Why Digicams keep getting obsolete

My Digital Cameras Keep Becoming Obsolete!

SUMMARY: Digital camera buying advice for those afraid that a newer, faster digital camera will always be available.

As a digital camera owner, this scenario likely applies to you. After visiting a digital camera store, talking to friends, reading reviews, or possibly shopping online, at one time you bought what you thought was the perfect digital camera for your needs. After purchasing this digital camera and using it for a few weeks, you later visited the same store, browsed the same websites, or scanned through the latest issues of those same magazines, and guess what? A newer, 'better', faster, and cheaper digital camera is now available, making your current camera seem 'uncool', agonizingly slow, and obsolete. I can definitely say the above scenario has happened to me - way too often.

I've purchased five digital cameras in the last few years and have friends who have been through many more. Instead of continually burning holes in your wallet, how can you purchase a digital camera that will continue to stay cutting-edge for years to come?

Welcome to the sad truth - obsolescence is inevitable with digital cameras, just as it is with cell phones, computers, television sets, or other electronics. No matter how much time you take researching digital cameras, no matter how much money you spend, sooner or later a new model will be released, making you rue the day you purchased your 'old' camera.

You may be thinking, "I'm ready to purchase a new digital camera. Should I spend the money now and buy a camera, or wait a few months until something better comes along? The one I am interested in buying might become obsolete soon." My advice: unless you are still very happy with your current digital camera and absolutely know a specific new digital camera model will soon be available, go ahead and purchase the best camera you can find. When I mean "best", I don't mean the most expensive, or even the digital camera with the most "bells and whistles". I mean the camera with the best combination of features and value for your budget. Life is short - really short. You could wait, watching the releases of camera after camera, and think, "I'm smart. I'm going to wait until a better digital camera exists." While you may technically save money in the long run, there are larger costs you're enduring - the opportunity and enjoyment costs of not having the right equipment for your needs during the time waited.

If you always wait for the newest crop of digital cameras to be released, you could very well wait forever. Digital cameras continue to advance in technology with no end in sight.

* Megapixels: I remember when one megapixel cameras were all the rage. Now twelve+ megapixels is not uncommon, and if you read this article years from now, who knows what will be the norm.

* Focal length: My first camera had no zoom at all. My old prosumer camera has 7x optical zoom, I have a digital SLR with a 28mm - 300mm zoom lens, and other cameras and lenses on the market have even greater focal distances.

* Speed: Expect continual increases in shutter speeds, plus decreasing startup and memory writing times. And if you own a digital SLR, newer and faster lenses will be released to market. [B]* Image Quality:[/B] New lenses and image sensors will continue to produce clearer, more exact replicas of your subjects in digital form.

* Battery length: Think your digital camera can't last but a few dozen or hundred photos before switching batteries? Even that will change.

You could constantly worry about obsolescence, or you have a couple of other options:

- Plunk down more money and purchase a digital SLR camera instead of a prosumer or compact camera. Unless you are familiar with dSLRs, you may have to spend some time familiarizing yourself with controls and techniques, but these cameras have several advantages. Digital SLRs may have quicker startup and media write times. Since dSLR lenses can be changed, you can acquire different zoom distances and quicker exposures without buying a new camera body. And if later you do purchase a new camera body, if you purchase the same brand of camera you may be able to reuse your current lenses.

- Are you sure you have read your manual and taken full advantage of your current digital camera? Have you learned about adjusting shutter speeds and ISO sensitivity to take faster exposures, white balance settings to make photos seem truer to life, and bracketing so you can better experiment with all of these features?

- As New Yorkers are prone to say, "Fugitaboutit"! Great photography requires more than just great equipment, and great pictures can be made without top-of-the-line electronics. Remember that even with a first-class digital camera, if your composition is boring and your lighting dull, the results will prove likewise.

An ancient proverb states that "the only thing constant is change". Such is true with the development of digital cameras. Don't let life pass you buy while waiting for the perfect digital camera that will never become obsolete. That day may not occur, at least in our lifetimes. If you're in the market for a digital camera, buy the best one available for you, enjoy shooting photos, and don't always be concerned about newly available 'better' digital cameras. Eventually you may upgrade (again), but for the time being, just relax, enjoy your hobby, and get everything you can out of your camera.

from: link

cheers!

stolen phone

ever wonder what happens when your phone gets stolen?

.....................

November 23rd, 2008
After Cell Phone Loss, Wife’s Nude Pics End Up Online



By Michael Santo
Editor-in-Chief, RealTechNews

Lesson learned, or rather lesson(s) learned, by Tina Sherman and her husband Philip, of Arkansas:

* Don’t send nude photos of yourself to your husband or boyfriend.
* If you are sent nude photos, don’t leave ‘em on your cell phone.
* If you do leave ‘em on your cell phone, at least password-lock the darn thing.

On the other hand, a $3 million lawsuit could make up for a lot of hassle.

According to the lawsuit, Philip left the cell phone in question at a McDonald’s in Fayetteville, Arkansas, on July 5th. He reported it, and the McDonald’s said they would hold the phone until he returned. Well, they held it, but apparently did more than that.

Tina Sherman and her husband began receiving obscene phone calls. Why? The pictures had been posted on-line along with her name, address and phone number. The pictures have since been removed but the damage was done, the Shermans say.

Things became so bad, the couple moved.

The lawsuit names McDonald’s Corp., Matthews Management Co. and a manager, Aaron Brummley. Now, I’m not sure how McDonald’s itself is liable, or necessarily even the manager, unless he himself posted the pictures.

I’m guessing the pics were posted online by some pubescent teen workers at McDonald’s, who would also have been the most tech-savvy. That fact is unclear, but it is clear the said employees admitted on the website where they posted the nude photos of Tina Sherman that they retrieved the photos from a cell phone found in the restaurant.

That probably makes it easy to say someone is guilty, but McDonald’s? We’ll see if this case is settled out of court, thrown out of court, or whatever.

I’m lovin’ it.