist plotters. The European Union seems to have been lured into a bureaucratic minefield of its own making, while hoping its citizens will kind of hold it all together, starting in surprise at the immigrant unrest and outright rioting in the poorest neighborhoods of the largest cities. Oh dear United States of America — rest assured you're not alone.

We're dying out here, and we're paying big taxes for the dubious honor of yet again being threatened by a terrorist who yet again has circumvented security at an airport. The overworked security staff at Pearson International Airport did, however, manage to snag a pair of fingernail clippers two weeks ago from my carry-on. Kept me waiting for ten minutes while they were (I presume) deciding whether or not I was a threat to national security. But Chemical Umar managed to board his Northwest flight just fine. The TSA and DHS should be beating up on themselves for being the cripplingly complex organizations they are today. They can't even keep their own data secure. If the TSA and DHS do their jobs better, they won't have to worry about innocent bloggers.

Airline and Airport Security — What a Mess

2009-12-31T07:28:00.004-05:00

Humility and privacy, above all else, should govern the conduct of those individuals, private companies, and government agencies charged with the responsibility of protecting airline passengers and aircraft. What we have right now — what we have had for thirty years or more — is a spectacularly insulting, abusive, but only marginally successful system.

Do you really think that thousands of incidents of harm, violence and terrorism have been averted because airport security ferreted out my 75 year old mother's hairpins, or because the nail clipper you foolishly left in your carry-on was seized, or because a drunk was kept off a flight, or because a man's Swiss Army pocket knife was triumphantly snatched from a pocket. You'd be wrong. The people who want to maim and terrorize just aren't that obvious most of the time. They get caught only when something goes wrong with the scheme they developed to circumvent security. The vast bulk of them get caught — are you ready for this — long before they ever get to an airport.

Terrorists started sneaking weapons on board aircraft, used the weapons to hijack aircraft and kill passengers, so we made it illegal to carry weapons and started putting everybody through metal detectors. The terrorists adapted and figured out how to get box cutters on board, seize crew members and take over the aircraft. So we started scanning and inspecting for trade tools and seizing everything in sight. The terrorists adapted again and started using relatively small amounts of liquid chemicals hidden in hollow shoe heels, whereupon the security services started restricting liquids of all kinds (and how about that rip-off $4 bottle of water at airport shops once you're past security). What did the airport security services do? They made us all take off our shoes, trudging along on dirty carpeting (and worse), while our shoes are being run through a scanner. But the terrorists adapted again, strapping condom-like bags of PETN to their thighs. Our vaunted airport security responded by patting down all U.S.-bound passengers to ensure they aren't wearing anything but their clothing. And because the airport security restrictions are really too much work for any sane person, forget too about bringing any carry-on luggage on board the aircraft, thereby continuing the unbroken pattern of locking the barn door after the horse has bolted.

Does anybody who is not a moron really believe that allowing their typically soft-sided camera bag to be checked into the luggage hold is not going to result in a thousand dollars worth of smashed and ruined camera gear? What a way to start a vacation. Does anybody who is not a moron believe that the airlines are going to improve upon their lost/mis-routed luggage mess? According to SITA, which tracks such things, in 2007 more than 42 million pieces of luggage were mishandled by the world's airlines. That works out to approximately 80 bags per minute, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week; one 'lost' bag for every 90 passengers worldwide, according to SITA. The odds of mishandling are approximately 1 in 145 bags in developed countries, plunging to approximately 1 in 85 in Europe, then down to a miserable (approximately) 1 in 65 in less developed countries. It is into this mess that airport security is insisting more and more often that we check all our bags including carry-ons.

This idiocy has to stop, and there has to be a solution. I say, stop flying — right now. Not forever — just for a month or two. That's what (Kickstartnews.com publisher) David Coppola suggested recently. Stop flying. The fractured economics of the airline industry will split wide open. All of these airlines operating on paper thin margins because they're literally competing themselves to death, will fail and collapse out of existence if we all simply stop flying for a month or two.

Put the airlines and the airports out of business. Start over. The hours-long lines at security gates whenever there's an alert, the lack of true security, restrictions which have no basis in reality, passengers kept waiting on the tarmac for hour after hour while air traffic control sorts itself out, flights which never leave on time, cramped seating, low-cost fares in exchange for on-board food which tastes literally like cardboard (or worse) and for which you have to pay stupidly high prices if you dare to even consider ingesting it in the first place, cramped on-board lavatories in which even anorexic teenagers have trouble turning around, complete lack of carry-on measurement control during normal travel circumstances, idiotic electronic device usage restrictions which have no basis in scientific fact, tens of millions of lost suitcases, and a whole host of other stupidities which serve only to annoy, inconvenience and disrupt our plans.

Tell your sister in Winnipeg, your business associate in Denver, your investor in Madrid, your mother in Bogota, your head office in Osaka, your cousin in Mumbai, or your good friend in London that you're not going to be traveling for a few months. Ground yourself. While we're all doing that, the constipated, dysfunctional, multi-billion dollar boondoggle that is the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, and the bureaucrats who run the laughably broken interdepartmental communications efforts which permeate and slow down almost every security issue in the United States and the European Union, will have time to rethink how well their internecine battling has served the taxpaying, fare-paying customers — the billions of customers — footing the stunningly massive bill for all the security incompetence, empire building, terrible service and broken promises which have taken place over the last 40 years.

