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May 9, 2007

Digital Picture Frames - The Perfect Gift For Graduates And The Mothers Who Endured Them

Digital Cameras & Camcorders | May 9, 07

It's most appropriate that Mother's Day falls smack in the middle of graduation season. After all, no mortar board was ever tossed in the air that was not in the final analysis set in motion by a mom.

It was around this time last year that I noted how handy a digital camera can be for recording that magic day when a newly minted grad gets tossed off the parental gravy train ("Cheaper Digital Cameras To Capture The Moment You Stop Paying Junior's Tuition"). Since then, the price of saving those memories has dropped even further. But what about giving Mom the ability to proudly display that image of the moment her offspring made the transition from back-talking, dirty laundry-generating parasite to tax-paying, disgruntled member of the workforce? The answer is simple – a digital picture frame.
Now those of you familiar with the digital frames of days gone by may be hesitant to saddle Mom with a contraption that needs to be tethered to a computer, phone line, A/C wall plug and a subscription service (especially after all she's been through raising you). Never fear, however, for many current models are far more "stand-alone", and rather slick ones to boot. A particularly neat line is put out by Philips, featuring 800 x 480 resolution and a USB port allowing image transfer from either flash memory cards/sticks or directly from your computer. Philips says its internal battery allows continuous operation for about an hour, and the frames may be programmed to turn themselves on and off at pre-specified times. Plus, they look cool. This line including 9" wood-framed and 9" acrylic framed models, the later with four interchangeable colors. These go for as little as just below $200. For those working with a smaller post-graduation budget, there's also a 7" wood frame and 7" acrylic frame, each for as low as just below $160.
And for all you parents out there, remember, digital frames make a great graduation present as well. After all, who wouldn't want their kid to have a photo of their parents sporting the kind of ear to ear grins that can only be induced by a graduation mix of pride and financial relief?

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December 11, 2006

Rising Tech Prices... Isn't That Illegal Or Something?

Digital Cameras & Camcorders | Dec 11, 06

Recent press reports of some vendors raising prices on technology goods following a strong Black Friday highlight more than a robust tech retail environment. They're a reminder that the market for retail goods is just that – a market. And markets have a disconcerting tendency to rise as well as fall.

Many of the reported price increases have focused on highly-sought high-def plasma televisions, such as the 42'' Panasonic TH-42PX60U as well as LCD sets like the 40'' Sony KDL-40XBR3, The latter's recent price bounce can be seen in the PriceTrend graph below:

Time Period: 7/31/2006 through 12/4/2006
Each tick mark represents one week
Red = High Price, Blue = Average Price, Green = Low Price

However, there are examples of this kind of recent price action in other tech markets, such as that of digital cameras. One interesting case: the Canon PowerShot S3-IS, as of this writing the most popular digital camera on PriceSCAN.com. Despite its popularity, this is a fairly mature product, having been released prior to the end of the first quarter. Its six megapixel resolution is fine for most users, but it's no longer "state of the art". This is reflected in its price history. Since we began tracking it back in mid-March, it's fallen from $500 to a low of about $300 four weeks ago. However, in recent weeks the lowest offered price of this model has risen about 10%, and the average vendor price has jumped from just north of $360 to approximately $400 (see graph below). At least one major retailer is offering this camera for almost $100 more that the March price.

Time Period: 3/13/2006 through 12/4/2006
Each tick mark represents one week
Red = High Price, Blue = Average Price, Green = Low Price

The process of technological innovation tends to drive down prices of some generations of tech product as they become obsolete (the price of the state of the art is another story, as keeping up with the Joneses can be a necessity that need not drop in price. But the tech product cycle is a long and very noisy process, taking place in an arena subject to supply and demand, like any other market. As J.P. Morgan once observed, markets will fluctuate.

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August 10, 2006

Digital SLR Price Rebellion (With Canons!)

Digital Cameras & Camcorders | Aug 10, 06

Lately, online merchants have been touting significant cuts in the prices of digital SLR cameras, especially in the Canon Rebel line. A quick check of the price histories of various popular models seems to prove these claims out.

