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How the Camera Phone Changed the World
Posted by
Zonk
on Sat Jan 20, 2007 06:31 AM
from the peeping-phone dept.
from the peeping-phone dept.
theodp writes "Ten years after the amazing Philippe Kahn married a cell phone and a digital camera to capture the birth of daughter Sophie, Slate takes a look at the impact of the camera phone, the gadget that perverts, vigilantes, and celebrity stalkers can all agree on. 'With this kind of device,' Kahn told Wired, 'you're going to see the best and the worst of things.'"
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Some Marriage! (Score:5, Funny)
And people say gay marriage is unnatural!
And, I didn't know that Kahn is a minister.
Re: (Score:2, Funny)
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And people say gay marriage is unnatural!
Well, marrying a cell phone with another cell phone is just silly.
Re:Some Marriage! (Score:5, Funny)
Yes, but marying a cell phone and two cameras is 3G. What is the world coming too?
Parent
Re: (Score:3, Interesting)
You mean 3D
That would be cool, having two of those tiny cameras in your phone and then being able to send 3D stereo pictures. Only thing to figure out is how to display them, but I've seen solutions for that too (single screen, no glasses / goggles).
Re: (Score:3, Funny)
sorry i had it do it
Camera Phones Suck (Score:5, Insightful)
Now, have you tried to get a non camera phone lately? Difficult to say the least.
If I want to take a picture then I get my Digital Camera out (Nikon D2x) and do it properly.
Current camera phones have the same quality as CCTV cameras did 10 years ago.
I'm sorry (and will probably get modded down as a troll) this is one invention I could certainly do without.
Re:Camera Phones Suck (Score:5, Interesting)
what?
When parents can't take photos at school events, it may not be the terrorists, but someone has certainly won....
I know that my daughter's school has no problems with parents with cameras, whether they be phone cameras, handicams, or SLRs. Have things really sunk that far elsewhere?
Parent
Re:Camera Phones Suck (Score:5, Interesting)
That was a couple of years ago at least, but remember... I live in the UK. These rules are commonplace. I wouldn't be surprised if you're not allowed to take pictures of your own kid winning the race at sports days, just in case you're a pedophile.
Just had a thought... I know that there are photos of me and my sisters in the bath when we were very young. I think my mother has them in a drawer somewhere, should I report her to the authorities???
Parent
Re:Camera Phones Suck (Score:5, Interesting)
If you've seen any Japanese magazines or websites lately, you'll notice square barcode-type things on some ads or sites. See the bottom left of this site [nhk.or.jp]. They allow you to use your phone camera to take a pic, then your camera web browser goes to an address encoded in the pic without having to type in the address. Basically the same thing Cue:Cat did, but on commodity hardware.
Okay, now you're thinking, "So what? I can get ads easier?", but there are other uses for the technology, too. I've heard some European countries have methods of paying for stuff using a cell phone, where you take a pic of a barcode like that, and the price is charged to your cell account.
Basically, don't just think of it as "A crappy camera glued to a cell phone", but as "An optical sensor attached to a pervasivly-networked device". There is a world of possibility in using it as an input device for ubiquitous computing. Where other attempts to make computer interaction seamless in the real world have failed, the camerphone might succeed because it uses technology that is useful for other things (camera + phone, regular printer + ink), and widely adopted by the public already. It's all a matter of software to make it useful, no new harware needed.
Parent
Re: (Score:3, Informative)
PS: There's also a reader for your computer that takes a picture. Combine that with isightcapture and a little Dashboard widget and you could also use it on your Intel Mac.
How about product reviews? (Score:3)
Re:Camera Phones Suck (Score:5, Funny)
Parent
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I've been to events like that. Where some peon wants to check my phone for camera or some shit. I just said "no" and kept on walking. Most of these little shits are used to getting their way. When faced with open defiance they lock up. The key is to keep on walking, by the time they recover your long gone.
Check out corporate phones (Score:3, Interesting)
Re: (Score:3, Informative)
Tons of phones without cameras... quit complaining (Score:5, Insightful)
Now the problem is that these people aren't asking if they can have a phone without a camera. And they know it. They want a phone that has WiFi, stereo bluetooth, a big high quality color screen, 3G, can play back every media file under the sun and better yet they can put custom software on and isn't locked to any provider... but not a camera. And that is where you do end up getting into "good luck, mate" territory.
Seriously - walk into a store, look on the web, check out office supplies stores (guess what - they sell cell phones that are literally no-frills so that employees can have a cheap company phone).. there are plenty of cell phones without a camera. And if that is their only argument, then they shouldn't complain that it is not a very fashionable design or that it only has a fixed-matrix black-and-white LCD display and they can't download the latest music onto it let alone watch that StarGate SG-1 they recorded to Ogg Theora.