The specter of tens of thousands of children, mothers and grandmothers being frisked at airport security gates after standing in what looks like nothing so much as Depression-era soup lines for an hour or more, is a pathetically awful vision representing the utter failure of competence and communications between and amongst our national and regional security agencies. This is how our fares, tax dollars and absurd security surcharge fees are being spent? Nonsense!

Stop flying, right now, for a couple months. Need to travel because of a family emergency? Fly on a charter. Lobby your Congressman, MP, or whatever your political representative is titled, to insist on legislation which allows you four travel days for every vacation week. Take the car or the train. Want to travel overseas? In a better world, your own government (you know, the government that issues your passport after investigating you), will issue an identity verification and security risk verification every time you book a flight. If the system spits out your name as a risk, you'll be notified by email to attend a separate security area set up at each and every airport in the world (all of which do have the space) to go through special security. No lines, no waiting.

In my world too, the fatuous, arrogant bureaucrats at different agencies who selfishly fail to communicate with each other quickly about perceived threats, will be held accountable for every injury and death which occurs because someone didn't pass along information or punch through the lines to inform the right people, or act (and, maybe, make a mistake), rather than sitting and musing about whether or not the political climate was right. It's enough to make you want to sit up and start a wholesale revolt against the people into whose hands we place our safety.

Security, as any truly experienced and successful expert will tell you, begins long before you ever get to an airport. Suspected subversives who are being tracked can't be allowed to fly, or indeed travel anywhere without special searches and special attention. Call it profiling if you like. When I was a kid — a white, Jewish kid in Winnipeg, Canada — I went to rock concerts at which I was profiled. After all, white Jewish teenagers (according to the local cops) were highly likely to be attempting to smuggle booze and dope into the venue. You know what? The cops were right. We didn't call it profiling then. We just said, "Damn cops caught me!" Guilty is guilty. So who are you and why are you traveling? What have you purchased and why have you purchased it? Where have you been recently? Who do you hang with? The bulk of security checks should be done when you purchase a ticket — in other words, when we've all got the time to undergo security. Think that sounds bad? You're right. But it doesn't sound half as bad as an explosion three rows back which happened because the system we've got doesn't scare anyone except you, your Mom and me.

IT and Software Projects Fail . . . and fail, and fail

2009-12-27T09:34:00.003-05:00

When was the last time you can recall your web site being updated on time, a new software installation in your office going smoothly, or new computers delivered and set up without problems? How about never? Uh-huh.

Take heart. You're not alone. In point of fact, Information Services (IS) and Information Technologies (IT) installations (servers, networks, telecommunications), software development (web sites, new software applications), and new computer hardware (laptops, desktops, printers, etc.) remain far too glitchy, unstable, and fraught with set up and installation problems. The cost of all those problems to almost all SOHOs and small businesses is scary.

Thousands of dollars are lost each year by most SOHOs and small businesses because of web site programming problems, graphic artists who pretend to be web designers and hand you slow-loading sites, problematic database installations which leave your customers gasping for air as they leave your online store frustrated by poor functionality and tiny product photos and worse. At the grassroots of IS/IT projects - software development that is - inaccurate timelines, endless problems unforeseen during planning, poor project organization, sloppy programming, and programmers who build mini empires around their precious code, result in product delays amounting to months and sometimes years.

It's only money - billions of dollars, pounds, euros, pesos, yen and so on, just flying out the door. Don't mention the problems to your IS/IT trades or consultants or development staff however. You'll get the cold shoulder (and, strangely, even more problems and delays will crop up). Dare to suggest to a team of programmers that they should spend more time planning a project than arguing (fighting, battling) over its direction half-way in, and they'll turn on you like a pack of rabid wolves insisting that you'd better not try to tell them what to do or things will get screwed up even more.

The day of the programmer, software engineer, software architect, operator, IT manager and program manager essentially determining the fate of the products on which they're working must end as soon as possible. Many of these people have cost us dearly in viability, usability, salability and profitability.

There are large groups of great programmers, engineers, operators and IT managers who really know their stuff. They consistently deliver on time, communicate well and work toward the success of the companies at which they're employed. The competency percentage is unfortunately lower than that of other disciplines in the working world. That has to change.

Technology schools must be tasked with the notion of discipline in the business world. The fact that software development is taught without a concurrent education about the dangers of poor planning is a traditional omission which has to be immediately remedied.

Data Caps - your ISP is no longer a true access provider

2009-12-12T18:10:00.003-05:00

Rogers Cable in Canada and dozens of other Internet Service Providers in Canada and the U.S. and Europe are capping your monthly data traffic. While caps vary, they're not really the point. What's important is that in many jurisdictions (in Canada and Europe in particular), data caps are a way around the regulatory strictures which force ISPs to get permission from regulatory bodies in order to raise monthly access fees.

See the trick? To hell with regulatory requirements when you can simply avoid the process altogether. All you have to do is cry bandwidth problems, throttle whatever data you want, point to fine print in the customer access contract, and then charge whatever you want for every gigabyte used over the arbitrary cap set on each regional or nodal block of subscribers.

I hate these people. They reaped big profits for years while allowing us to freely get used to downloading and browsing whatever we wanted. Now that we're almost addicted to high volumes of data, suddenly the ISPs impose data caps? Suddenly we're paying through the nose to view/browse/stream/download all the things which were covered by the fixed monthly fee for previously unrestricted internet access accounts?