Consider the Canon EOS 350D Digital Rebel XT with 18-55mm lens, currently the most popular digital SLR on this site. As can be seen from the graph below, following a period of stability, recent weeks have seen a drop in the low price offered by merchants from around $720 to just shy of $620.

Time Period: 3/7/2005 through 8/7/2006
Each tick mark represents one week
Red = High Price, Blue = Average Price, Green = Low Price

But the cuts aren't only in Canon pricing. Indeed, it seems many of the more popular SLR cameras have been marked down sharply as the thermometer has risen. For example, over the summer, the somewhat more up-market Nikon D200 Digital SLR with 18-70mm lens has fallen from approximately $1.900 to $1,525.
As the transition from film to pixels gets closer to completion, many have commented on the inevitable slowdown in digital camera sales. Now, as we enter the late summer vacation period and with "back to school" shopping upon us (and holiday buying following soon after) manufacturers and retailers may be adjusting price points downward to accommodate the new reality. Apparently, not even the SLR digicams favored by more serious shutterbugs are immune to this effect.

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June 27, 2006

Canon Digicam Prices Falling Like, Well, Cannonballs

Digital Cameras & Camcorders | Jun 27, 06

As I write this, a remarkable seven of the top ten most popular digital cameras on PriceSCAN.com are made by Canon. Yet popularity does not translate into price stability, if the plunging prices of some models are any indication.

As I write this, a remarkable seven of the top ten most popular digital cameras on PriceSCAN.com are made by Canon. Yet popularity does not translate into price stability, if the plunging prices of some models are any indication.
Case in point: the 6.0 megapixel Canon PowerShot S3 IS, currently the most popular digicam on this site. As you can see from the PriceTrend graph below, it would have cost you $500 some six weeks ago, and now can be purchased for under $390, a decline of over 20%.

Time Period: 3/13/2006 through 6/19/2006
Each tick mark represents one week
Red = High Price, Blue = Average Price, Green = Low Price

Even more remarkable is the fall in price of the runner-up in this popularity contest, the 7.1 megapixel Canon PowerShot A620, dropping over 50% since last September.
Interestingly, the same phenomenon has not been as pronounced in the case of the sole Sony camera on our top ten, the 6.0 megapixel CyberShot DSC-W50, off only about 10% from its price in late February. The same might also be said of at least one of the two Nikon SLR models that round out the list, the 6.1 megapixel D50, whose low price on this site has actually risen slightly in recent weeks (the other model, Nikon's professional 10.2 megapixel D200, displayed considerable price stability until the last month, over which its low price has fallen from approximately $1,950 to just over $1,600).
Now of course the recent price drops of the PowerShot S3 IS and A620 may be at least partly responsible for maintaining their popularity. Be that as it may, if you want to run with the pack, buying the Canons so many want will now cost you a lot less.

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May 5, 2006

Cheaper Digital Cameras To Capture The Moment You Stop Paying Junior's Tuition

Digital Cameras & Camcorders | May 5, 06

Is there a prouder day in a parent's life than that of his or her child's graduation? You know, that special time when you can look you son or daughter in the eye and say, "well, kid, you're on your own". Now, thanks to a graduation season drop in the price of many digital cameras, you can inexpensively capture that moment of self-sufficiency in mult-megapixel clarity.

Just one example: the Canon PoweShot S2-IS, currently the most popular digital camera listed on PriceSCAN.com, with 2592 x 1944 max resolution, 5.0 megapixel image sensor, 12x optical zoom, 4x digital zoom, SD card storage, USB connectivity, movie capture, and a built-in flash. Over the holidays it was going for around $440 at the minimum, and today may be had for about $320, a drop of over 25% (see graph below). It's the same story with many models, so if you've got any cash left over from paying your offspring's way, you might even consider picking one up as a graduation present.
Time Period: 6/6/2005 through 5/1/2006
Each tick mark represents one week
Red = High Price, Blue = Average Price, Green = Low Price

