Rich Trenholm
Rich Trenholm writes about digital cameras, except when he's writing about films, music and comics. He does not drink tea and never has.
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Thursday 12 June 2008, 12:43pm
Bad product face-off: Squircle vs iPhone 3G!
In the wake of the iPhone 3G announcement, the excitement generated by the much-hyped build-up was tempered by disappointment. In hindsight, it seems strange that in a product launch, one of the big stories is what features the product doesn't have. This set me to thinking: just what constitutes a bad product? Sometimes it's obvious, like the Squircle: products that don't serve a purpose, products that are daft or rubbish, products that just flat-out don't work.
But most of the time it's not that simple. In my time at CNET.co.uk I've had plenty of cameras cross my desk, and nary a bad one among them. The worst you can accuse most cameras from the big manufacturers of is not being very interesting. They never just don't work. Sometimes posters on our forums ask about cameras or camcorders that I haven't used; while I can't, in all faith, recommend a product I'm not familiar with, I can confidently predict that if it's from an established manufacturer, it'll work.
So the inclusion -- or omission -- of certain features becomes an important part of the reviewing criteria. If a product is missing a particular element, how much does that weigh against the features it does have that work perfectly? In the case of the iPhone, the Net-browsing interface is nothing short of sublime -- but at EDGE speeds the experience is hamstrung. Does that mean the original iPhone is a bad product? Well, no. The baseline for fundamental features is an organically evolving process, so if, say, Nikon left out face detection now, that camera would get a lower score than it would have done 12 months ago. It's a tough job, this reviewing lark...
Articles by Rich Trenholm
Creative Vado goes HD, hungover Cravers muster limited excitement
Crave If you must get excited about the arrival of the new high-definition Creative Vado, do it quietly. Crave is feeling slightly fragile this morning
Internet: The Movie!
Photo Films and the Web have gone hand-in-hand since the first pirate sneaked into the mutleyplex. But what would films based on your favourite sites and software look like? Crave calls lights... camera... action!
Hands-on the Hitachi DZ-HV564: HD on SD
Photo The camcorder market doesn't know if it's coming or going, with the Hitachi DZ-HV564 parachuting in to combine high definition with expandable memory
Hands-on with the Samsung NV9: Cooler King
Photo There's a number of nifty touches on the slinky 10-megapixel Samsung NV9 that make it cooler than the average compact
Hands on with the 24-megapixel Nikon D3X
Photo We've had our hands on the 24-megapixel behemoth that is the Nikon D3X, and we're impressed. Take a look at our photos, which show an average Crave reader doing some world-class holding
Canon HG21
Review Our main issue with the HG21, Canon's high-class, high-definition camcorder, is that it may be too good for its own good. Now that should tell you something. The HG21 comes with a whopping 120GB hard drive, a vast array of high-end features and produces video that is absolutely breathtaking. If you think you can make use of it all, this one's a winner
Hands-on with the Fujifilm FinePix Z200fd
Photo December is officially here and that can mean only one thing: shop faster! If you're feeling the pinch, the Fujifilm FinePix Z200fd is a stylish 10-megapixel point-and-shoot for a very reasonable price. Now shop!
Photos: Hands-on with the high-definition Canon HG21
Photo The Canon HG21 is a high-class, high-end, high-definition camcorder. Take a look at our pictures and forget the credit crunch
