Camera phones

[O'Dannyboy]

Yes. I agree. The application for a phone/camera is not as pratical as the inventor thought. It probably plays a role more in mischief than in anything useful.

I was considering your statements and realised how far we have come. When I was a child I first saw the imagination plant the seed for an idea or concept that is still very much in its infancy. In less than a decade or see we will all have access to..........drum role please...........video phones. hehe. Its been a long time comming and I think we are very close. Cameras and phones were just another baby step in seeing that realised. I always imagined them in the way I had seen them in movies. Looking at your television screen at home and carrying on with the person on the screen. Always this version of phone was restricted to someones home or a booth. But in actuality it apears as though it will be mobile before its offered at home. Though I have no doubts that the best imaging will be available through fiber optic lines or what have you, its likely to see some action in the cellular area first. And I dont even want to get started on voice recognition. Interesting times indeed.

[Trinity]

All I know is that teenage boys should not own camera phones. I nearly got in a brawl with one once when he snapped my picture while I was innocently shopping. It made me mad, so I slapped is phone out of his hand and it landed on the ground. And that's not the only time that's happened. They shouldn't go around snapping pictures of girls like that, just for entertainment. The irony is that if he had chosen to press charges, I could've gotten in trouble for breaking his phone (damaging his property), yet nothing could've been done about him taking my picture. Just about anything in a public place is fair game (as far as photographing goes). Even private property isn't off limits (if I remember right). I could've claimed he was invading my privacy, but then I would've had to prove that my "expectations of privacy" were reasonable. Blah. I just don't think it's right to go around snapping pictures of perfect strangers. Unless, of course, you see a really amazing mullet, now that might be the exception.

Unfortunatly this goes both ways...

Its just not, and quote: "A Boy Thing." Girls do the same thing... So what now? do we take them from guys and girls? I don't think so...

There is a solution out there somewhere... But taking phones from teenage guys and girls would absolutely do nothing because it happens with adults too, trust me i know. So if we don't trust teenagers with them and we don't trust adults with them, then you are ultimately suggesting that we should just get rid of them, but that will not happen.

[Adarian]

Sin abounds. I thought about having a camera phone, but they are used by too many people to take sneaky shameful photos. Being a man, I felt that having a camera phone is akin to putting a sign of shame around my neck simple by owning the device because of the stigma attached. So, I have a very good quality digital Kodac, quite large, utterly obvious. When I have it on the strap around my neck, everybody knows I'm out taking pictures, and when I aim it, everybody around can see what I am aiming at. No problem. Nobody gets uncomfortable or offended. And the quality of the pictures far exceeds anything currently available in the phone department.

[Marnie]

There is a solution out there somewhere... But taking phones from teenage guys and girls would absolutely do nothing because it happens with adults too, trust me i know. So if we don't trust teenagers with them and we don't trust adults with them, then you are ultimately suggesting that we should just get rid of them, but that will not happen.

Hey, here's an idea: How about all those parents who get their kids cell phones to "keep track of them" (cause they are too lazy to do it themselves, I wonder?) start making the kids pay for their use! I absolutely do NOT trust teenagers with cell phones! Are you kidding? Who would trust a teenager with a cell/camera phone?? "Honest Dad, I'll only use it to call home or in an emergency." Yeah, right.

[other one]

Marnie, I take hundreds of pictures while driving. There isn't much to it unless you try and look through the view finder while you do it. With a bit of practice you quickly learn to just point and shoot, and with the newer computer programs to crop and streighten things up, you'd really not know a person was driving........ well except maybe for that crack in my windshield or a bug now and then....

[refugepsa91]

I don't even have a cell phone My husband has one at work, but he leaves it there at night to charge. He doesn't feel right bringing it home because his boss pays for it, and its for work only. Unless of course there is an emergency at home, then I can call him.

I've been thinking about getting one though....no conctract....prepaid minutes would be nice for me. No camera either....no camera can replace my old 35mm The people in the handbook are wearing bell bottoms if that helps date it

I also travel with my camera, glad to hear I'm not the only one....although I pull over to snap a picture...I have to manually focus.

Love and Blessings,

Angel

[buckthesystem]

"Pix 'phones" are a gross invasion of privacy. It is another of those things which someone invented to be a "gimmick" for teenagers, and they must have made a lot of money out of it.

Sure it is good to be able to get an instant picture of something. But I think the inconvenience of the whole thing far outweighs any benefits.

CCTVs are invading Europe and people are becoming accustomed to them, even expecting to be "snapped" everywhere they go. According to what I read CCTVs threaten to invade America now too. This would be a tragedy. Privacy is fast turning into "a foreign concept that is far over-rated". What has happened to trust?

I don't like having my picture taken, and without my knowledge or consent is the hight of cheek.

Privacy is precious. How easily we have given it up. I still find it amazing how many people seem to have bought into the idea that an office full of bureaucrats has a "God given right" to information about you and your image, all for the silliest of excuses: "Safety and security".

I was discussing this with an American friend who was complaining about her experience with the DVLA when she had to "renew" her driving licence, and she said "I don't mind being fingerprinted by the DVLA staff, but I do question why my age and weight has to appear on the face of the licence". I was absolutely horrified by all of these things and I tried to find out a logical answer as to why the DVLA wanted this information. I couldn't get a straight answer out of anyone.