Yes. We've been suckered.

All those profits went and continue to go to ISP shareholders and fat executive salaries and bonuses, not into the infrastructure needed to provide really great service, support and bandwidth to all the customers. Net neutrality is a dreamy myth. It never existed. The corporate communications mavens will no doubt soon attempt to charge us for just thinking about Internet access.

Governments sit back and do nothing. Governments hire consultants to help rip off billions in tax dollars in return for bad tech advice. Every last nickel will be milked out of the systems until people begin screaming and threatening, and only then will ISPs and governments react by (grudingly) enforcing the design and implementation of better quality and more consumer friendly Internet access.

In the meantime we pay ridiculous fees for Internet access, something which should be comoditized and turned into a public utility.

Amazon Unveil Frustration Free Packaging Initiative

2008-11-03T17:03:00.003-05:00

Amazon have decided that they too are fed up with all the nearly impossible to open and environmentally unfriendly packaging that companies use. Their initiative to ship products in easy to open and dispose of environmentally friendly packaging is meeting with a lot of favour on a lot of tech blogs and also with users in general. I'm personally happy with this initiative because of my own frustration at the finger ripping plasic manufacturers tend to use in their packaging. Bravo Amazon, lets hope they aren't the last company to take this idea seriously.

New Product Reviews — September & October 2008

2008-10-13T18:51:00.002-04:00

Lots of great new product reviews over the past 30 days!

That's all for now. Check Kickstartnews regularly for news & new reviews.

Camera Straps Don't Make You a Target for Thieves

2008-10-13T17:45:00.003-04:00

BUT . . . a good quality, purpose-built strap can prevent a lot of grief.

Using a camera strap emblazoned with the camera maker's logo is no more or less an invitation to theft, while traveling or on vacation, than it is the sign of a good photographer.

It's only the work of about an hour and a half to poke around on the CIA World Factbook web site and search through annual crime stats and victim reports published by newspaper web sites in different countries to develop a reasonable estimate of losses suffered by photography tourists.

I have heard, third or fourth hand, about people who've been the victims of snatch & dash thieves, but I've never actually met anyone first-hand who has lost any gear to snatch & dash thieves. I know it happens because I've traveled to some nasty areas at home and abroad in which I've occasionally seen obvious thieves 'casing' my gear.

Published and widely available crime stats and analysis and incident reports from Canada, the U.S., UK, France, Germany, Spain and Italy show that 85% of all thieves only look for targets of opportunity however. In fact, somebody walking down the street with a camera slung over their shoulder or neck along with a camera bag and one hand on the camera body is a very difficult proposition for a thief who just wants to run in and run out as fast as possible. While I don't want to minimize the real gear losses that some people may have suffered due to thieves, stats from around the world seem to show that the vast majority of tourist camera gear is stolen out of unguarded camera bags, when the owners' attentions are elsewhere. Street kids in some countries are drafted to hang around local tourist sites in some cities and simply watch for tourists to put their camera bags (or large purses or whatever) on the ground when they sit down to rest or to take a photo unencumbered by their load. The signal is given to the lurking thief and the gear is stolen while the tourists' attentions are elsewhere. The same thing happens in restaurants, museums and airports. Actual assaults by thieves attempting to run up or run by and rip a securely strapped camera or bag from someone's shoulder are very rare. Physical muggings, in which a tourist or photographer is confronted at gun or knife point in a secluded area, are even more rare.

These days, the word "Nikon" or "Canon" on a neck or shoulder strap is only a hint for any thieves that happen to be about to try and check out what's actually slung or stored in the bag. The fact is, experienced thieves know that an uncomfortably large percentage of what at first glance looks like Nikon, Canon, Rolex, Breitling, Louis Vuitton, etc., may not in fact be the real article. I think most people realize that thieves don't steal goods for their own use. They steal in order to sell goods for cash to a Fence or Pawnbroker. Too many thieves have been badly 'burned' by risking arrest and imprisonment for what turned out to be fake goods. So even in the poorest areas, a camera strap emblazoned with the bright yellow Nikon logo is often only a warning sign rather than a green light.

Throughout decades of travel, a determined attitude when walking (always have a destination in mind, but wander as you please at the eventual destination), the habit of always hanging onto my gear, and never, ever shouldering so much gear that I end up sweating and exhausted with my bag sitting on the ground beside me while I rest (far too many gear hounds haul around far too much on a day walks and night walks, and general walkabouts), has helped keep thieves away from me and my gear.

Knowing your route while walking is also a good idea. Plan your route while you're still at the hotel. Gazing vaguely about in public while referencing a map book offers an opportunity for a thief to walk up and ask if you need any help. If you need to reference your map book while walking, do yourself a favor and stop at a cafe for a cold drink or a coffee. Place your camera bag under the table, wrap the strap around your leg, enjoy your juice or coffee and pore over your map book.

The main reason I don't use Nikon straps has nothing to do with being afraid of advertising the brand of gear I use. I hate Nikon straps because they're thin pieces of irritating junk suitable only for use on top of a thick jacket or over a heavy shirt collar. I don't like heavy gear slung around my neck and the camera maker's straps are by & large useless on the shoulder. They're just too insecure because they slide off too easily. As far as I'm concerned, they're truly meant to be little more than an excuse to display the camera maker's logo in a prominent spot. I see quite a few people in many places around the world using the branded strap supplied with the camera, and I just don't understand why the camera owners haven't replaced them with vastly more comfortable and useful third-party straps.

