An excellent article by Jeff Benjamin asks why there isn’t more of a spotlight highlighting the sad state of affairs in the camera industry. Seriously, camera manufacturers are in the business of creating digital products, and yet their buyers are still using the equivalent of little floppy disc drives. Are digital photos taken with pro cameras not the same as digital photos taken with an iPhone? You don’t see SD card slots on iPhones, even though that’s now the source of the vast majority of pictures.
The whole situation reminds me of a similar failing in the watch industry. Apple’s innovation with the whole swappable band system and easy link adjustments completely put existing watch makers to shame. Even Apple Watch critics regularly came out and said the band system was genius. I can’t believe I used to pay a jeweler in the mall to add or remove links in my Seiko watch. The links on my Apple Watch are amazing in the way they can be easily added or removed in seconds. Apple’s innovation is there for anyone willing to pay attention.
The lack of progress on the part of the watch industry has led to a total outsider putting it to shame and exposing a lack of willingness to think outside the box. The watch has been around for centuries, and only now does someone make a system that allows you to easily change your bands to match the occasion? This is why Apple Watch is stealing market share from these guys, making Apple now one of the top three watch makers in the world in less than two years.
I don’t think that Apple would ever get into a business as small as high-end cameras, but I can’t help but wonder, what if they did? Camera manufacturers have gotten lazy and left the door open.
When CBS News visited Apple’s main camera lab for a tour earlier this year, Graham Townsend told them that they had 800 people who were solely dedicated to working on the camera. That’s like having an entire camera company within a company. These engineers are pulling off miracles to try and get the best picture possible out of a tiny little sensor and working within the confines of a svelte phone body. And they’re doing a pretty good job at it.
Can you imagine what Apple’s camera guys could produce if Apple told them to build an “iSight Pro”? It would be fun to see them throw their expertise at a big DSLR camera that was also tightly integrated into the iOS and MacOS system. Of course, it would have no ports. Your pictures would instantly be on your iPhone, iPad, or MacBook.
The Tim Cook doctrine for expanding into a new business has two main pillars.
Unfortunately, the market for people who dabble in high-end photography is shrinking. Photography businesses are closing up shop, and newspapers are laying off photographers and relying on phone pictures. A lot of past DSLR sales were also to regular people who wanted something better than cheap drug-store-camera pictures. This group is more than satisfied with what the iPhone 7 or Google Pixel can provide. That’s why the SD slot is already disappearing from MacBook Pros. That market is shrinking.
Also, Apple already has their resources fully engaged. They can barely update the products they already sell, let alone design new ones. So if they are going to assign their existing staff to launching a new product, it’s going to need an impressive financial return.
Still, it would be nice to see what Apple could do if they unleashed their massive camera knowledge on a big no-holds-barred camera. Camera phones will never be able to duplicate what’s possible with a large camera body, so there should at least be a steady market for it. And maybe Apple could popularize and grow the entire market for high-end photography? Millions of people are getting their first taste of photography with their iPhone, and if even five percent of them would like to go beyond the iPhone, that’s significant growth.
The lack of progress on the part of the watch industry has led to a total outsider putting it to shame and exposing a lack of willingness to think outside the box. The watch has been around for centuries, and only now does someone make a system that allows you to easily change your bands to match the occasion? This is why Apple Watch is stealing market share from these guys, making Apple now one of the top three watch makers in the world in less than two years.
I don’t think that Apple would ever get into a business as small as high-end cameras, but I can’t help but wonder, what if they did? Camera manufacturers have gotten lazy and left the door open.
When CBS News visited Apple’s main camera lab for a tour earlier this year, Graham Townsend told them that they had 800 people who were solely dedicated to working on the camera. That’s like having an entire camera company within a company. These engineers are pulling off miracles to try and get the best picture possible out of a tiny little sensor and working within the confines of a svelte phone body. And they’re doing a pretty good job at it.
Can you imagine what Apple’s camera guys could produce if Apple told them to build an “iSight Pro”? It would be fun to see them throw their expertise at a big DSLR camera that was also tightly integrated into the iOS and MacOS system. Of course, it would have no ports. Your pictures would instantly be on your iPhone, iPad, or MacBook.
The Tim Cook doctrine for expanding into a new business has two main pillars.
- It should compliment what they do today. They already have a required expertise.
- It should be globally possible. They don’t want to navigate regulations from hundreds of countries.
Unfortunately, the market for people who dabble in high-end photography is shrinking. Photography businesses are closing up shop, and newspapers are laying off photographers and relying on phone pictures. A lot of past DSLR sales were also to regular people who wanted something better than cheap drug-store-camera pictures. This group is more than satisfied with what the iPhone 7 or Google Pixel can provide. That’s why the SD slot is already disappearing from MacBook Pros. That market is shrinking.
Also, Apple already has their resources fully engaged. They can barely update the products they already sell, let alone design new ones. So if they are going to assign their existing staff to launching a new product, it’s going to need an impressive financial return.
Still, it would be nice to see what Apple could do if they unleashed their massive camera knowledge on a big no-holds-barred camera. Camera phones will never be able to duplicate what’s possible with a large camera body, so there should at least be a steady market for it. And maybe Apple could popularize and grow the entire market for high-end photography? Millions of people are getting their first taste of photography with their iPhone, and if even five percent of them would like to go beyond the iPhone, that’s significant growth.
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