Parent
Re:Tons of phones without cameras... quit complain (Score:5, Funny)
Parent
Re:Tons of phones without cameras... quit complain (Score:3, Informative)
So they're not just asking for a phone, they're asking for a good phone. Bastards. Should be
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The morons. Just wait until Moore's Law really kicks in, and we get camera phones built right in to the collar of one's blouse or polo shirt. Don't they know there's a singularity coming?
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You're missing the point. They haven't even got the phone part down yet, but instead of making the actual phone features better, they're wasting time on the camera. Of course they're doing it to take you
Like most things good and bad (depending on use) (Score:2, Interesting)
Washed out, grainy, bad contrast (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:Washed out, grainy, bad contrast (Score:5, Funny)
Parent
I have a digital camera. (Score:2)
Re: (Score:3, Funny)
Back in the day we solved this problem by buying pants that fit; although I admit it is amusing to watch the chavs trying to play basketball with one hand tied up in the problem of holding their pants up.
And extra amusing when one of them manages to trip over their own pants.
KFG
why o why? (Score:4, Insightful)
Here's the problem. The cellphone was supposed to make it easy for people to be reached on-the-move. For "security" reasons we are not allowed to use our phone everywhere, because the people who are taking photos of us and watching us on videos don't want us to take photos or videos of them (just count how many police brutality incidents on youtube also involve the rough handling of the guy capturing said incident on a camera). On european trains there are "quiet" zones where phones are banned, and if we use our phone on a plane then the phone will immediately detonate all of the explosive liquids stored in passenger's hand-luggage and cause sony lithium-ion batteries in apple G4 powerbooks to burst into flames.
Lastly, and even more importantly than plane death, upgrading the phone's camera just gives the mobile phone industry another excuse to charge you a higher subscription than the previous year.
Re:why o why? (Score:4, Interesting)
Hot ticket, pal: don't friggin buy one then.
What I'd like is a good, tiny phone, where the batteries last for ages.Not knowing what your definition of "ages" is makes this a hard point to talk over but I get 5 days of regular use (normally 15 minutes of talk a day, 24-7 standby) out of my Samsung (with a camera!)
If I want to take a photo I get out my digital SLR and a 700 euro lens, I don't think "ah, now I've got my phone, I can leave my camera at home".
If you're toting that thing around with you every and you don't do photography professionally that's just foolishness. Don't get me wrong, carry what you like, but Joe Sixpack (and 95% of all slashdotters for that matter) don't want to carry a normal camera around with them let alone a SLR. It's nice that you pat yourself on your back with all your fancy equipment but the fact is that it hurts your debate against cell phone/camera integration. That's akin to say "I own a pair of Sennheiser Prestige HD590s, why would I want a small pair of ear pods for when I'm out and about with my mp3 player?". Some people would be impressed that I own the Sennheiser, some people would understand that it would be incredibly stupid for me to lug around my headphones when I'm out walking the track.
Here's the problem. The cellphone was supposed to make it easy for people to be reached on-the-move. For "security" reasons we are not allowed to use our phone everywhere
I don't know where you are but in my local area I've never seen this. While I do understand and know of areas where photos are banned I've never heard of anyone getting harassed in these areas for using a cell phone.
The rest of your argument deals with general technophobia and has nothing to do with the camera aspect of a cell phone. Oh well...
upgrading the phone's camera just gives the mobile phone industry another excuse to charge you a higher subscription than the previous year.
Really? Again, not knowing your situation... My cell service provider's plans have decrease since the introduction of the camera phone. I don't think the camera aspect has anything to do with it, they do charge 0.10 USD per picture sent over the cellphone without an inclusive package. They charge the exact same for text messages too.
Furthermore, not to beat a subject to death, I have used my camera phone for productive reasons. There's a million times that I found myself saying, "if only I could get a picture of this". Digital cameras were nice because there was no processing time, but I didn't carry mine unless I really felt I was going to use it. Now I don't worry about it.
Parent
Re: (Score:3, Informative)
Yeah but that's not the issue. The issue was that the original poster wanted a phone with no crap with a good battery life. At the point where you're going to be willing to carry a phone with extra features who cares if there is a camera included? Don't use it.
I'll tell you the first time I bought a camer
Re: (Score:3)
A real photographer doesn't have to get out his camera because it's always with him. Furthermore, for convenient use, real photographers with commonly use a PnS rather than their SLRs. What you are is a photography poser, and one that needs to mention the cost of his lenses at that.
