It had occurred to me that, like many of the posters have pointed out, crappy shots can still preserve memory. That is true. You only need some vague imagery to remind you of what happened on a particular day. Seeing the people present at a dinner party can remind you a lot more of the conversation that may have took place. However, I would like to call this "memory refreshing".
Because there are different level of detail can be captured, there are different level of memory that can be preserved in a photo. A low resolution photos will only refresh your memory to an extend, but a high resolution photo with detail of food on the table, clear capture of people's face and their expression, cloth they were wearing, even decorations on the wall, can preserve a whole lot more.
These shots aren't crappy to the people for whom they mattered enough to take them. This is what I still don't think you realize.
This is what you assert but which there is no basis for such assertion. You seemt o assume these people are somehow unintellegent that they cannot tell good IQ from bad or just plain dont care. That in my view is condescending. Did anyone in your family not realise the improved pictures from Standard definition TV to high definition when watching normal TV programs? do they not see the difference from DVD to bluray? Let me make it plain and simple for you. Everyone I know see and appreciate these difference. In fact, that was the reason why they bought DSLr and premium P&S over cheaper P&S in the first place.
These people wouldn't be using these to take pictures if they hadn't already deemed them sufficient quality wise.
That is the core issue here. I am saying they do not realise the quality they are really getting in these cellphone cameras. Are you sudden assuming they are all very intelligent and did all they home work and worked out cellphone images fit their need exactly?
Phones have had cameras for a long time, before the smart phone revolution if you want to call it that. Cheap phones loaded with the cheapest bottom of the barrel cameras made were in lots of pockets before the smart phone came about. You didn't have a flood of people replacing a dedicated camera with those. Because they truly were junk and a novelty at best. The current gen smart phones are different, and it shows through the amount of people who have chosen (for their OWN needs) that the quality is sufficient.
While there is some truth in what you said, you missed the much bigger reasons for the switch to cellphone cameras. The biggest reason is advent of instant sharing, the second is large leap in display quality. if you load a image taken in good light from your old 2mp camera onto your iphone 4~5s, you will be astonished how good it looks.
If you take a picture at dinner with a good smart phone and can't tell what food was being eaten or what clothes people had on, it's not the cameras fault.
The issue is not of fault. the issue is such pictures are taken, and that dinner is finished, not coming back.
Are there cases where a smart phone is worthless? Absolutely. But this can be said about any camera.
You problem, through out this whole thread, has been that you take things to the absurd extreme and purport them to have any merit.
The issue here is never about buying a camera that cane do it all. or that cellphone camera can do nothing right. So you either have a comprehension problem like DfPano said, or you just being unduly argumentative.
btw, let me address a point you made previously. I am not saying you are argumentative just because you dont agree with me. Plenty of people dont and we can settle for being different. Your problem is you are arguing against positions that I never took, then pretend you have won the argument by making the opposing position ridiculous and absurd.
Ive asked here once already so I'll ask again: what is the line? What is the level of acceptable equipment that you deem sufficient for someone to take pictures with?
Again, it all comes down to your inability to read. I am not asking these people to buy anything. I am saying they already have good cameras, which they bought for better photos. There is no line to be drawn and there is not such thing as what I think is acceptable.
What does one have to buy and use for you to not refer to their pictures as crappy?
Once more, you are just being argumentative and nasty.
