Slashdot Mirror
How the Camera Phone Changed the World
theodp writes "Ten years after the amazing Philippe Kahn married a cell phone and a digital camera to capture the birth of daughter Sophie, Slate takes a look at the impact of the camera phone, the gadget that perverts, vigilantes, and celebrity stalkers can all agree on. 'With this kind of device,' Kahn told Wired, 'you're going to see the best and the worst of things.'"
I do a lot of business with companies who for security reasons will not let you take a camera phone onto their premises. I also have to leave mine at home when I go to parents evening just in case I might possibly take a picture of a school pupil.
Now, have you tried to get a non camera phone lately? Difficult to say the least.
If I want to take a picture then I get my Digital Camera out (Nikon D2x) and do it properly.
Current camera phones have the same quality as CCTV cameras did 10 years ago.
I'm sorry (and will probably get modded down as a troll) this is one invention I could certainly do without.
Here's the problem. The cellphone was supposed to make it easy for people to be reached on-the-move. For "security" reasons we are not allowed to use our phone everywhere, because the people who are taking photos of us and watching us on videos don't want us to take photos or videos of them (just count how many police brutality incidents on youtube also involve the rough handling of the guy capturing said incident on a camera). On european trains there are "quiet" zones where phones are banned, and if we use our phone on a plane then the phone will immediately detonate all of the explosive liquids stored in passenger's hand-luggage and cause sony lithium-ion batteries in apple G4 powerbooks to burst into flames.
Lastly, and even more importantly than plane death, upgrading the phone's camera just gives the mobile phone industry another excuse to charge you a higher subscription than the previous year.
This message was scanned by European governments and contains no terrorism.
Ultimately all the new technologies are putting an end to privacy. England has largely drunk the Kool Aide and put cameras on every street corner but the rest of the first world is following their example. At anytime you can be photographed or filmed without your knowledge. Even my PDA has a decent built in camera. Newer cars have black boxes and many have tracking devices. Emails are routinely monitored whether at work or by the government. When I was growing up in the 60s such a loss of privacy would have been thought to be Communist or at best facist. It really is the frog in boiling water senario. In fifty years it'll be considered a normal part of life to be under the microscope at work or in any public place. There's even talk of monitoring people in their own homes. Amazing what is being done for our own good. It is creepy to imagine that anytime you or your children may be photographed. Cameras were always pretty obvious so you had some warning. Cell phones are such a part of life no one thinks twice about them. They've already hit 2 megapixels. I have to believe they'll eventually have 5 or 6 megapixel camera phones. Ironically it's just as much the memory holding them back as the CCD chips.
One problem with the disposable camera is that after you take an important picture, the camera can be 'confiscated' and your picture is gone too. With a camera phone, the picture can be emailed to the world before the 'bad guy' can take your phone away....
--jeffk++
ipv6 is my vpn
There are tons of phones without cameras. There is absolutely *no* problem whatsoever getting a phone that doesn't have a camera. Every time an article about cellphones comes up somebody cries out "Can't I just have a phone? One without a camera???", and every time the basic answers is that you damn well can.
Now the problem is that these people aren't asking if they can have a phone without a camera. And they know it. They want a phone that has WiFi, stereo bluetooth, a big high quality color screen, 3G, can play back every media file under the sun and better yet they can put custom software on and isn't locked to any provider... but not a camera. And that is where you do end up getting into "good luck, mate" territory.
Seriously - walk into a store, look on the web, check out office supplies stores (guess what - they sell cell phones that are literally no-frills so that employees can have a cheap company phone).. there are plenty of cell phones without a camera. And if that is their only argument, then they shouldn't complain that it is not a very fashionable design or that it only has a fixed-matrix black-and-white LCD display and they can't download the latest music onto it let alone watch that StarGate SG-1 they recorded to Ogg Theora.
One thing the camera phone has accomplished is a general 'dumbing down' of peoples sence of quality of photos, which has nearly killed the film camera industry.
:)
They get used to poor quality since its *everywhere*, and accept it as 'good enough' since its more convenient..
ya, its a rant.. so sue me
---- Booth was a patriot ----
Not dissimilar to what happened with Saddam hussein.
The plan was to release a nice clean film of a dignified hanging. The moment the cameras were off they changed tack completely.
Luckily someone had a camera phone.
In any sizable protest now the majority will have camera phones - which means the scenario you describe of waiting until the media is out of the way isn't going to happen. Take film, email it from the phone, and keep out of the way of the police whilst it's emailing (which isn't long at 3G speeds). If you get arrested and they 'accidentally' step on the phone it's too late.
Absolutely! This is an extension of what Jello Biafra refers to as the "Camcorder Truth Jihad" and is exemplified by groups such as The Video Activist Network. The ubiquity of camera phones can only help this spread.
If anyone doubts the power of individuals with cameras, they could just ask George Allen or Micheal Richards for their opinions.