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October 9, 2005

How High Gas Prices Can Save H-P

Digital Cameras & Camcorders | Oct 9, 05

Yesterday the NY Times ran a piece arguing that the economics of printing digital photos at home are, for most consumers, disadvantageous in comparison to printing them at retail outlets like Wal-Mart's Sam's Club. We looked at this issue back in November of last year – see When It Comes To Printing Photos, Should You Drive To Wal-Mart? In a nutshell, after buying a printer (a cheaper proposition lately – more on this below) printing a 4x8 at home will run you around thirty to fifty cents versus as little as thirteen cents at the store, though 8x10s are another story, with the at-home cost about a third of the $3 you'll spend at a retailer. Thus, while home printing is up 68%, home printing's share of all photo production has fallen from 64% in the prior twelve months to 48% today. Now the 'Times failed to note this decline might be due to the entry of the more casual consumer into the market, for whom photo printing is only an occasional activity and the ability to do fine editing and special effects is not an issue. Be that as it may, going forward, another factor the Paper of Record didn't mention may come into play: the price of gas.

It's likely you've noticed that gasoline has become just a tad dearer lately. Burning those dead dinosaurs to drive to a big box retailer and print that shot of Junior and his prize hamster Skippy might not be quite so attractive. Wal-Mart, Costco and others have often remarked on the negative effects of higher gasoline prices on overall sales, and it's hard to see how this effect might not apply to the photo printing business. Further, the cheaper printers get, the less painful the price of ink cartridges becomes. For example, the H-P PhotoSmart 7450, which was only around $100 last year, will run you under $75 today.

Time Period: 10/4/2004 through 10/3/2005
Each tick mark represents one week
Red = High Price, Blue = Average Price, Green = Low Price

To be sure, the printer H-P, Canon and friends hope to make their money in cartridges, and they are what drives the per photo price comparison noted above. But cartridge refills can sharply reduce this cost – see Can H-P Keep Printing Money With Ink Cartridges? And those gazing longingly at the Hum-v stranded in the driveway can console themselves with the knowledge that, whether used at home or at a store, the production of ink and printers involves lots of energy, petrochemicals and potentially toxic materials, so even without that SUV, with each and every photo there’ll be plenty of opportunities to adversely impact the environment. Happy printing!

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September 16, 2005

Sony Memory Sticks Reflect Declining Storage Costs

Digital Cameras & Camcorders | Sep 16, 05

Notably rapid price declines in the price of storage have been seen this year, particularly as far as digital film is concerned.

You can see this immediately by examining the price of Sony Memory Sticks. For example, a 1GB Memory Stick Pro Duo would have run you $225 five months ago, and is now available for just under $150.
Time Period: 4/18/2005 through 9/12/2005
Each tick mark represents one week
Red = High Price, Blue = Average Price, Green = Low Price

Of course that may have something to do with the fact that Sony has just released a 2GB Memory Stick Pro Duo for $199.99, which is to say you can purchase twice the memory for only about a 33% increase in cost. But perhaps the best deal in this space is being offered by B&H Photo on the 4 GB Memory Stick Pro; as of this writing they’re offering that item for $399.95 when the next lowest vendor prices on PriceSCAN.com are over $700.

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July 21, 2005

Hewlett-Packard: Wal-Mart Killer Or Hitting The Wall?

Digital Cameras & Camcorders | Jul 21, 05

Reeling from its troubled Compaq acquisition and its recently announced massive layoffs, HP could use some good news. So perhaps the release of the firm’s new printer will be just what the doctor (or, in this case, the board of directors) ordered.

The machine in question is the HP Photosmart 8250, to be available for sale within days and which the company claims can print 32 pages per minute or produce a 4x6-inch color photo for $0.24. That still nearly 66% more per image than you’ll pay at Wal-Mart (see “When It Comes To Printing Photos, Should You Drive To Wal-Mart?”), but you get much more editing flexibility and you can skip the drive (which at today’s gas prices is nothing to sneeze at). Red-eye removal, color adjustment image enhancement and borderless printing are facilitated through HP’s “Real Life” technology, and the use of six different inks replaceable separately is said to save on cartridge costs. The 8250 will begin selling for just shy of $200, but look for discounting by vendors on PriceSCAN.com as we move through the summer. It will be interesting to see whether this innovation hits the speed, convenience and price points necessary to keep Wal-Mart and the like from continuing to encroach on HP’s printer business. This issue is all the more critical, as printers increasingly appear to be the storied firm's one remaining crown jewel.

