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Re[2]: [OM] Has the time come for the unthinkable?

Subject: Re[2]: [OM] Has the time come for the unthinkable?
From: Dave Haynie <dhaynie@xxxxxxxxxx>
Date: Mon, 14 Dec 1998 10:13:43 -0500 (EST)
On Mon, 14 Dec 1998 02:34:18 -0600, Ken Norton <image66@xxxxxxx> jammed all 
night, and by sunrise was overheard remarking:

> >First impression: It's a beast with the optional 7-frames/sec booster. Is
> >this a medium format camera :-)
> >Second impression: I felt like being back at the office installing Windows!
> >Displays, options, more displays, options I never had even think of could
> >exist. Note, I'm a professional analysts/programmer (incl Windows) but I
> >felt that 95 0f these programming or tunings didn't have anything to do
> >with photography.

> Does it have a screen that says "It is now safe to turn your camera off"?
> 
> How long does it take to reboot the camera?
> 
> Is there an "Intel Inside" sticker on the penteprism?
> 
> Will it run LINUX?

The worst part of these systems is that stupid "Are you sure?" dialog
that pops up every time you press the shutter release :-).  Sorry,
couldn't resist.

On the other hand, there is a valid point here. Maybe we're not quite at
the stage of all this technology getting in the way of actually shooting
photos, but I suspect in some ways, we are -- extending the snapshot
mentality to pro-gear doesn't necessarily mean the photographer is going
to spend more time on composition. Especially since everything -- focus,
exposure, etc. is as much a part of composition as what's in the frame.

In the music business, another thing I dabble in, the effect of
computers is profound, but out of control in many places. Brian Eno has
a nice essary on this, last page in this month's "Wired". Upon first
reading it, it didn't strike home right away -- after all, not only am I
engineer and musician when I do electronic music, but it's all the
programmability that lets me have the kind of power I couldn't otherwise
afford. On the other hand, it occurred to me that I stick with OM gear
for much the same reasons Eno's describing musicians seeking out older
analog grear:

        With tools, we crave intimacy. This appetite for emotional
        resonance explains why users -- when given a choice -- prefer
        deep rapport over endless options. You can't have a relationship
        with a device whose limits are unknown to you, because without
        limits it keeps becoming something else.
        
Being in the computer business professionally, it's clear to me that
technology evolves because it has to -- it's the market dynamic that you
always have to have something better this year than you had last year.
When you cease this, you basically drop off the face of the market, much
as Olympus has with the OM-series, at least for new customers. No one
really asks the question of whether the technology SHOULD evolve; if
anything, those involved only select which way (eg, Olympus pushes
forward with ZLRs and digital more seriously than most of the other
film camera vendors, etc). 

--
Dave Haynie  | V.P. Technology, Met@box Infonet, AG |  http://www.metabox.de
Be Dev #2024 | NB851 Powered! | Amiga 2000, 3000, 4000, PIOS One



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