On Sat, Sep 19, 2009 at 10:33:24AM -0500, Stan Halpin scripsit: > Bill's comment got me thinking... This may be too geeky, but why not > an option to connect the camera to my computer (Mac or Windows) and > walk through an initial setup on a big screen. Including options for > rearranging menu items, setting defaults, etc. It might not make > sense for an entry-level camera, but for someone who knows what they > want, it would be a great tool. Take the UI beyond the bare minimum, > and you could have a Help/Information screen linked to every setting, > with explanations of the implication, e.g., of an other-then-neutral > setting of the Saturation slider, and how it matters more if you use > jpeg than if you use PEF or RAW.
The problem with this is that it is really hard to do. Instead of having a single fixed, heavily tested menu structure, you have to test the general case of component interaction in your interface, plus each component. It can be done -- see www.eclipse.org/ -- but Eclipse is a _huge_ project, too big for Sony or Samsung, never mind Pentax, among camera makers. Especially since there may not be an abstraction layer between the menu and the chip. Even something like video card management software is notable for being the work of a lot of people -- engineering teams on the "about a 100" scale -- and having both limited customization capability and for never quite being exactly what anyone wants. > Imagine a camera store (remember camera stores?), the customer service > guy (remember service?) plugging your new camera into the computer on > the counter and walking you through the menu options... Imagine having to train all those camera store guys.... I'm not saying this wouldn't be a helpful, handy thing; I'm just saying that it's seriously hard to do. -- Graydon -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List [email protected] http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions.