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July 20, 2005

Film Camera Prices Drop With Rise of Digital

Digital Cameras & Camcorders | Jul 20, 05

As a new technology emerges, its often interesting to take a look at what happens to the price of that which it supplants. One example may be found in the market for film cameras, where one can see a significant decline in the cost of many models as digital camera resolution improved.

To be sure, the high resolution and sensitivity of film continues to hold the loyalty of some serious photographers. For these diehard artists, photojournalists and serious amateurs, the accent of digital may have a silver halide lining. Readers of this blog know the price of increased digital camera resolution has been plunging (see, for example, “Price Drops On Digital Cameras For Graduation And Summer”), and it appears the film camera market has been forced to respond with its own price drop to remain competitive.
Consider the Canon EOS 3. Back in September of 1999 this 35mm SLR went for north of $1, 200. But as the digital photography revolution moved forward, the EOS 3’s price declined; it may now be purchased for under $820.
Time Period: 9/20/1999 through 7/11/2005
Each tick mark represents one week
Red = High Price, Blue = Average Price, Green = Low Price

Pretty much the same story hold for another 35mm SLR, the Nikon F100. Back in 1999 it would have run you about $1,200 and now costs less than $850.
Time Period: 9/20/1999 through 7/11/2005
Each tick mark represents one week
Red = High Price, Blue = Average Price, Green = Low Price

You can find many more examples of remarkable price drops for both film and digital here. So if you’re still a fan of film, you need not curse the market for megapixels; the rise of digital may have just saved you a bundle on your next camera.

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June 29, 2005

Softening Sony Handycams

Digital Cameras & Camcorders | Jun 29, 05

We're now seeing some price declines for the most popular camcorders on PriceSCAN.com, the Sony Handycam line. This is interesting because many of these only became available early this year, and their technology is fairly close to the state of the art. Let's look at two of these, both with image stabilization, LCD monitor, color viewfinder and remote control.

The Sony DCR-HC42 MiniDV Handycam had a low price of about $500 when we started tracking it in February, and it now retails for less than $435.

Time Period: 2/14/2005 through 6/20/2005
Each tick mark represents one week
Red = High Price, Blue = Average Price, Green = Low Price

Stepping up to the Sony DCR-DVD403 DVD Handycam will run you a bit more at just under $680, but that's still less than the $725 which was the low price at the end of March.

Time Period: 3/21/2005 through 6/20/2005
Each tick mark represents one week
Red = High Price, Blue = Average Price, Green = Low Price

These items demonstrate just how dynamic pricing is in the consumer electronic markets, and why it pays to check this site frequently. These days, if you blink you might miss a price drop.

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June 9, 2005

Price Drops On Digital Cameras For Graduation And Summer

Digital Cameras & Camcorders | Jun 9, 05

With graduation season here and the summer solstice approaching, many people are thinking about digital cameras as a gift for a newly minted grad or just to shoot all that fun in the sun. So it makes sense to look at some recent price drops on some of the most popular models on PriceSCAN.com.

For example, back on 2/14/2005 we noted that the 8-megapixel Nikon Coolpix 8800 had dropped in price from around $1,000 last year to around $600. It's now fallen an additional 8% or more, and can be had from vendors for less than $550 (see graph below).

Time Period: 9/27/2004 through 6/6/2005
Each tick mark represents one week
Red = High Price, Blue = Average Price, Green = Low Price

The 8800 features 3264x2248 max resolution, 10x optical zoom, 4x digital zoom, CompactFlash storage, USB connectivity, movie capture and compact flash.

