Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2003/12/05
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]Dante, Thanks for a thought-provoking read. My own thoughts, both as a photographer and an investor are that: First, I'm trying to find out who actually makes money in the digital photography game, and it's not at all clear to me: Paper, ink and battery-makers, maybe. But given how many folks are finding ways around paying Epson's "tax", by using 3rd party inks and papers, I have to wonder how good a revenue stream that really is. My hunch? That the real money is in software licensing fees (hello, Adobe), and in allowing the likes of Panasonic or Sony to put the Zeiss or Leica name on their cameras. Secondly, digital photography is a product of the internet age: More than any other product before it, it's a way of sharing a moment as it happens, with any number of people, in any location that has an internet hookup. In this sense, digital really is something new, and where it all leads is anyone's guess. Finally, I look at declining film sales, but question whether it's entirely due to digital: How do we know that sales wouldn't be weak right now regardless? There haven't been any major crowd-pleasing changes in the face of film photography since the zoom autofocus point and shoot. We've also been in a recession for some time now, and there are plenty of alternative shiny toys to grab those scarce dollars right now, like flat-panel TVs, DVD players, and the iPod, itself an internet-age product. My predictions: People will continue to enjoy still photography into the indefinite future. Relevant older technologies meanwhile may go out of fashion for awhile, but they'll be surprisingly hard to kill. The digital market will saturate, probably sooner than later, and maybe it's already happening in the consumer market where price, packaging and features seem to be where a lot of the action is headed. I think pixel count will become less relevant to a lot of buyers. Jeff >Date: Fri, 5 Dec 2003 01:48:44 -0500 >From: Dante Stella <dante@umich.edu> >Subject: [Leica] 35mm color vs. the tyranny of the >masses > >Since someone brought up the subject of film's longevity >as a medium... > >My thesis is that the longest-lived film format will be >120 b/w, not 135. And probably by quite a margin. > >http://www.dantestella.com/technical/tyranny.html __________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Free Pop-Up Blocker - Get it now http://companion.yahoo.com/ - -- To unsubscribe, see http://mejac.palo-alto.ca.us/leica-users/unsub.html