Edited by author 10-10-2004 11:03 AM
I wish I could remember the name of the "Cyberpunk-ish" novel in which this is a peripheral issue. A tale in which old people are no longer afraid to venture forth from their homes, but instead do so at every opportunity, carrying dirt-cheap miniature videocams. There are BIG prizes (and momentary TV show fame) for providing video evidence of crimes - anything from littering to bank robbery - and they want their slice of it. Result, almost everything you do outside of your home is going to be video'ed... because you never know when a crime might be committed. Reaching for your camera when you realise you're seeing a crime means it might be too late. Much easier to just video EVERYTHING, and hope there are a few diamonds amongst the dross.
In the meanwhile, the camera feature of my phone is an amusing gimmick that puts a picture of the usual callers on screen when they call me (including a snapshot of my dog when the call's from my housephone) BUT the thing that puzzles me is the desire for a camera in your phone rather than (say) an MP3 player. Commuters like myself are FAR more likely to cary an IPod and phone than a camera and phone. A solution was presented in Siemens SL42 and SL45, and the rarer-than-Hen's-teeth Sony phone/MP3 player. Thereafter, it's addressed only by housebrick smart phones, like your SPV and my P800. Given their age, SL45's still command a good price on Ebay. Maybe phone makers should study prices on Ebay - where they're set entirely by demand and supply. They might learn what people want, rather than trying to TELL us.