Meanwhile, for those looking for a single lens reflex model, there's the 8.2 megapixel Canon EOS 20D SLR . It's the most popular camera on PriceSCAN, and one which the NY Times notes is the choice of famed photojournalist David Burnett and many of his colleagues. It features 3504x2336 max res, CompactFlash storage, USB 2.0 connectivity and compact flash. As can be seen below, the lowest vendor price for this camera has fallen from about $1,500 back at the end of last summer to under $1,120 today, a drop of more than 25%.

Time Period: 8/23/2004 through 6/6/2005
Each tick mark represents one week
Red = High Price, Blue = Average Price, Green = Low Price

Actually, these are just two examples of the kind of sharp price declines we've seen in state of the art digital cameras over the last few months. Those who've been thinking of buying but were put off by high prices in the past would be well advised to take a second look at the market today. You might find what you want for a lot less.

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February 14, 2005

Deep Discounts On The Nikon Coolpix 8800

Digital Cameras & Camcorders | Feb 14, 05

Right now, some vendors on PriceSCAN are offering a top of the line Nikon camera at a huge discount to what it was going for late last year. This camera is the Nikon Coolpix 8800 and its the fourth most popular item on our site, and its 8 megapixel image sensor isn't the only reason. It also features movie capture, USB connectivity, 10x optical zoom, 4x digital zoom and a built-in flash.

Back in September 2004, the Coolpix 8800 was going for between $950 and $1000. As you can see from the PriceTrend Graph below, some vendors are now offering it for about $600.

Time Period: 9/27/2004 through 2/7/2005
Each tick mark represents one week
Red = High Price, Blue = Average Price, Green = Low Price

If you've considered buying this very popular Nikon before but you put off by the price tag, you might reconsider now that the sticker shock has been reduced by about forty percent.

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January 26, 2005

Digital Photographers Get New Ways To Torture Friends

Digital Cameras & Camcorders | Jan 26, 05

The Wall Street Journal just ran an article describing how everyone from Panasonic to Kodak wants to help you force those close to you to experience the "joy" of viewing those vacation snapshots, or your photo essay of little Billy's first piano recital (some might even let you share every mangled note as well). These torture devices run the price gamut, from Panasonic's TH-50PX25U/P series of plasma televisions, which allow you to insert memory cards and create slide shows with sound (around $4K and up) to the new Epson P-2000, a $499 palmtop-sized device that holds thirty-five thousand pictures (interestingly, the Journal says Kodak is about to release a $149 model that shows 150 pictures, and the NY Times just ran an article saying Kodak is trying to capture the low end of the market. But compared to other devices, is a buck a shot truly down market or just a lame deal – especially if the price of competing gizmos drops). And of course, there's Apple's iPod Photo, perhaps the most stylish and dangerous weapon ever placed in the hands of a proud grandparent.

Yet one wonders whether we really need all this "sharing". Cell phones' potential to annoy was probably elevated to crisis levels by the introduction of customized ring tones; was it truly necessary to make them the means by which you might at any moment be treated to a viewing of that new sweater your aunt knitted for her Chihuahua? And now it appears half the electronic devices in our lives are to be bent to the same questionable purpose. Sometimes it all makes me long for the days when my Grandfather used to pull out that slide carosel projector so we could all relive his trip to Hawaii. The show might be long, but the machine wasn't portable, and, in the dark, a kid had a chance of slipping away.

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January 13, 2005

Kodak Lets You Print Photos From Anywhere in the House

Digital Cameras & Camcorders | Jan 13, 05

Again from Vegas CES: Kodak has unveiled an 802.11b WiFi card for its Easyshare Printer Dock Plus. With the card inserted in the dock you can send pictures from a docked Easyshare camera across your wireless network, allowing you to share, display or print anywhere the signal is strong enough. The dock also becomes a wireless printer for any 802.11b-enabled computer or Easyshare camera. It should be available in June for just under $100.

So not only does Kodak not want you to go to Wal-Mart to print your photos, they don't even want you to walk over to your computer and plug your camera in. This may fall into the category of giving us what we didn't know we needed, or just giving us what we don't really need, but either way it's a strong attack in the ongoing American war on physical activity. Its been interesting watching Kodak reinvent (and save) itself as a digital imaging company, and it's good to see that process involves innovation and not just massive layoffs.

