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The [Slow] Pace Of Innovation

Digital cameras have come a long way, and fast! It seems only yesterday we heard of Kodak’s 1MP digicam that cost as much as a high-end DSLR costs today. We’ve certainly made progress by leaps and bounds.

So, it is not strange when we look ahead and predict the future for digital cameras, as these two authors did:

We would all love for these wishes to come true — and one day they probably will. But how long are we talking about here? Next year? 2 years from now? How about 5 years? Certainly not more than 10?

Well, I don’t know the answer, but consider this:

If, 20 years ago, in 1990, someone stood up and predicted that we would have a tablet that was controlled by your finger, what would you have said to that?

You would have thought that person was nuts! Twenty whole years to develop a touchscreen? Come on! In 20 long years, we should have been able to have invented much more than that. We should be able to simply talk to our computer, etc. etc. etc.

But fact is, it took that long. Even though touchscreen technology was probably already in use in various forms back then, it is not until now that touchscreen technology is becoming a consumer reality in everyday appliances, such as the iPad.

So, how much longer do we have to wait until all the predictions above come true for DSLRs and the iPad? Your guess is as good as mine. Market forces, technology innovation, the economy, manufacturing costs, what Steve Jobs does next, says next,… all factor into the equation.

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