I have an absolute paranoia about "driving licences" since ours, in this country, were "changed" to a "digi/photo/id licence" literally be sleight of hand in 1998. "Facial recognition technology" (which btw is possible with the images from "pix 'phones") is one thing, but I could never accept fingerprints, weight etc. Perhaps somebody here can be more honest. Does anyone really thing these things are necessary?

Ahh Pix 'phones, another seemingly innocuous thing that can and will be abused.

[DaniJ87]

"Pix 'phones" are a gross invasion of privacy. It is another of those things which someone invented to be a "gimmick" for teenagers, and they must have made a lot of money out of it.

Sure it is good to be able to get an instant picture of something. But I think the inconvenience of the whole thing far outweighs any benefits.

CCTVs are invading Europe and people are becoming accustomed to them, even expecting to be "snapped" everywhere they go. According to what I read CCTVs threaten to invade America now too. This would be a tragedy. Privacy is fast turning into "a foreign concept that is far over-rated". What has happened to trust?

I don't like having my picture taken, and without my knowledge or consent is the hight of cheek.

Privacy is precious. How easily we have given it up. I still find it amazing how many people seem to have bought into the idea that an office full of bureaucrats has a "God given right" to information about you and your image, all for the silliest of excuses: "Safety and security".

I was discussing this with an American friend who was complaining about her experience with the DVLA when she had to "renew" her driving licence, and she said "I don't mind being fingerprinted by the DVLA staff, but I do question why my age and weight has to appear on the face of the licence". I was absolutely horrified by all of these things and I tried to find out a logical answer as to why the DVLA wanted this information. I couldn't get a straight answer out of anyone.

I have an absolute paranoia about "driving licences" since ours, in this country, were "changed" to a "digi/photo/id licence" literally be sleight of hand in 1998. "Facial recognition technology" (which btw is possible with the images from "pix 'phones") is one thing, but I could never accept fingerprints, weight etc. Perhaps somebody here can be more honest. Does anyone really thing these things are necessary?

Ahh Pix 'phones, another seemingly innocuous thing that can and will be abused.

Well...... I can easily understand why the DMV wants the height/weight and fingerprints on your license- it's because some people look the same. Or they change how they look, or deny being someone they are, etc... The license has that information on it to help catch criminals- if you have a fingerprint on file from everyone, and someone's fingerprint is in your crime-scene- it can really help figure things out, if you can match the print, even if the person doesn't have a criminal record.... that's just a reason I thought of.... another thing: Where on earth does it say that as human beings, we get privacy? I mean, first of all, God sees us do everything... so nothing's private.... and also, with the weight thing... if you are embarrassed about the weight displayed on your license, look at it this way: it can either motivate you to make the weight more satisfying to you, or realistically, people who see you will be able to generally tell whether your weight is high/low, etc... so what's the difference? It's not as if many people see your license, anyway...

Camera phones can be useful. I don't have one, nor do I need one... (partially because I think they have poor picture quality, and I have a 4 MP digital camera instead...) but my dad has wanted one for awhile. He is self-employed, and it would be nice for him to have one, so that he could take pictures of the things he does at work- like take a picture of his completed job of installing stall loops in a freestall dairy barn- or installing cow mattresses.... This would help him to be able to show future customers, what his work looks like. And there IS great advantage to the convenience of only carrying ONE piece of technology around... he has his cell phone... knowing what state his truck is in, generally, if he also had a camera with him, it would just get lost. So not all things about camera phones, are bad. They are a technology, and kind of neutral- it's how some people use them, that's bad.

(and if people take your picture, unless it's a crude picture, why bother with fighting it? it doesn't really hurt you... and what can the other person do with it, really? especially if it's just some teenager, and not someone who has a vendetta out against you?)

just my take on the camera phones....

~Danette

[Iryssa]

I wanted a camera phone for a while, 'cause I'm always seeing such beautiful things while I'm driving (and I drive quite a lot) and I always wished I had a camera on me to capture that beauty. As luck would have it, I got a digital camera for Christmas. It's little and fits in my purse (even my tiny formal clutch!), so I've gotten a lot more of those snapshots lately. I mean, I could get a camera phone and save those extra few inches of space...but now I don't see the point. Besides, I love my camera.

Let me know when you are on the road so I can stay OFF it! Taking pictures while you are driving?!?!?!

Relax, I'm not that stupid. Honestly. I just see the subject (usually an interesting tree or a sunset) while I'm driving. If I take a picture of it, I actually pull over and then hike it to a good vantage point (it would be almost impossible to focus if I tried that anyway).

[darkest_red]

I have a camera phone. I didn't deliberately go out and buy one or anything, if I was that desperate for a camera I'd just buy a small digital camera, but as I got my handset free the assistant recommended it, as it was (at the time) the latest phone around. It can play MP3s and stuff too but I only really use it to phone, send texts, listen to the radio if I can't get to sleep and take photos of my boyfriend, my boyfriend and I etc. We don't get to see each other that often so it's nice to take lots of photos of him/us when I am together. I also take photos when we go out or if we go out with friends etc, which I then transfer to my laptop so I have lots of photos to remind me of days out etc. I also take photos of his pet cats when they're looking particularly cute! I would never take a photo of a stranger (though I have taken a photo of a strangers car once, an amazingly beautiful Jag!), there is absolutely no need for that and would be a gross invasion of privacy, in my opinion.

As I said, the main photos I take are of my boyfriend. I do love being able to do that as if I'm missing him (which is pretty much all the time I'm not with him!), it's nice to be able to look back at the photos/videos I've taken of him.