‘Point-and-Shoot Has Become Point-and-Shoot-and-Share’

Nice piece from MG Siegler on how the ability to share is pushing smartphones past dedicated point-and-shoot cameras:

Smartphones are always connected. Point and shoots never are. When I take a cool picture, I often want to share it right away. With my smartphone, it takes 20 seconds. With my point and shoot, it’s impossible. I have to wait until I get home, upload it to my computer, then upload it to the web.

He points to the camera popularity trends on Flickr as proof: The iPhone 3G is the single most-used camera on Flickr. Flickr’s a site for enthusiasts, though. Note that fifth-most-popular camera is the Canon 5D Mark II, which retails for $2500.

Siegler also writes:

And if you look at the popular point and shoot list, you’ll see that all of them are trending downward. Fast. Meanwhile, cameraphones are going the opposite way. Soon, I imagine that several Android phones will join the iPhones at the top of the popular list.

I’ll take that bet.

★ Monday, 22 November 2010