So what straps are good? I'm hooked on the UpStrap these days for shoulder carry. The design is tried and tested and remains about the best insurance against accidentally dropping your camera in awkward situations. BlackRapid makes a superb, highly usable strap for cross-shoulder (across the chest) carry. Domke's standard shoulder strap works well when used on clothing or jackets with coarse weaves or textured surfaces. Lowepro neck straps have a wide, shock absorbing neck section that distributes weight extremely well. Tamrac neck straps also use a well designed shock absorbing neck pad that works. OpTech uses more extensive shock absorbing material in a design which may be the best of its type. Taking anywhere between 30-60 minutes in a camera shop to actually attach and try out a variety of straps will save you much aggravation and disappointment later (say, in the middle of a photography trip or a family holiday). One thing you can be sure of no matter which camera strap you choose is that a strap which works properly for your particular carry is a vastly higher priority than any consideration about whether or not the strap displays a camera maker's logo.

MySpace Suicide Case

2008-08-05T17:01:00.004-04:00

There is currently a case against a mother who posed as a teenage boy in order to harass another teen online. In the process of harrassing her, she ended up driving her to suicide. The case has taken a bizarre, if not predictable turn as rights groups such as EFF (Electronic Frontier Foundation), the CDT (Center for Democracy and Technology) and Public Citizen are opposing the government's criminal charges against the mother. These groups along with a group of 14 law professors, have filed an amicus brief in the case, in the belief that if the mother, Lori Drew, is prosecuted using CFAA charges, the case could have significant ramifications for the free speech rights of US citizens using the Internet.
Whilst I applaud the general activities of these groups, sometimes they need to thnk about the victims of crimes like this. To be honest with you I think this whole free speech thing has gotten out of hand, if it is proven that this woman hounded this girl to her death then she should be held responsible. We've forgotten that freedom without responsibility is tantamount to an invitation to chaos. Free speech without the concept of responsibility is meaningless, because of the abuses it invites. It'll be interesting to see how this case unfolds...

Danger! Buying a Digital Camera from a Private Online Discounter

2008-05-31T14:33:00.003-04:00

Horror stories abound, many of them true, about consumers who have been ripped off by private online digital SLR camera discounters. The usual entry point starts with an ad on a private discounter's web site offering a digital SLR for $50 to $100 less than the same model being sold by the big name online digital SLR camera dealers such as B&H Photo-Video, Adorama, Cameta, Henrys, Vistek, Camera Canada and so on.

The major online retailers originate mainly from major brick & mortar dealers. They are entitled to and take advantage of the best volume pricing breaks from the camera distributors. The majors also negotiate shipping deals with carriers such as the postal service, FedEx and UPS. So how is it possible for much smaller online retailers to undersell the big boys? The answer is obvious. Either the discounters are selling everything at a slight loss, or more likely, the discounters are making up the price difference somewhere else. That last part is the key.

Recently on the DPReview discussion forums poster named PixelDave asked "Have any of you ever used these guys [CentralDigital.com]? Seems like they have an OK rating on reseller ratings and are selling the D300 for $1629 - 4%. Just wondering if they are safe." I responded to Dave with the following (edited slightly here for context).

"You've really got to read their D300 info page carefully. Note that the so-called Starter accessory package includes the camera battery . . . for an additional $90. The Starter accessory package does not supply an extra battery — just the one that is supposed to be in the camera box. That means the camera box itself does NOT contain the standard (excellent) battery that is supposed to be there. CentralDigital is a complete ripoff in my opinion. The other items in the Starter accessory kit seem to be all garbage including what I'll bet is a useless/glacially slow no-name 4GB CF card.

$1629 + $90 (you NEED a battery for the camera) works out to $1739, but OOPS — B&H Photo is selling a real D300 package (complete with the proper battery, charger and cables as supplied by Nikon) for only $1699. I wonder if CentralDigital will also try to sell you the stock cables and the charger as 'extras' too?

Who knows what other additional charges CentralDigital might try to add to your credit card for packing, handling and shipping."

In the same thread, DavidH wrote to point out that "Amazon reseller, Ray M. supervisor $1650, have over 50 D300s in stock. (orig over 100 a few days back-all USA). We were leary of NY [discount online] camera stores, but trusted Amazon. Fast extra courteous service, no lip or hard sell. These guys want business and good reputation."

Okay . . . maybe. But if these units are grey market items without a Nikon USA warranty, it's not a deal for the US-based customer. If the units are in fact domestic market inventory and supplied with the full Nikon USA warranty then it's a good deal. The original poster has to compare warranty, shipping & handling, all the items supplied in the box, the total retail price and the return policy (in case he receives a defective unit) in order to do an accurate comparison. The major US and Canadian online retailers make it easy to sort this stuff out. The discount guys don't. Neither do Amazon and eBay with their rather limited amount of space for resellers, retailers and private sellers to list product details. On eBay, half or more of almost every listing is composed of endless disclaimers and threats to potential false or flaky bidders.

