Ken, The funny thing to me is, that we all seem to be forgetting the lab. The new machines, Frontiers, D-Labs and such are more than capable of dealing with the digital world. To penetrate the masses, people will start using those labs. They are not all going to sit down to their computer and load up the files and do a bit of photoshop cleanup and then print them on their home printers. Yes, a few of us zealots will, but most people still struggle with the concept of a "file" with computers. Take your card into the lab, get the prints you want plus a CD back of the images.
The time and cost of printing at home is too high to get massive adoption. Cost of printing 4X6's is between 25 and 50 cents. Just buying the paper (4X6 borderless or perfed) cost about 35 cents, not to mention ink and time. Bruce Sunday, February 9, 2003, 6:13:00 AM, you wrote: KT> On 2/08/03 6:09 PM, "Alan Chan" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: >> I wonder when the bubble of digital camera industry will blow after the .com >> industry. KT> Yes, it feels like so, doesn't it ? :-). It's too hot to touch. KT> However, in the case of the digital camera, the whole tide, i.e., printing, KT> storage media and image processing etc, is making the move away from the KT> film with the sufficient momentum and there seems to be no turn-back. I was KT> actually surprised at the speed of the shift to digital. Only one year ago, KT> I did not really think that we would be reaching where we are now. KT> Suddenly, we find ourselves in the unstoppable tide of the digital wave. KT> The film camera is nowhere near the distinction but rapidly becoming KT> irrelevant. KT> Digital still requires the computers (in most cases) and the additional KT> investment in printers and suppliers etc, but this is giving more control KT> (when, how and which to print etc) back to consumers who would be the KT> ultimate beneficiary. KT> And all these involve solid "manufacturing", unlike the faceless cyber based KT> biz like dot com with no tangible assets. KT> But the speed of the development and the shift is scary. KT> Cheers, KT> Ken
