> Behalf Of Bill Pearce
>
>
> > I can think of one P&S which we all hail as a marvel of engineering
> > and usefullness--the Olympus XA.
>
> What we on this list need is a digital version of that. Not possible.
>
> Do I blame the camera manufacturers? No more than I blame GM and Ford
> for
> gambling on making gas guzzlers while the Asian manufacturers gambled
> on
> more efficient cars. They gambled and lost, but the camera makers were
> better gamblers. People want a hugh LCD screen because that's how they
> share
> photos today, and the viewfinders were so bad anyway, people got in the
> misguided habit of holding their cameras at arms-length, so that's a
> buck or
> so a unit saved. People want the super zooms for some reason (kids
> sports
> games?) that I don't entirely understand, so we get them.
>
> It's all a matter of what the primary market wants. If someone wants
> the new
> Sigma P&S, they better get it soon, as I don't think it will be a big
> succcess.
>
> Bill Pearce
OK, taking this off-topic for a minute to reinforce your point. We bought a
new Prius a couple days ago for my daughter. This thing is simply an
amazing execution of technology. When you start the car, there is
absolutely no sound. The engine doesn't actually fire up until you press the
accelerator to move. When you stop at a red light, the engine shuts off.
EPA 60 City/51 Highway (yes, better city). Of course those are unreasonable
numbers, but so far we're running almost 46mpg, all city.
Even the little things are well executed. All the controls are on a large
touch screen, high res LCD. They built a good combination of touch screen
and real buttons, complimented with surprisingly good voice recognition. I
can say HOME and the car will guide me home. I can say a person's name and
the car will look up the person in the address book on my telephone, dial
the phone, mute the radio and turn on the speakerphone, all connected to my
phone through Bluetooth.
I could go on and on, as it is impressive, but my point is that the
execution is brilliant. We looked at other cars, including hybrids, but they
were all clearly 'regular' cars with hybrid technology grafted on. The Prius
was designed as a hybrid.
If only GM would catch on. I've love an electric motor to compliment the
LS2 in my Corvette :)
Tom
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