A GPS Camera? Yes, and Well Done Too

Photo courtesy dpreview.com where you can read the full release:

OK no astronaut diapers, no big brother contention and not even any of Katie Couric’s legs today.  But that doesn’t mean we can’t have some fun and look at something pretty.

This is a pretty high quality 8 Mega-pixel digital cam, but it has two main features I really, really think are great … one is GPS related the other isn’t.

First, the non-GPS idea that Ricoh seems to have gotten right.  Built in Bluetooth and Wi-Fi connectivity.  Ever since I lost the cord of a digital camera I begged my boss to buy for our office and then effectively ruined in three days time, I’ve hated most digital camera interfaces. 

• Special cords?  An out and out no no with me.  If I had a buck for every blogger I’ve read a post from that goes like this “pictures when I get back from my trip, I forgot my cord” I’d be so rich people would be coming to see me instead of Darren.
• Memory cards?  Likewise, to my mind, trash.  First of all they cost real money that I would rather invest in basic camera quality, or the travel to go someplace to take interesting pictures.  Second there is too much incompatibility … competing standards … it’s reminiscent of the idiotic DVD technology “wars” that are currently holding back the industry.
• Disk-based transfer systems?  A possibility.  My wife still loves her now ancient Sony MVC with the floppy drive.  Don’t laugh, it work and if you visit her blog the pictures will make you hungry.  But floppies are limited and nearing extinction and Sony’s current offerings with mini CD-ROM or DVD-ROM scare me in their mechanical complexity.

But the Capilo?  Now you’re talking, especially with the Wi-Fi option.  Walk in to your home computer room, a Starbucks, a Grandma Max’s truck stop restaurant, you name it … there’s a Wi-Fi hotspot and bingo! your pics are online and archived.  Nice thinking.

Now of course, as Mr. GPS I’m supposed to be writing about the other uncommon feature here … auto GPS tagging of pictures.  I’m not sure I want to count the ways this is a good idea, but let me just pose a few:

• Always know exactly where and when each photo was taken. 
• Suppose you’re a real estate agent … presto, dots on a map that open up to show your listings. 
• Insurance adjuster?  There’s the properties you viewed today, on the map and documented
• Police Officer:  “Your honor, here’s a view of the subject’s car at the time of the arrest and the location where I was standing.”
• Field Service Tech:  What about a picture before and after every job you perform?  No question about date, time location and no argument about those scratches being there before you started work or not.

I think you get the idea now.  As I said the list could be endless.  Nice idea, nice camera, wonder when I’ll get one?