Adorama (on Amazon) currently shows what looks like a great Nikon D300 package which includes all the usual stuff in the box (camera, battery, charger, USB cable, A/V cable, manual, LCD shield) plus a value pack containing a 2GB CF memory card, a spare EN-EL3e Lithium-Ion battery, Lowepro holster-style case, Mack 3 year extended warranty, digital remote shutter release, and Nikon Understanding Digital Photography with Nikon SLRs DVD, all for $1829.

There's lots to compare, but it's clearly a better deal than anything offered by the private online discounters.

I don't blame or fault small businesses in any way — guys who are flogging excess inventories at low prices, legitimate small camera dealers who are cutting margins razor thin to try to build some market share and so on. But if any problems arise, I think consumers are often not as well served by the private online discounters because the discounters can't (and often won't) handle two-way traffic of any kind (returns, refunds, missing items). The hard sell you may receive from a private online discounter trying to force you to purchase a battery (sometimes at an inflated price!) that is supposed to be included with the camera, service delays or non-existent service (in the event of delivery problems or receipt of a defective camera) can end up turning what initially appeared to be a $50 or $100 'saving' into an aggravating mess.

If consumers insist on saving every possible dollar, good for them. But when dealing with private discounters, deal locally — or at least some place close enough to where you live so that in the event of problems you can reach out and touch someone.

Check every online digital SLR camera deal carefully. Use the well-established online retailers as a baseline.

Go to the camera manufacturer's web site to find out exactly what is supposed to be included in the package
Go to B&H, Adorama, Cameta, Henrys, Vistek and Camera Canada to find out how the big guys are competing on price.
Check the package contents list on each of the major sites you're using for comparison.
Check the shipping fee to your address. Note that the major online retailers don't charge any sort of handling or packaging fee.
Armed with all of the foregoing start comparing prices at the private discounter sites. Add any and all the 'extras' to the listed price to get to the real item cost. Then add the private discounters' typical packaging (that's right - some private discounters want to charge you for the shipping box), handling (again - some private discounters try to charge you a fee to actually pack the camera for shipment), and shipping fees.
Last, if you ever find a private discounter or a smaller corporate online retailer who can legitimately beat the big guys, visit reseller ratings and the BBB web sites (among others) to see if there have been any serious complaints.
When reading complaints about retailers, try to filter out the complaints which are obviously made by uninformed consumers or outright liars who tried to con a retailer but couldn't get away with it.

BIG IMPORTANT NOTE: A major digital SLR camera purchase can cost upwards of $2,000. That's a lotta dough. If you're going to spend 8-10 hours or more trying to sort out the best price online, ask yourself if the time will be better spent driving/traveling to the nearest major shopping city in order to personally visit a bunch of camera stores. Armed with your best legitimate online price, you may be able to get the retailer to meet or beat the deal. If so, you'll also be able to try out in-store the camera you're actually taking home.

The best way to set up a personal comparison shopping tour of local or regional camera stores is to get on the telephone and ask each store if the product you want is in stock. Check the store hours of operation, then use a map to set up the most logical route from store to store. Set aside some time for lunch. Smart consumers do everything possible to put their hands on the expensive item they're considering buying. In the process, talking to as many retailers face-to-face as possible and previously interacting online in some of the great discussion forums at DPReview and Nikonians (there are many others), you'll be able to make an informed confident, affordable purchasing decision.

Buyer Beware!

Software Purchases - Sale or Lease

2008-05-25T08:31:00.004-04:00

One of the basic premises many software companies use to define their releationship with their users is the idea that users are not really buying their software, but merely leasing or licensing it. This premise allows the software companies certain protections. What it also does is prevent the resale of the software. However with high priced items like Adobe's suite and Autocad, this can be a sticky issue. A recent case where Timothy Vernor and Autodesk have locked legal horns over whether or not he had the right to sell used copies of Autodesk's software, has the potential to overturn this whole premise. Timothy Vernor and his legal reps used the First Sale Doctrine as a basis for fighting Autodesk in court and won.

An article over at Ars Technica discusses this issue in depth, in discussing First Sale Doctrine, the article states:

ensures the right to re-sell used copies of copyrighted works. It is the principle that makes libraries and used book stores possible. The First Sale Doctrine was first articulated by the Supreme Court in 1908 and has since been codified into statute.

Autocad aggresively pursued Timothy Vernor on ebay when he started selling used copies of their software on the Site. They started filing DCMA notices which ended up in the suspension of Vernors account preventing him from carrying out his business. Vernor makes a living from selling items he buys at auctions, flea markets, garage and office sales.

The judge in the case, Richard A. Jones, determined that the sales as such were protected under First Sale Doctrine due to the circumstances under which the software is sold. If this case is appealed and the judge's decision is upheld, this will have far reaching consequences for the industry. This will allow purchasers of software to resell the products they buy but don't use, but it will also mean that software firms might have to start looking at how they licence their products. If they are smart the larger firms will look at opportunities this will offer like selling transfer fees for support and upgrades to new users of old software. It will also create problems such as updating user registries and veryfying transfers with previous or existing users.

This will be a case to watch as it will have a lot of repercussions for us all, user and creator and reseller alike.

