Kittyk wrote:
well we fight it hard. offered some family chronicle exclusive (printed A4 book) and sold so many that it made 30% of our 2012 income. We are still selling one every day.

That's the right way to go. The only way to win is to stay ahead of the soccer moms and the $5 iphone apps. Apple was smart building in the hdr-like processing in their standard phone picture. And of course, you can do real hdr with many phones now and there are apps to add frames and do other standard sorts of processing. And remember, google bought NIK so don't think for a second that you won't see those algorithms on an app, phone or tablet in the near future but if you're creative you can hopefully stay ahead of the pack and keep your services in demand.

The biggest threat to the industry is the "good enough" philosophy.

ok, rd. *NOTHING* has changed. It's all exactly the same as it was 30 years ago. You win.

jzucker wrote:

The biggest threat to the industry is the "good enough" philosophy.


There's the rub ... you either embrace that the masses are largely satisfied with the technological advances that enable them to produce "good enough", so they believe it doesn't take that much on your part ... and you have to play the game with that strategy in full play. Or, you aspire to distinguish yourself a "country mile" away from it to a level that they recognize they are not able to achieve it, and thus believe it is more about your skill / talent / experience / vision / etc. that they can't achieve.

Whenever people believe they can DIY or something is easy ... even if they are wrong or uneducated to it or producing inferior workmanship ... they will not value it the same as someone who knows or can otherwise see the difference.

OEM marketing makes it seem like it is all about the technology to the public, and the masses have tasted the ability to generate "good enough" themselves ... not even necessarily knowing what "good" actually is. Savvy business has to recognize where and how to harness / oppose the "good enough" aspect. Not everyone wants a Rolls Royce, some people are okay with a Dodge Neon ... and others will feel a Buick is "good enough".

The variance of appeal to quality is always going to be subjective, and recognizing the wants / desires of the masses is always going to be different from those of the discriminating. The same goes for convenience. In today's realm, the combination of convenience, disposability (i.e. easy to make another one) and "good enough" quality has entreated the masses with fervor ... somewhat reminiscent of the plethora of wineries that have sprung up all around, rapidly producing "good enough" where "more options" have stronger appeal than "more quality".

"Good enough" equates to proliferating "more" ... and an insatiable appetite for "more" drives "good enough". Until people recognize the greater satisfaction achieved from "good" ... "good enough" is at the top of their menu.

Ritz/Wolf Camera's major business was retail one-hour develop/print business from film days. When in the digital age customers didn't need to print as many as they used to , their business model was no longer in place. Struggled and eventually died.

jzucker wrote:
ok, rd. *NOTHING* has changed. It's all exactly the same as it was 30 years ago. You win.

As I said, the medium has changed--"prints" per se may go away, but big pictures on the wall and the market to sell them is not going away.

Some things not really connected to digital imaging but affecting our business has changed, such as the collapse of the housing bubble (less interior decorating going on). The latest overall economic downturn is coincident with the rise of digital imaging, but we need to be careful about which is having the observed effects on the market. That has a lot to do with how we respond.

Knowing the drop in my wall portrait sales is because fewer mothers are redecorating makes a big difference in my marketing approach than an erroneous idea that mothers no longer want big pictures of their darlings because they're now suddenly happy with tiny prints.

RDKirk wrote:

Knowing the drop in my wall portrait sales is because fewer mothers are redecorating makes a big difference in my marketing approach than an erroneous idea that mothers no longer want big pictures of their darlings because they're now suddenly happy with tiny prints.

+1 ... this is where "objection handling" is vital.

Knowing what people truly want (which varies) ... and what they perceive as the object (i.e. time, money, etc.) impeding them from getting it is worth noting. Then, you can derive a way to show them how they can contend with the impeding object, in order to attain what they really want.

Value
Quality
Volume
Low-Cost
Uniqueness

These are but a few of the underlying sub-attributes that hinder them to getting what they want. Part of the issue is figuring out which one is their dominant motive impeding them getting what they want.

If there were no objection ... they'd buy what you're selling as long as it satisfies their need/desires. If they're not buying, they have an objection ... remove/mitigate the objection and they are now more free to buy.

mshi wrote:
Ritz/Wolf Camera's major business was retail one-hour develop/print business from film days. When in the digital age customers didn't need to print as many as they used to , their business model was no longer in place. Struggled and eventually died.

Ritz/Wolf had many more problems than that though. That was just their most recent debacle. Their entire business model was predicated on prices that were horrible and the print business was just their latest scheme.

RDKirk wrote:
jzucker wrote:
ok, rd. *NOTHING* has changed. It's all exactly the same as it was 30 years ago. You win.

As I said, the medium has changed--"prints" per se may go away, but big pictures on the wall and the market to sell them is not going away.

Some things not really connected to digital imaging but affecting our business has changed, such as the collapse of the housing bubble (less interior decorating going on). The latest overall economic downturn is coincident with the rise of digital imaging, but we need to be careful about which is having the observed effects on the market. That has a lot to do with how we respond.

