The Technology Tailor Blog: A Low-Tech Approach to Consumer Electronics

The Launch of My First Book, Going Digital

I can't tell you how excited I am about the launch of my first book,
Going Digital.

After years of work, sweat, and at times, frustration, my little book is hitting the market! It's a 200-page paperback about the amazing things you can do with the digital photos on your hard drive and the home movies on your shelf.

Today (one day before release), Going Digital maintained an Amazon.com sales ranking of between 500 and 700 for most of the day. This is a terrific position for a new book in what is essentially a new genre: technology advice.

Lifestyle technology.

The goal: The New York Times Best Seller list! Ironically, in publishing, the more people that buy the book, the more people that buy the book. Readers reach readers.

Thank you a thousand times for your support.

I'll have much more about the process that led to the this book's publication, as well as excerpts, examples and lessons from Going Digital, in upcoming posts.

What Happened to the Video Camera?

Last week, Sony announced it is launching a high-definition video cameras. You don't hear much about video cameras any more. This got me thinking:

It's clear: We've become a photo society.

We didn't used to be.

American homes once used video cameras as much as, if not more than, photo cameras.

But no more.

I grew with a video camera in my face at all times. The photo camera also saw action in our home, but mostly, whether at a birthday party or on a trip to Disney World, my dad's massive shoulder-mounted "camcorder" (which attached via cable to the VCR deck hanging from his other shoulder) was pointed at me.

Today, clearly, we're all about digital photos. More than six out of 10 homes own a digital camera. Many own more than one. Many cell phones have cameras built in. The opportunity to take a digital snapshot is ubiquitous.

Why has this happened? Why is the video camera disappearing from our family events? Here's my crack at the answer:

1. Digital cameras are more affordable than video cameras.
   
2. It takes far less commitment -- especially in time -- to look through photographs. Video demands multi-sensory attention. We must sit and watch and listen to television.
   
   
3. But first we must get our video from the camcorder to the television. This is not always easy. Especially if you want to do some editing of the video. This involves getting it to the computer. Importing it into a video editing program. Making the modifications. Then burning a DVD. Too many steps.
   
   
4. For photographs, the editing and output process is far easier than the above
   convolution. Just make prints, at the store or at home. Or e-mail the pictures. Either way, it's a one-step process.
   
   
5. This might be the most important one: the technology industry has put its muscle (read: investment) behind digital photography. That's where the innovation is. And the affordability. And the advertising. When's the last time you saw a television commercial for a video camera?

Can video cameras catch up to digital cameras? Do we want (or need) them too? Is the industry going to turn its attention to video once digital photography sales slow?

For all of the above, I think, it's doubtful.