Are Digital Cameras Becoming Obsolete?

From a young age I was constantly running around with a camera or video camera taking pictures or making videos.  In middle school, my friends and I always carried a small digital camera with us in our purses and would take 100s of pictures just for fun.  In high school, I began to rely more on my phone to take pictures.  Although the quality was not as good, it was convenient.  Soon, I only ever used my digital camera for special occasions.  Even my freshmen year at Penn State my friends and I would use our digital cameras to document our nights.  However, I found that when I finally got a smart phone sophomore year of college I rarely used my digital camera.  When my digital camera broke I decided it was not necessary to get a new one and now rely solely on my iPhone to take pictures and video.

So are digital cameras becoming obsolete?

Obsolete technology refers to technology that is old and no longer in use.  Technology may become obsolete for various reasons.  In some cases, the device only served one purpose and could not be used in conjunction with other technology.  Sometimes it is due to convenience of size or capability.  While often people move on to more advanced technology due to social pressure and as a result the older technology is no longer used at all.  If we look at the evolution of the computer it is obvious that the older and much larger computers with basic features have become completely obsolete.  For example, the ENIAC at the University of Pennsylvania from 1944 filled 1,800 square feet of floor space.  Although at the time this was a huge advancement in technology, overtime advances led to smaller and more convenient computers which eventually made their way into the average household.  Some more recent examples of obsolete technology are VHS tapes and players, CDs and CD players, and certain game systems.

In the article "Smartphones Are Making Digital Cameras Obsolete," John Consoli discusses whether or not digital cameras are becoming obsolete.  He cites statistics that 55% of photos and videos are taken with smartphones.  In 2012, when this article was written I still used by digital camera.  I can only imagine that percentage is higher now considering the quality of cameras in smartphones has improved and the amount of people using smartphones has increased from my observations, as well as, the convenience of instantly posting pictures to the internet and social media.  Consoli’s article suggest that digital cameras may soon become obsolete for these very reasons.  However, another article by Nasim Mansurov, "The Future of Digital Cameras," has a slightly different and more in depth look on the future of digital cameras.  He argues that smartphones will replace digital point and shoot cameras.  These are the types of cameras the average person may use and was the kind I use to carry around in my purse.  Mansurov goes further to indicate that mirrorless cameras are beginning to take away from the popularity of digital SLR cameras.  Though the DSLR cameras are here to stay for serious and professional photographers because the capabilities of smartphone cameras are not advanced enough for these purposes.  Furthermore, Mansurov states mirrorless and DSLR cameras will eventually have the ability to instantly upload to the internet, with Nikon's D3200 already having this capability.

So maybe digital cameras will never become completely obsolete…

Although, the majority of the population relies on smartphones to shoot pictures and videos, it seems that there will always be a population in demand for digital cameras.  I agree that digital point and shoot cameras will eventually become obsolete, though, professional and amateur photographers will continue to rely on advanced digital cameras, such as DSLRs.  Maybe one day digital cameras tailored to professional photographers will take on a new form, however, I do not think smartphones will be suitable substitutes for DSLR cameras in the near future.  In my experience, I did not replace my broken point and shoot camera because I felt the quality of my smartphone camera was good enough and it was also more convenient not to carry a digital camera around.  Another factor for myself and many others is the ability to quickly share pictures and videos over the internet and social media with smartphones, as well as, social pressure not to be seen taking pictures with a basic digital camera.  So although the digital point and shoot is obsolete to me, it will be interesting to see what the future of digital cameras becomes for others.

Smartphones Are Making Digital Cameras Obsolete

The Future Of Digital Cameras