[photoptimist]

I received a phone call from a real person on my iPhone 6s today.

Speaking of which, the iPhone also "killed" Big Phone. Nokia, Motorola, and Blackberry are all faint shells of their former glorious selves.

[monochrome]

Speaking of which, the iPhone also "killed" Big Phone. Nokia, Motorola, and Blackberry are all faint shells of their former glorious selves.

Motorola killed Nokia, but Motorola’s RAZR couldn’t do text right. Blackberry did text, but Blackberry sort of killed itself after the network breakdowns and security flaws. Corporate finance, Global broadcast news and any large group that needs a secure network for text-intensive messaging still uses Blackberry. Apple tried to add the single tying feature of each major competitor, Apple’s typing interface is horrible, yet kids adopted it over Blackberry and now they’re embedded. Their Calendar/Contacts/Tasks/Mail integration doesn’t even exist and yet they still buried Palm. (No Stylus).

I attribute all of this to the iPod. IPod was the first-mover advantage. At first the hook for the iPhone was a replacement for the portable digital music device plus a phone. Advances in the cell phone network protocol enabled and accelrated the internet use, but that’s serendipity.

[RGlasel]

Blackberry did text,

But it died because it never broke free from being a keyboard with a little screen. Which made this

Apple’s typing interface is horrible

irrelevant for people who didn't really want to type anyway. iOS is a hardcore gesture driven interface (in any format) and that has great appeal in our modern illiterate society.

[Wheatfield]

Pity that the television network funded by the Australian Federal Government doesn't employ headline writers with a decent command of the English language. What is "'big camera'"? Global sales of interchangeable lens cameras (which are, on average, much larger than "compact" fixed lens cameras) peaked at the end of 2012, three years after the peak for all types of standalone cameras, and less than two years after iPhone sales in units exceeded total standalone camera sales. Today, bigger interchangeable lens cameras outsell fixed lens cameras 3:2; in 2010 fixed lens cameras outsold ILC's 9:1. All types of standalone cameras are still being sold, so iPhones haven't truly "killed" anything (with the possible exception of literacy in the general population), and the data suggests that it is only fixed lens camera users that have abandoned standalone camera manufacturers. The data also suggests that including a free camera with another product will "sell" a lot of cameras and users that are satisfied with the free camera they already have are less likely to pay for a standalone camera. No one seems to have tested if smartphone camera users will stop buying smartphones if camera manufacturers include a free phone in their camera models, but if that isn't the case, we can surmise that the camera is not the most important component for smartphone users who quit buying standalone cameras.

There are a couple of things that strike me as odd. For instance, why the focus on improving cameras in phones if the most important thing is sending messages to anyone at anytime from anywhere? Perhaps it is the same reason as producing menthol flavoured cigarettes, to fuel brand preferences when the core product is almost identical between competitors. Also, isn't it ironic that a television network puts out free print articles on the Internet, when the audience for broadcast video is being "killed" by services provided over the Internet?

Low information buyers are impressed by big numbers. I bet if you told someone who was gloating about the 12mp camera in their new phone that they were using, at most, 2mp of data when they posted to Facebook they would call you out for passing on fake news.

[monochrome]

But it died because it never broke free from being a keyboard with a little screen. Which made this irrelevant for people who didn't really want to type anyway. iOS is a hardcore gesture driven interface (in any format) and that has great appeal in our modern illiterate society.

Seriously? All my children do on a iPhone is text, email, add replies to people’s insta comments and respond to Facebook posts. All you do on an iPhone is scroll with your thumb, tap with your thumb and type with both thumbs. Just like a Blackberry.

[gaweidert]

One other thing the smartphone has done. It is no longer just big brother looking at us, but we are now looking at big brother. And it is so easy to post videos online now.


BTW, the smartphone will be killed off when we have Borg like implants.

[reh321]

But Blackberry had actual physical keys. My younger daughter wore out two of them in less than two years - she's been able to nurse one iPhone for the entire two-year period {screen gets "iffy"at the end}

[reh321]

Low information buyers are impressed by big numbers. I bet if you told someone who was gloating about the 12mp camera in their new phone that they were using, at most, 2mp of data when they posted to Facebook they would call you out for passing on fake news.

I might too, depending on what you mean by that.

[Wheatfield]

I might too, depending on what you mean by that.

How big a picture can you post to Facebook? Here it's 1400 x 900 which, if my math is correct, works out to 1.26mp. An iPhone 8 Plus screen is slightly over 2mp.
The Huawei P20 Pro, which is an intriguing enough product that it will probably be my next phone, has just over a 2.4mp screen.
Actually, looking at that phone, one can see the end of the entry level DSLR in it. 40mp camera as the main, and a 20mp and 8mp camera as well, giving a pseudo 27-80 equivalent f/1.6-2.4 lens zoom lens.
Very impressive.

[monochrome]

But Blackberry had actual physical keys. My younger daughter wore out two of them in less than two years - she's been able to nurse one iPhone for the entire two-year period {screen gets "iffy"at the end}

I believe the actual keys are a benefit on mine. My younger daughter made me get her a BB instead of an early iPhone. My older daughter (formerly Network Broadcast News “Breaking’ Managing Producer and now Communications Director and Press Secretary to a State Attorney General) swears by* her Key2. The keyboards are improved. If your use case is intensive texting and secure email a BB is the preferred device.

The problem with their original devices was the plug connector breaking off the PCB internally.

* She and I use iPhone 6s for personal communication. We use the keyboard case with our iPads

[TheCousinDan]

I was doing ok today, now I'm just depressed.

[CPLTarun]

Until mobile phone cameras have variable focal lengths and aperatures, there will be dedicated cameras around. And, as much as small sensor technologies improve image quality, the same tech can be applied and scaled to larger ILCs for even better image quality.

So there will always be people who prefer full manual buttons, dials and controls combined with greater image quality.

[noelpolar]

Sad to say.... on my last "holiday trip" I took more photos with my phone than with my pentax gear. Mostly because it was just with me...

Even some wild bird shots.... Samsung S8...cropped a fair bit.... tapped to get focus on it's eyes.

For day to day, reflective moment type capture, my phone is good enough that I don't go back to the car to get my DSLR.... for hobby stuff or moments that are going to be special I will always use best available gear.

[Kaladran]

There will always be a niche for a full size camera, iPhones and the like made photography more accessible and have replaced the compact cameras but a SLRs will still exist for those who really want to get into the minutia of photography.

[photoptimist]

There will always be a niche for a full size camera, iPhones and the like made photography more accessible and have replaced the compact cameras but a SLRs will still exist for those who really want to get into the minutia of photography.

Very true!


Yet IPhones haven't even replaced compact cameras. Although compact camera sales are a fraction of their former levels, they still sell. In fact, compact cameras outsell mirrorless interchangeable lens cameras 2:1.

There will always be a niche for compact cameras because they offer better optics, sensors, and ergonomics than any touchscreen phone.