Do you also carry around a two-way pager for your text messages since you abhor
HOWTO: Improving a crummy cell camera (Score:5, Informative)
By using OSS such as Hugin and Enblend one can increase the resolution of images, add to the field of view and basically achieve the following results:
- http://www.cardope.com/misc/razr_panoramic/bedroo
- http://www.cardope.com/misc/razr_panoramic/divers
- http://www.cardope.com/misc/razr_panoramic/room33
- http://www.cardope.com/misc/razr_panoramic/jsd-va
- http://www.cardope.com/misc/razr_panoramic/car.jp
- http://www.cardope.com/misc/razr_panoramic/car3.j
- http://www.cardope.com/misc/razr_panoramic/ariz.j
Slightly wider shots:
- http://www.cardope.com/misc/razr_panoramic/livroo
- http://www.cardope.com/misc/razr_panoramic/par-ph
- http://www.cardope.com/misc/razr_panoramic/pan-ph
- http://www.cardope.com/misc/razr_panoramic/grandc
- http://www.cardope.com/misc/razr_panoramic/dd_cor
Please note that some of these processed images have not been color corrected with enblend - otherwise they would have turned out much better.
Re: (Score:3, Informative)
911 (Score:5, Informative)
911 calls in NYC will activate the camera on mobile phones so people can send video of the emergency as it happens.
CNN usually gets images or video from peoples phones within minutes of the incident happening. The 911 people down in NYC just want the same data feed for emergencys..
Degredation of Standards (Score:3, Insightful)
They get used to poor quality since its *everywhere*, and accept it as 'good enough' since its more convenient..
ya, its a rant.. so sue me
Government Oppression (Score:5, Interesting)
However, now that so many people have camera phones (even in non-democracies), it's much harder to get away with such oppression. All it takes is for one person to film a police officer beating an unarmed man cowering on the ground and it will be around the world very quickly.
I think this prevalence of cheap and portable video-capable devices has lead to a change of tactics in some countries. In an environment where everything the police do is being recorded on video, governments are seeking to avoid confrontation altogether. It has become increasingly popular to either herd protesters into "Free Speech Zones" (in the US) or just effectively ban protests altogether as is the case in the UK, for half a mile or so around parliament square.
In case you're wondering, I've never actually been on a protest myself. Like most people I am either too lazy or too scared of being clubbed by Police to attend (which is exactly the attitude governments like).
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
The plan was to release a nice clean film of a dignified hanging. The moment the cameras were off they changed tack completely.
Luckily someone had a camera phone.
In any sizable protest now the majority will have camera phones - which means the scenario you describe of waiting until the media is out of the way isn't going to happen. Take film, email it from the phone, and keep out of the way of the police whilst it's emailing (which isn't long at 3G speed
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
If anyone doubts the power of individuals with cameras, they could just ask George Allen [youtube.com] or Micheal Richards [youtube.com] for their opinions.
Re:What? (Score:5, Funny)
If only they'd put a crappy phone on a high-quality camera, I'd be set.
Parent
Re:What? (Score:5, Insightful)
--jeffk++
Parent
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Re:What? (Score:5, Interesting)
Parent
Re: (Score:3, Informative)
It's larger alright. Sharper? Wouldn't say so, IMHO, it's much better at medium and large, the full resolution really brings out the flaws.
Purple fringing, almost all detail eaten by heavy noise reduction (look at the smaller tree branches, there's nothing but blur), badly overexposed sky. And that's in nigh perfect conditions.
It's pretty good for a phone picture, maybe it'
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Re:What? (Score:5, Informative)
A good camera has optical zoom, a bigger ccd (a bigger ccd at the same megapixel still gives a better picture), autofocus, etc.
Implementing this in a cell phone requires space.
Parent
I definitely agree. (Score:4, Informative)
The above does not mean that I'd want phones with camera to disappear from the face of Earth; if the image quality is sufficient for somebodys needs, it's fine for me. I'd just like people to have some more informed bases for comparisons.
Parent
Re: (Score:3, Interesting)
Dont know why American companies are so slow on the uptake. Milking older technologies for everything its worth?
Because there are so many companies with so many standards and technologies. Look at how many different audio formats there are for cell phones. It's like each handset had to come up with its own format that it would accept. Plus in America we use are cell phones for 2 things, making calls and texting. In other countries cell phones are used for everything, so the demand for richer and better features are higher.
Re:The best idea ever! (Score:5, Funny)
This would be a great combination, in theory. But do you really want to put a gun into a device that you frequently hold against your head? *Oops, wrong button!*
Parent
Re: (Score:3, Funny)
There was the story of the guy who got robbed several times and thus kept a gun on his night table next to his phone. All was well until the phone rang late at night and he "answered" the wrong object.
-b.
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