CAMERA PHONES
Use of popular accessory praised, yet feared
By Sarah Reinartz
It started out simply with
a forgotten camera when needed most to catch a “picture
perfect” moment. Then, out comes that slick new cell phone
with a camera lens to save the day! But are camera phones being
used for the wrong purposes?
Camera phones are rapidly becoming more popular around the world.
80 million have been sold since they were first introduced in
2002. Though many people own and love these new gadgets, some
people are discovering that, like many forms of technology, camera
phones aren’t always so “cool.” “They
tend to be an issue in class, just as any other phone is, but
having a camera phone gives students a new avenue to cheat,”
commented Mrs. Crystal Demerrit. There are some upsides to owning
a camera phone as well. For example: If someone was near the scene
of a crime, they would simply have to pull their phone out and
snap a picture of the perpetrator in order to perhaps save a persons
life. Or, on a lighter topic, friends may simply want to take
pictures together, or send pictures to a family member.
Nokia, Motorola, Samsung, Siemens, Korea Telecom and NEC have
joined forces with Hewlett-Packard, Lexmark and Epson to form
the Mobile Imaging and Printing Consortium (MIPC). The new industry
group has said that it will develop standards and guidelines to
ensure that consumers are able to print out photos taken using
mobile phones. According to MIPC, 370 million digital cameras
will be sold in 2005, more than three-quarters of which will be
embedded in mobile phones.
There is also a new type of camera lens coming out that is said
to be replacing the ordinary lens. The company making this possible
is Varioptic. This beneficial idea comes from nothing more than
a couple drops of oil and water. There are several advantages
to having a lens built like this: There are no moving parts, therefore
there is less to break and it should be more durable, and power
consumption is also very low, giving a longer life to the battery
of the phone.
Analysts say that by 2006, 80 percent of the cell phones sold
in America will be camera phones. These same analysts also comment
and urge that all camera phones sold in 2008 must emit some kind
of sound, or flash a light when photos are taken.
Camera phones may seem trendy, but they aren’t always as
cool as people think. They could be used simply as an accessory,
or an offense. But either way, camera phones are one of the most
swiftly selling cell phones nation-wide. Freshman Deirdre Smith
commented, “It’s too bad that people have to abuse
the privilege of having camera phones, because they are awesome!”