Knowing the drop in my wall portrait sales is because fewer mothers are redecorating makes a big difference in my marketing approach than an erroneous idea that mothers no longer want big pictures of their darlings because they're now suddenly happy with tiny prints.

That's pretty much what I said. The prints business is changing. You said it isn't. I said it is. Fewer moms are buying 20x30 wall prints due to an enormous set of factors, not the least of which is the economy, the growing cost of college, the iphonography business etc.

agreed!

RustyBug wrote:
jzucker wrote:

The biggest threat to the industry is the "good enough" philosophy.


There's the rub ... you either embrace that the masses are largely satisfied with the technological advances that enable them to produce "good enough", so they believe it doesn't take that much on your part ... and you have to play the game with that strategy in full play. Or, you aspire to distinguish yourself a "country mile" away from it to a level that they recognize they are not able to achieve it, and thus believe it is more about your skill / talent / experience / vision / etc. that they can't achieve.

Whenever people believe they can DIY or something is easy ... even if they are wrong or uneducated to it or producing inferior workmanship ... they will not value it the same as someone who knows or can otherwise see the difference.

OEM marketing makes it seem like it is all about the technology to the public, and the masses have tasted the ability to generate "good enough" themselves ... not even necessarily knowing what "good" actually is. Savvy business has to recognize where and how to harness / oppose the "good enough" aspect. Not everyone wants a Rolls Royce, some people are okay with a Dodge Neon ... and others will feel a Buick is "good enough".

The variance of appeal to quality is always going to be subjective, and recognizing the wants / desires of the masses is always going to be different from those of the discriminating. The same goes for convenience. In today's realm, the combination of convenience, disposability (i.e. easy to make another one) and "good enough" quality has entreated the masses with fervor ... somewhat reminiscent of the plethora of wineries that have sprung up all around, rapidly producing "good enough" where "more options" have stronger appeal than "more quality".

"Good enough" equates to proliferating "more" ... and an insatiable appetite for "more" drives "good enough". Until people recognize the greater satisfaction achieved from "good" ... "good enough" is at the top of their menu.

A house with glass walls. Great in Hawaii. In 90% of the world, totally impractical. With all these interactive screens, who is watching YOU? Big Brother? Homeland Security? Sen. Akin, making sure you only have sex he approves of? Your mother-in-law?

That glass bus stop is a real work of art that would be destroyed in seconds by some gang-banger shooting at it just to watch it shatter.

I can understand Corning's dreaming, but even gorilla glass has problems. One almost microscopic little scratch and it may shatter.

RDkirk,

Whoa, the short "Lost Memories" was beautiful.

Thanks for posting.

bob

I haven't read this idiotic thread but has anyone thought of at least correcting the title or it?

Speaking of idiotic "the title or it?" if your going to be condescending at least proof you response so it makes sense.

You can make a dandy pin-hole camera with discarded pint glasses. First you wrap the glass with gaffers tape . . .

Oh OH Too late too cancel my order for a 44" Canon printer to arrive next week!

EB-1 wrote:
It would not be easy to travel with a humongous monitor.

EBH

jzucker wrote:
you don't have to. An image is stunning on the 10.6 google nexus

Yes, but that is the same 4MP that we had on 30" monitors ~10 years ago. Perhaps if there were a 20-24" tablet with 16MP I would pay a few thousand for that.

EBH

Prints will not die and anyone producing quality prints will know that....so long as they have affluent clients.

In fact the problem is too many prints......the world is full of low grade repros of famous images or plain rubbish and these are flooding the market because the price is right for the home decoration market. This restricts the development of new (quality) works as the money isn't there to sustain the photographers.

anthonygh wrote:
Prints will not die and anyone producing quality prints will know that....so long as they have affluent clients.

As long as they have clients that appreciate good quality prints of people they love. I have a growing number of Latino clients who fit that bill. They aren't extremely affluent (yet) in my particular area, and the market is literally young, but they will spend money on good photography, and especially the kind of traditional portraits that I enjoy making. I help them out with a layaway plan. Right now, most of this market in my area is in "Confirmation portrait" age...but they will be reaching "Quinceanera portrait" age in a few years, and I'm getting good word of mouth.

If we have such a big problem with the landscape changing, it's on US to do something about it. That Lost Memories short was astounding. One more gentle nudge and I might be deleting my facebook...

EB-1 wrote:
EB-1 wrote:
It would not be easy to travel with a humongous monitor.

EBH

jzucker wrote:
you don't have to. An image is stunning on the 10.6 google nexus

Yes, but that is the same 4MP that we had on 30" monitors ~10 years ago. Perhaps if there were a 20-24" tablet with 16MP I would pay a few thousand for that.

EBH


Wow, a step in that direction.
http://connect.dpreview.com/post/8484550245/panasonic-shows-4k-tablet-prototype

EBH