March 22, 2006

In response to Gil's Invention:

Originally an email, I wanted to share this with a wider audience. Why do digital cameras have black lens covers?

I believe it has to do with the fact that black is better at preventing accidental pre-exposure of film, back in the days before we had digital cameras.

However, now that we do.. I wonder how much the value of attachment and expectation of a perceived result takes place. We expect that the lens cap is going to be black. Anything else is out of our expectation - and we perceive it to be negative. We weren't expecting that upgrade. (Theory. Not sure if i'm right).

It's like buying a car. The same basic structure of a car hasn't changed for years- we still have peddles, a steering wheel and sometimes a gear stick. Why has this interface not changed?

Isn't it time to do away with wheels and instead use forward looking motion detectors to slow the car down if motion changes up ahead, with steering column controls to slow us down... or time for a more inclusive steering unit with an optional HUD, integrated into the windscreen?

In general, people are not ready to embrace massive change with items that need to stay familiar - so producers need to manage expectations and comfort zones. Innovate quickly but release slowly - after users have begun to adopt.

Hmm - this seems to be antithesis to the writings of others in the blogosphere - perhaps change doesn't need to happen at break-neck speed. Perhaps it does...

seth godin camera digital aesthetic

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