I don't think film will completely die (I know it's another apples and
oranges comparison, but weren't printed books supposed to be going away
too?), but I'd have to agree that from the manufacturers' point of view
it's all about money--through planned obsolescence. It burns them up
that people like my father have been using the same camera
(Honeywell/Pentax HA1) for their entire lives and can still take
pictures that rival the quality of much of what they're selling decades
later. Automatic flash, auto-focus and the like not only catered to a
lazy public, they added complexity, reducing reliability, so that even
if the consumer isn't convinced that he/she needs the features of the
latest model, the one they have will break sooner or later. Digital
allows them to speed the process up. And even when the quality of
digital pics meets or exceeds that of film, people will still need to
buy new cameras because LCD screens will stop working, today's memory
cards will become unavailable as they are replaced by new technology
(and no, flash memory does not last forever), USB will become obsolete
so that today's digital cameras become useless, etc. It's a dream come
true for the manufacturers. They've been able to take a mature market
and put it on the same frantic cycle as the computer industry. Digital
will become the dominant form of photography, but as long as there is
still someone making film, my father's HA1 will still be taking pictures
long after the last *istD is tossed into a landfill.
Malcolm Smith wrote:
William Robb wrote:
This list is driven by and for enthusiasts. That's why there isn't
much traffic on it for point and shoot camera discussion, be it film
or digital. We are not representative of real world demographics.
I work in this industry. I am seeing a trend developing.
That really is the point here, we 35mm SLR and MF film users are in a
minority of the minority.
The average point and shoot casual camera user wants the same thing as he
had with his 35mm film equivalent of yesteryear. The modern generation want
pictures they can share on the internet. Your modern manufacturer has sold
as many P&S film cameras that they are ever likely too, so they want to sell
something else - P&S digitals. A newer market, plus add ons for selling
printers and inks and paper.....The general public are easily persuaded by
crafty constant advertising campaigns and will follow the latest trend -
heck, I bet a few film stars promoting the benefits of attaching a bird bath
to your backside advertised well enough would create a demand!
Manufacturers are clever enough to note that professionals using digital
cameras, are easy to advertise on the back of, but whilst the sports
photographer with fifteen thousand dollars worth of body and lenses
capturing the moment and sending for immediate publication is justifiable
use of the technology, Mr & Mrs Average really have no more speed need than
1 hour process - if they need that much speed.
The game is not about which is better - it's about what you can sell, mainly
to people who have no issue over quality differences between film and
digital anyway - assuming they even care.
Malcolm