Comcast P2P, Expensive Music Downloads — Consumers Always Pay

2008-04-18T11:10:00.002-04:00

Ars Technica reported Comcast's announcement of its plan to lead an industry partnership in the creation of a "P2P Bill of Rights and Responsibilities" that would apply both to users and to ISPs. I think client p2p sponsored or offered by telcos, cable companies and their ISP operations has been lurking in the shadows for some time. I also think that previously the perceptible delay or the palpable resistance to p2p functionality by the telcos has resulted largely from an inability of the telcos to devise a worthwhile monetization plan. The obvious financial gain resulting from bandwidth usage and the accompanying charges to customers doesn't offset the huge potential load that existing infrastructure and switching would have to carry. But now that all the telcos and cable providers have thrown down the gauntlet and declared, essentially, that net neutrality (another buzzword for sure) is here and in the process of being implemented, it's quite possible that p2p functionality will suddenly become viable (and specifically chargeable as a service distinct from texting, phone calls, voice mail, caller ID, etc.).

The other question that giants like Comcast have recently asked their legal staff is "Are we opening the company to legal action brought by copyright holders if we enable p2p?" The most frequent answer seems to be that as long as Comcast promotes the use of p2p functionality, and more important, as long as copyright holders and managers such as Apple (through its iTunes web site) are willing to pay Comcast a tithe to ensure customers have fast access to the iTunes site (thereby provide sufficient revenue to make infrastructure loading and improvements worthwhile), everybody's ass is covered. No lawyer can then make a case against Comcast for enabling illegal file sharing the day after the same legal staff approves a deal for Apple to pay a fee to Comcast to ensure that Apple customers who are also Comcast customers have fast access to the iTunes store.

It's initially a complex equation. The most worrisome factor might be the degree to which Comcast and its competitors decide to impose potentially invasive usage monitoring to ensure specifically that p2p usage remains legal and within the guidelines for Fair Use set out in section 107 of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA). Is the potential sacrifice of privacy worth the dubious privileges conferred by paying for a p2p feature on your cell phone? Possibly worse still, what will bandwidth payments by Apple to Comcast do to the purchase price of music downloads?

In the end, consumers pay, then pay again, and then yet again. What's the real cost of a music download on iTunes in such a situation? After accounting for the small proportionate cost of your ISP contract, cell phone plan, data plan, p2p client fee, bandwidth charges if you go over a monthly limit, the cost of a song download, the cost for the time required to burn a CD at home (for those people who prefer to listen to a CD in the car), the cost of the CD itself, the proportionate cost of hard drive storage space and backup storage space, and the cost for the time needed to make redundant backups of Digital Rights Management (CRM) licenses, purchasing music online may not be the bargain anyone thinks it is.

UK - US Pricing Divide

2008-04-13T14:35:00.005-04:00

There has been a lot of discussion about the disparity in product pricing between the UK (where I am based) and the US for the same items. In many cases products cost twice as much (and even more in some cases) as they do in the US. So why is that? Do the products incur local costs such as support offices, distribution warehouses and so on? Or is it just a case of greed.

Rock Band is one example of a product which is markedly more expensive than the US version. Where the US retail version costs about $150 (equivalent to UK£75), the UK version will retail for around £180. How in hell do you justify charging the UK equivalent of $360 for this toy?

Translation costs? I dont think so.

Support? Maybe ... but what with all the outsourcing going on probably not.

Greed? Quite likely.

There is some excellent coverage of this particular product and the issues at the RockBand.com forums. We've covered this issue before with respect to how Microsoft and Adobe have followed similarly outrageous sorts of pricing strategies in the UK. It's quite shocking that the British consumer keeps paying prices so far above other, similar western markets for so many products including games, electronics, optics and much more.

Sure we have high sales taxes and import duties, but twice the price? Come on. Get real!

Patent Issues Must Read

2008-04-09T18:41:00.002-04:00

ARS Technica have published an article which discusses some of the issues facing the current patent process and the viewpoints of some of the players in the battles surrounding the laws involved in them. In the article, which is well worth a read, they state that: "Two of the nation's leading civil liberties organizations and a new organization dedicated to the abolition of software patents have all filed amicus briefs in a patent case that could give the courts an opportunity to revisit the issue of software and business method patents." I'll be following this one as I think that the whole patent process as it stands is bad for innovation and too easy to abuse.

Rogers Hi-Speed Internet — No Deals Here

2008-04-01T11:45:00.006-04:00

It had to happen. The apparently coarse and transparent oafs who seem to be running many of the cable Internet providers have finally dropped the other shoe. After years of urging us to "get online and experience a world of information, digital photography, digital music, digital video, movies and entertainment" they've now got everyone hooked. So what better time than now to introduce blatantly abusive usage charges while remaining protected by rate increase legislation?

Rogers (in Canada) is just one example. Let's de-construct the first paragraph of the latest mailing to all Rogers business and residential customers:

"With households doing more online every day [at Rogers' urging - the company spends millions to market itself and its services every year] - from downloading music and streaming videos to joining online communities [Rogers of course already charges good money for music and video/TV streaming] - it's important to have an Internet provider that evolves to meet your changing needs [e.g., charging you for services for which it has already charged you]. At Rogers, we remain committed to always providing you with the best Internet experience possible [except for terrible business service, inaccurate records, service technicians who fail to arrive for a scheduled call, and throttling of the same client/server data exchanges for which its now going to charge extra fees]. That's why we are introducing changes to your current service that will help us to better meet your needs for speed, reliability and a continually improved network [read: we're effectively a monopoly in many parts of Canada, so we assigned our legal staff to find a regulatory loophole which allows us to charge more money for the exact same service!].

Bully for them.