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December 20, 2004

Talking the Walk: Sonywonder Technology Lab

Electronics | Dec 20, 04

I recently visited Sony's NYC Headquarters. The ground floor of the building is a small-scale Metreon-like display area and store(s). (If you haven't been there, Metreon is 350,000 sq feet of space in downtown San Francisco devoted to an entertainment complex, part of which is store-like displays.) There is also a walk-through display area called Sonywonder where you are given the opportunity to `use' some of the technology (Perhaps the name comes from "I Wonder what Sony could have been thinking..."?). I'll review this all in a moment.

But first, a couple of words to qualify (or disqualify) my review. I am not much of a computer-based gamer. I played a little PACman and knocked off a couple of Klingons in the very early stages of each of computer based gaming, but since I've always had a job that kept me at my computer for many too many hours anyway, I've never found the games to be of much interest.

I can also add that I'm no longer 10 years old. If I were, I might have a more charitable view of this. But then, again, if I were I'd probably be more interested in angling my parents to take me to Disneyland rather than go through this rather dull display.

However, I do like to use computers for information storage (particularly my photos and my music) and as a control element in my (largely TV based) entertainment system. Nothing very elaborate, mind you, but I like having 30 or 40 hours of reasonably findable television available.

So, insofar as the "Sonywonder"land is devoted to gamers or 10 year olds, it will miss me. Otherwise, though, I am a pretty good market for their products, typing this review on one of my desktop Sonys, carrying a couple of laptop Sonys, having a reasonably elaborate (but sub-aficianado) home HiFi setup from Sony, an MD walkman or two and other pieces of Sony flotsam and jetsam from previous ages.

There are three pieces of the Sony Headquarters Experience to discuss.

The store was a disappointment to me. It seems much smaller than the one associated with the Metreon in San Francisco. I saw some of the low-line headphones and walkmen there, but have a hard time believing that it is anything like a complete presentation of Sony's line.

But perhaps in the rush of a pre-Christmas weekend, the crowds made everything seem smaller, narrower and harder to look at.

In any event, I'd expect to see a more interesting display at a J&R or other large volume sales outlet.

The Sonywonder struck me as a bit bizzare. First, you wait in line for an elevator which takes you up about 4 stories in the atrium of the building. Coffee is in sight, a giant Spiderman hangs upside down on the wall, but there's no opportunity to investigate Sony products. You just stand there.

The elevator takes you up four stories and from there you will gradually walk down ramps for two or three stories. All of this seems to be necessary to accomplish some crowd `control', and to space out the arrivals as some of the steps in the process of going through the `maze' take a considerable time and otherwise backed up lines throughout the exhibit would be unavoidable.

Your first offical activity is to get `registered' by creating a picture and voice record that can be used to follow you through the exhibit place. Most of the time all that is done with this is that your picture will occasionally appear on some screen as you wander through the exhibit. I guess I am not Narcissistic enough for this. I'd actually rather see Britney Spears on the screen rather than my own face. I get enough of that shaving in the morning.

As one of the many available experiences I did the `Sound Lab'. What it was supposed to be about I'll never know. All I can say is that I managed, along with some of the other visitors who shared the experience with me, to produce a perfectly terrible sounding piece of musical junk for which I kept getting wonderful congratulations about how well I was doing and how wonderful it sounded (from the machine, of course, not from anyone associated with the Philharmonic). If kids have to put up with this kind of barrage of compliments for the terrible junk that they, on occasion, produce, it is no wonder that we witness a decline in `taste'

I might add, I guess, that I found the description of what we were supposed to be doing quite incomprehensible. Perhaps there was no point to it. If so, they managed to ommunicate that---at least by example.

At the end of all of this you're given a `document' with your name and picture on it. No sound clip, and a reproduction on pretty uninspiring piece of paper. I think I'd rather have had a shot of Britney Spears, Lindsay Lohan, Mischa Barton or whomever. I would have thought that the kids might too---perhaps with a breathy bombshell saying something come hither with your name. Oh well.

