Comments on: HP shoots for wannabe photo pros

Company to launch new consumer printers, cameras for shutterbugs who want expert quality.
Video: HP rolls out new products

[Fictia]

Yeah right - price per printed pic please?

How about I drive 42 seconds to my nearest Wal-Mart and pay 12c per picture printed? How does that sound?

[Fictia]

Yeah right - price per printed pic please?

How about I drive 42 seconds to my nearest Wal-Mart and pay 12c per picture printed? How does that sound?

[markdoiron]

50% More Reliable?

HP printer supplies are 50% more reliable than non-HP alternatives? I figure HP printer supplies are incredibly reliable--the larger majority folks will never see a failure in their HP printer supplies. So that means the non-HP alternatives are twice as likely fail in service. Hmmm. Twice of "never" is still a pretty low number!

Anyway, I question the whole premise of the article. That is, "Consumers don't 'want to know more about technology. They just want to take pictures and share them,' Joshi said." Consumers can already do that. I can usually have my prints, within an hour, professionally printed as ***photographs***. These online services (I use Walgreens, but there are others) aren't that hard to use and they provide for digital sharing of the images (which is a lot cheaper for the user than making prints and mailing them). I seriously doubt that HP will woo many computer neophytes with new cameras and printers--those folks will keep on using their P&S film cameras.

And, that doesn't provide any answer to the real thing consumers would like: To take ***good*** images. That takes a little knowledge. One won't become the next Ansel Adams (as the article suggests), but one can have a huge improvement in the quality of their images by following two simple rules:

1. Once you've framed the image, step closer. Three, four, five steps closer. Now shoot the image.

2. View every image on a computer before printing. Almost every image will require cropping before printing. Do it. Not sure how much to crop? Look at magazines and newspapers for an idea.

Do 1 and 2 and you will be following the most basic of good photography rules: Take a picture of what you're taking a picture of. Far too many folks want to take a picture of little Johnny and end up taking a picture of the mountains with this little smudge they describe to everyone as Johnny.

All of that is doable today, and none of it is improve significantly by the hype in the article.

mark d.
http://members.cox.net/mddoiron

[markdoiron]

50% More Reliable?

HP printer supplies are 50% more reliable than non-HP alternatives? I figure HP printer supplies are incredibly reliable--the larger majority folks will never see a failure in their HP printer supplies. So that means the non-HP alternatives are twice as likely fail in service. Hmmm. Twice of "never" is still a pretty low number!

Anyway, I question the whole premise of the article. That is, "Consumers don't 'want to know more about technology. They just want to take pictures and share them,' Joshi said." Consumers can already do that. I can usually have my prints, within an hour, professionally printed as ***photographs***. These online services (I use Walgreens, but there are others) aren't that hard to use and they provide for digital sharing of the images (which is a lot cheaper for the user than making prints and mailing them). I seriously doubt that HP will woo many computer neophytes with new cameras and printers--those folks will keep on using their P&S film cameras.

And, that doesn't provide any answer to the real thing consumers would like: To take ***good*** images. That takes a little knowledge. One won't become the next Ansel Adams (as the article suggests), but one can have a huge improvement in the quality of their images by following two simple rules:

1. Once you've framed the image, step closer. Three, four, five steps closer. Now shoot the image.

2. View every image on a computer before printing. Almost every image will require cropping before printing. Do it. Not sure how much to crop? Look at magazines and newspapers for an idea.

Do 1 and 2 and you will be following the most basic of good photography rules: Take a picture of what you're taking a picture of. Far too many folks want to take a picture of little Johnny and end up taking a picture of the mountains with this little smudge they describe to everyone as Johnny.

All of that is doable today, and none of it is improve significantly by the hype in the article.

mark d.
http://members.cox.net/mddoiron