According to Rogers, I am paying $54.95 per month (plus taxes) for a 10Mbps connection. The problem with that statement is simply that I've never achieved anything close to 10Mbps download speeds. Before starting to write this post at 10:30 AM EST in Toronto, I checked my connection speed at Toast.Net. The best I could do was 6.7Mbps. That's nowhere near 10Mbps. I tried the same tests at 1:00 AM this morning and the best I could do was 7.3Mbps. It doesn't matter what time of day you want to consider because the theoretical maximum speed on which all of Rogers customer marketing is based can rarely (if ever) be achieved in practice.

A curse on the collective corporate consciousness that eructs and promotes this sort of patented drivel. A curse on the regulatory boards and the government legislators who swallow the drivel. Rogers advertises speeds which it can't or won't deliver, but regulators seem blind to the situation. The Devil is in the details, but if nobody examines the details, the Devil has his way.

As of June 1, 2008, Rogers is going to cap monthly bandwidth traffic at 95GB for Extreme and Extreme Plus customers, and charge an additional $1.50 and $1.25/GB respectively for every GB over the limit (to a maximum of $25/month). Don't forget to calculate the additional cost the first time you decide to subscribe to a remote data backup service such as Carbonite, Mozy or even Dell's new service. That first 100GB backup could be a killer.

I really hate these people. They dig with buckets underneath the outhouse, run away with whatever they find, then reappear trying to sell us our own shit (or theirs) at inflated prices.

Site Hacking Misanthropes

2008-03-30T13:18:00.006-04:00

There has long been a group of tech heads who take great pleasure in creating grief and problems for everyone else out there. Some of them create viruses and hack web sites apparently for nothing more than malicious kicks. Apparently, some of them are now engaged in even more heinous activities.

There was a hacking incident this week at an Epilepsy support forum. The hack consisted of animations designed to flash and move in a way which could cause problems for epilepsy sufferers, even cause seizures. A number of regular visitors to the site's discussion forums maintained by the nonprofit Epilepsy Foundation were affected by the attack.

The hackers who carried out the attack should be caught, then barred from any Internet or computer access for a minimum of ten years. To be honest I think that would be a really light price to pay (after all, there are folks out there now who'd like to see the miscreants physically thrashed).

There's no hacker ethos or tradition of attacking people with physical or mental disabilities. Such a thing is horrible to contemplate or observe and in this case amounts to a targeted attempt to physically assault a specific disability. Shame on anyone who devises and executes such attacks. For more info read the original post on Wired.

Many hackers deathlessly walk the fine line which separates outright felony from relatively benign acts designed only to benefit an individual or satisfy a challenge. Times have changed. Hackers who stay on the side of the line that most of us often ignore (including many of the authorities charged with the task of investigating cybercrime) eventually grow out of their most prurient interests as age and other priorities evolve in their lives. But hackers who range into the realm of assault on people with disabilities are looking for a whole other kind of trouble. They've now drawn attention to themselves of a kind that no sane person could possibly want. I pity the hacker brought before a judge to answer for this crime.

Carbonite is Pretty Dope . . . Until it Screws Up

2008-03-18T12:31:00.003-04:00

I love Carbonite (the online/remote backup service). It has already saved my sorry ass twice in the eight months that I've been using it. I've extolled its virtues to dozens of friends and acquaintances. Everything was fine until two weeks ago when the unexpected happened. The Carbonite servers went down and were inaccessible for several days. The proximate reason? A failed update (or so some pundits have surmised). The managers at Carbonite (the company) are less than detailed in their explanations.

As blogger and Asuret, Inc. CEO Michael Krigsman stated when commenting on the Carbonite outage, "Seems there’s never enough time to test before deployment but plenty of time to fix problems after they hit customers." Yikes, and right on.

One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) — The Horrible "Give One Get One" Campaign

2008-03-16T13:00:00.004-04:00

Nicholas Negroponte is an architect and computer scientist best known as the founder and Chairman Emeritus of Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Media Lab. Negroponte is also known as the founder of the One Laptop per Child association (OLPC). The main point of OLPC is to fund, develop and distribute tough little wireless Linux laptops to children in developing countries. It's a laudable goal. The technical accomplishment for OLPC was to design and build such a laptop at the lowest and therefore most obviously affordable price. That much was done.

The next phase in the evolution of OLPC was the launch of a campaign last August (2007) called "Give One Get One." Seems self-explanatory doesn't it? Log on to the OLPC web site, donate a laptop to a child in a developing country and buy one for yourself (ostensibly for a child near to you) at the same price. Total price? US$433.95 including shipping. That's a fine deal. Some needy kid in some far off place gets a great little laptop for learning, Internet connectivity and a thousand other things, while some kid you know near home gets a cool birthday present.

The problem is only that the OLPC laptops aren't showing up. I placed an order on December 8, 2007 and as I write this on March 16, 2008, the only notification I've received from OLPC is an email sent in the middle of January telling me there'd soon be another email containing good news about my order "next Wednesday." Well folks, next Wednesday has come and gone seven times and still no word from OLPC.

Sorry kid — whoever you are — no laptop donation from me. A couple of niece and nephew birthdays have also come and gone since I placed the Give One Get One order last year, so the occasion to give away the one I was getting has also passed. I could give it to the kids anyway if it ever arrives, but the parents of the niece and nephew are tired of waiting for the OLPC too, so they called Dell and ordered a laptop (which was delivered within a week as usual for Dell).