I guess this must have all prepared me for the visit to the Qualia part of the store. I don't get that either. Here we have considerable incredibly expensive New York floorspace devoted to displaying (along with TVs you'd see at a Best Buy) three of the current four items in Sony's `Qualia' line. The items I saw were numbers 10, 16 and 17. I know a number 4 exists, but I don't think I saw it. I suppose numbers 11, 12, ... exist too, but I don't have even the vaguest clue of what they are about---the may well exist only in Japan for all I know---so I can only review the three items I saw.

And bizzare items they were, too.

Headphones One was a set of headphones. You might ask `What's odd about that?' Well, nothing is odd about that until you look at the price tag and realize that it is not saying $26.00, it is saying $2600.00. (The first listed prices were $3200.00, but as time has passed it has fallen, even with the dollar's collapse) Just let little Johnny get his peanut-butter hands smeared all over that one. But these days it's probably only a fifth of his tuition to grade school anyway.

I understand that there is a group headphone aficianados---HeadFi people---who are deeply into headphones, but I rather suspect that they are small in number, and while some of them may be willing to spend huge amounts, it is hard to make up much sales volume out of items that have prices so far out of scale.

MD Player Then there's a $1900.00 MD player. Certainly it's very nice looking. But it looks more designed to sit on a desk than to actually be carried about, and I thought that being carried about was why MD players were so useful.

Camera A $4000+ camera completes the list. This looks fine too, but their specs don't seem to indicate that they are really all that wonderful. The camera itself seems oddly conflicted. It is incredibly tiny, but a 2 megapixel camera is nothing special these days, and while the camera itself is tiny, it comes packed in briefcase-sized case, necessary to handle all of the addons that connect it to its world.

So where's the market?

I haven't got a clue. Certainly only the rich. Given the emphasis on style, one would have to suspect that looking good is an important part of it. None of this stuff looks durable enough to put up with `pro on the battlefield' conditions. None of the specs indicate to me that any normal person will be able to see or hear the differences between what is produced by this equipment and stuff that costs about one-tenth its price.

Sony might say: "Sweets to the sweet..."

I keep thinking "Have some nuts!"

Posted by david.ness
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November 30, 2004

When It Comes to Printing Photos, Should You Drive to Wal-Mart?

Digital Cameras & Camcorders | Nov 30, 04

That's the question a lot of people have been asking lately. With the price of printing a 4x6 image at big-box retailers like Wal-Mart and Costco running between 20 and 30 cents, some argue the cost of printing at home – still perhaps as high as 60 cents a print – makes schlepping to the store worth the trip. The fact that low cost printing is available at retail stores makes digital cameras practical for people who do not own a printer, or even a computer for that matter. For those who don't feel like screwing around with printer settings and aren't interested in different print sizes and effects, printing at a store they go to anyway might represent a big boost in efficiency and convenience.

What's missing from this analysis is the added cost of driving to the store, both in time and money. Gas isn't free, and some may not find the atmosphere in a superstore's photo printing kiosk less than conducive to the creative impulse. Photo kiosks have HP scared out of its (or at least Carly Fiorina's) mind. They've been taking a loss on printers for a while now, making their profit on ink and paper, but now they're slashing prices on these items as well. According to a recent Wall Street Journal article, HP claims to have lowered the cost of printing down to about 29 cents, competitive with the upper end of retail store prices. Now, if you want to print without a computer, for around $70 you can plug your camera directly into the portable HP PhotoSmart 145 4x6. On the slightly higher end, the more versatile HP PhotoSmart 7550 is selling for less that $100. So some may forgo the ambiance of Wal-Mart, especially hobbyists and anyone who wants to see their pics instantly.

Significant revenue is at stake for HP, the retailers, and firms like Kodak and Fuji that make the retailer's photo-printing equipment. So the question is, how many people fall into each category, and what the fall-out will be for players betting their future on the question of desktop versus Wal-Mart.

Posted by jeffrey.trester
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