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A Photo spending year

This year is looking like an expensive one for my photo habit.

Adobe Photoshop
Image via Wikipedia

Just this morning I downloaded the newest version of Adobe’s Photoshop CS5. I skipped the last version and have been happily running CS3 since 2007 but between no support for the later camera raw updates and a few compelling features (like their revised HDR engine) and I decided it was time to update.

And yesterday I finally bit the bullet and ordered a 50mm f/1.4 lens.  I’ve been wanting this lens for quite a while now but have had other financial obligations that kept me from putting down the money.  On my D300 this will give me a really nice short telephoto angle of view which should make for a good portrait/street lens.  In fact, with my 20mm, 50mm and 105 mm lenses I might abandon zooms for a while.

Next up will be Adobe’s update to their Lightroom product.  I’ve been a big fan ever since it was announced and I plan on keeping up with the latest versions since, unlike the 20 year old Photoshop, this young product offers pretty significant changes in every release.

But My real expected expense this year will be in the form of a new camera.  The rumors are swirling about a new offering from Nikon and I hope that what they announce will match what I’m targeting.  I’m really interested in a D700 + video.  To me the D300/D700 offer the perfect product falling between the more consumer-oriented cameras and the big professional tanks.  The newer Nikon D300s (the replacement to my D300) is a great camera but the D700 provides the full frame sensor and better low-light performance from the larger pro cameras.  I’m hoping that the new release will provide some updates to the image sensor for even better low-light performance and nice HD video.  I suspect they might restrict the video to 720 (rather than 1080) but I’m fine with that (heck, my tv at home is only 720 and it looks pretty darn good).

I’ve had a few other minor purchases, which I’ll write about some day, including some neutral density filters that I’ve only had a little opportunity to play around with but these costs are pretty minor compared to those already listed on the page.

And then there’s the 4/3 camera platform .. if the right one were to be released this year… hmm..

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The return of Local products?

Something occurred to me today in that odd way that ideas just all of a sudden appear in one’s brain.  It’s one of those weird thoughts that often times I just dismiss, ignore, or sometimes play out, only to realize later that it’s just a bunch of crap.

There’s all this reporting lately of the demise of big media – that the internet is killing establishments like The New York Times or NBC.  More specifically, that giving away their content for free on the internet was a bad business move and is destroyed their underlying business.

I’m not a fan of that perspective – I feel like a lot of content has already been ‘free’ – over-the-air TV and Radio, and even the nominal fee for a daily newspaper hardly covers the production costs.  They’ve been supported by advertising and my feeling is that they’ve got to figure out a way to make advertising work online.

So the idea today starts with this: It’s the low-cost barrier that the internet has enabled that is destroying old media – YouTube vs. NBC; blogs vs. New York Times.  This idea isn’t new and I believe it’s accurate.  People are more interested in the varying content online, and specifically they’re able to match content to their particular world-view better than they could with any of the large nation-wide media companies.

But here’s what hit me today: Advertisers are in the same boat as the old media companies.  Coca-cola is trying to reach a national audience (world-wide audience actually) and it’s going to get tougher and tougher to cater their message to the more and more niche markets represented by online media.  This represents an opportunity for local products to compete with their national/global competitors in the same way that local media now has the opportunity to compete with their national competitors.

Could we see the return of regional products like soda and beer? Restaurants & clothiers?  That prospect interests me – as one who likes to travel one of the aspects I enjoy is how different the world can be the further one gets from home – could it be that traveling to the next state over could be as it once was?  Will we see the products and services breaking into smaller regional offerings?

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I’ll always remember the 80s as the decade of the internet..

I stumbled upon this image today during my morning browsing and I couldn’t help but to laugh.

At first it was the idea that the 90s was the decade of the mobile internet.  Um… really?  I can pretty much remember browsing the internet on my first Sony/Sprint phone.  After about 10 minutes (and who knows how many dollars) I think I had rendered some bad mobile site’s input field to search for movie times or something.  The search results would have taken another half hour I’m sure.

My first reaction was that they had leapfrogged a decade – one could argue that the 00s was the decade of the mobile internet (but I would really push that to the 10s).

But then I saw the 80s.

Really?  Internet computing in the 80s?  I barely had my Compuserve account in the 80s (like, ’89) let alone — a Google screen shot?!  I’m not sure I’d associate a company founded in 1998 with the decade of Pac Man and the Apple II.

Makes one question Morgan Stanley’s credibility.  Though I guess you don’t need this image to tell you that banks don’t always get it right.

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Will Apple’s closed enviornments succeed?

Apple Inc.
Image via Wikipedia

I have long admired Apple‘s ability to produce high-quality products, from their early Apple II ad Mac products through the iPod and iMacs of today.  But I have often held off purchasing Apple’s products because of their maniacal control that they place over their systems.  I was disappointed (but not surprised) that yesterday’s iPad announcement continues their insistence that the iPad will continue to be a closed ecosystem allowing only approved App store applications.

The iPhone is a wonderful device but really I should be able to install software of my choosing, just like on a computer.  I have the same gripe with the AppleTV.  I absolutely loved Boxee on the Apple TV, as I’ve written about in the past but I eventually had to give up on it because of the constant upgrade wars with Apple.  Now, if I want to watch the State of the Union address (or many other shows), I have to watch on the computer and not the TV because Apple has said so.

Were I to do it over again today, I’d buy a Mac mini and attach that to the TV, instead of an Apple TV.  That way I’d have the ability to install and run whatever application I want – Boxee, a web browser, etc.,

And were I to do it over again today, I’d buy a Google phone.  I’m aware of the shortcomings of the current Google application offering but that will only improve as more people adopt that device (or, more accurately, device platform).

And so, what will I do today?  Will I buy an iPad?  (Beside the fact that I’m not really in the market and won’t be buying one in the near future..)  Certainly the device is compelling.  I really think Apple has hit the nail on the head.  It really is a great device for most casual computer users.  Cruise the web, watch a video, look at some photos, check the weather, etc.,  It really is made for the couch (or the train/airplane).  But I won’t be able to install Boxee.  I won’t be able to run flash.  I won’t be able to install Firefox.  I won’t be able to decide whether the power-burden of background apps is acceptable or not.  These might not be deal-breakers for the iPad device – but if this signals the future of computing platforms – closed ecosystems where you have to fully buy in to one company’s environment – one where you have little control over how it works – I’m concerned.

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San Telmo district, Buenos Aires

San Telmo was my favorite neighborhood of Buenos Aires.  It had interesting streets to wander around, curious shops, good restaurants and cafes and a great mix of diverse people.  All this said, I was never in this area very late at night but I definitely wandered around a few streets that had a pretty grungy vibe that bordered on hip and and just plain dangerous.

Of course, I kind of like that vibe as it adds a little excitement to any trip.  I’m not looking for Disneyland..

And so I wandered through this area a few times, the most memorable being on a Sunday when the area is transformed into an outdoor market with lots of sights and sounds and a lot of dancing and music as the night comes on.  This is where I saw the Tango act whose music I used for my South American video and it’s where I captured the dancing/drumming images used in that video.

On other days of the week the neighborhood offers a very different, less frenetic vibe that’s equally enticing and is also worth a little of your time.

Anyone who is thinking about a trip to Buenos Aires should definitely consider being in this neighborhood on a Sunday and if you are there, make sure you stay around for the evening music!