What is wrong with the OLPC association? Is it that they failed to anticipate the volume of Give One Get One orders? Did they bring the OLPC laptop to market too soon or before it was ready for mass production? Are the managers at OLPC just a bunch of Vegan stoners who'll get it all done as they sort of, like, um, get around to it without stress man?

Are these questions out of line or needlessly insulting? Not really, and here's why. Intel and Acer are each coming out with their own take on OLPC-type laptops. That is, ridiculously inexpensive and reasonably rugged and usably featured Linux-based wireless laptops. So in the absence of any word from OLPC, I can only guess that the newer, reportedly better OLPC-type laptops from Intel and Acer will show up long before my OLPC order arrives. Why should I let OLPC keep my money when I'll be shortly be able to do my own Give One Get One?

Some people will read this and shake their heads at what is really a negative attitude on my part. Phooey on them. I no longer have any confidence that OLPC can deliver on its promises and plans. OLPC has demonstrated no ability to communicate effectively, it can't build its laptops in a timely manner, and I am by far not the only one complaining. By the way too, there's absolutely no indication from OLPC that the donated laptop has been delivered either. From where I'm sitting, OLPC appears to take in lots of money and then gradually, over a period of many months, doles out a few laptops here and there.

OLPC? I want my money back. Now.

It's not the Camera, It's the Photographer

2008-03-14T08:46:00.006-04:00

Make the statement "It's not the camera, it's the photographer" during any discussion or debate on the relative merits of one piece of camera gear over another and you will surely end up in some sort of argument. Really.

We don't advocate any attempt to use semi-operational used gear which only possesses the virtue of being cheap to acquire. We don't advocate throwing a top-of-the-line digital SLR (or any other top-rank SLR) at a novice photographer. We do advocate that photographers should educate themselves about the art and craft of photography at every opportunity, and regularly consider how well their gear is serving them. Buy the best you can afford, but buy only what you can afford.

Professional photographer Ken Rockwell posted an article on his web site about this subject. Professional photographer Michael Reichman posted a rebuttal article on his own web site. Unfortunately, neither photographer seems to be able to engage in the debate without resorting to hyperbole. So since I've been making photographs longer than Rockwell (but not quite as long as Reichman), it's time for a moderating opinion.

Pros, semi-pros and amateurs are working with Olympus, Pentax, Sony, Nikon, Canon, Leica, Kodak and Sigma digital SLR bodies attached to all manner of lenses. All of these photographers make great photos with all of this equipment. Occasionally, even great shots taken with compact and so-called prosumer cameras manage to sneak through. Whether or not a photo is sharp enough and large enough to be creditably reproduced at some large size in a high-end coffee table book or on an art poster is not, in my opinion, the measure of its value as a good (or bad) photo, and the lack of gear to capture such a photo is not a measure by which to judge your existing equipment. Sorry Mr. Reichman. On the other hand, moderately attractive balances of composition, color and subject in moderately good focus during the brief and only time of day in which some cheap compact has any chance of capturing a decent photo is not the measure of a truly versatile camera or satisfying photography experience or a useful choice of gear. Sorry Mr. Rockwell. I think Reichman and Rockwell both use excessive amounts of what can only be described as hyperbole which serves to inflame the debate rather than qualify it. They're both doing a creditable job of attracting traffic to their respective web sites.

Using only the best gear you can afford has a very special effect on most people. As you engage in a photography experience which is based on an affordable start, it has the effect of bringing you closer to your gear in ways which make it easier for you to judge which exposure settings will achieve the best result. The longer you work with your chosen, affordable gear the more you'll find out about its flaws and the more you'll find ways to make better and better photos. Use that gear for a couple of years and you may never part with it. Ever. The reason? It's mainly because you will certainly use that gear at some point to make some photos which have deep and emotional meaning and value for you. Not meaning and value worthy of posting and adoring comments on photo.net or redbubble.com, but rather meaning and value for you personally. That's the wonderful thing about photography though — it can be shared or not shared.

Our quest for public approval of so much of what we do has extended to photography no doubt. The problem is that photography in and of itself is often a very personal experience. My father-in-law has posted a rather close-up photo of an elephant on his photo.net page. The photo is nice enough, but not great. It's just a photo of an elephant. But listen for a few minutes to my father-in-law's story about how the huge wild elephant surprised them by lumbering out of dense bush just a few meters away, how his guide and photography partner & friend reached immediately for the rifle in case the obviously tense bull elephant charged them, and how the situation diffused rapidly after the bull determined they were no threat and then turned to lumber down to a herd near a watering hole creates a different effect altogether. All of a sudden you turn to the photo and look at it with new eyes. Wonderful. The point is that the photo could have been taken with almost any vaguely decent camera, but you had to be physically in that location in Zimbabwe to actually make the shot.

That last point is what really separates good photographers from snapshooters. You have to go to your subjects — they don't come to you. Travel, drive, walk, ride or scoot to wherever and bring whatever gear will do the job. You don't bring a compact point & shoot to a landscape trip; you don't bring a huge lighting setup to a kid's party. Buying and using the gear you can afford never means buying the cheapest used gear that still technically qualifies as camera equipment. Rather it means buying the best gear you can afford which is also appropriate to your photography needs. After that, it's all you.