It might be hard to believe but the history of the iPhone culminating in their latest model the iPhone 4 was widely exposed by Videography Lab author and architect, Bob Kiger, before the first iPhones were sold to the public.
V I D I O T S . U S published a lengthy article on April 3, 2007 describing the ideal mobile workstation for professional videography which we called the VMW.
Apple made a wonderful device for those who wanted to consume content, but it did little for people who produced content. Says Kiger, “In 2007 we already had a Motorola KRZR with removable micro SD card, mini USB, a 2MP camera, video teleconferencing via QCIF but the camera was pointed in the wrong direction to show the caller”. We also had a Pentax W-30 which had solved the problem of making mobile sized devices waterproof.
So Videography Lab began a project called VidYou which sought to round up all the best features of available cell phones, the great touch features of the iPhone and a separate HD camera that pointed away from the caller. It was the precursor to “Facetime” as Steve Jobs likes to grok it. The magic behind VidYou was the revelation that with a wide angle lens the camera with a large HD sensor could be pointed and shot by just placing the camera between their eyes and recording HD video or shooting high definition stills. Videography Lab researched and pushed, via trade media commentary, the 1080 30p standard that enabled the Users to shoot true HD way back in 2007. See our comment at the end of the article.
Here are early concept sketches of the VidYou. The big corporations, including Apple have still not fully implemented our dream, but their getting closer. They need to collaborate more and stop trying to “own the farm” when it comes to video. The way to restore a vibrant artistic culture into the sick world of video today is to do what the pioneers of 35mm film did back in the early 20th Century. Cooperate! Imagine if Kodak and Leica could not get together on how the sprocket holes on film would be designed?
The most disappointing issue that Kiger found was that, as the iPhone developed with 3G and later a “crummy camera”, they didn’t see the importance of waterproofing the devices. “They were so close …The Pentax Optio W-30 had already found a way to seal the replaceable battery and SDHC cards into a waterproof camera. Steve Job’s ‘grok’ about video is a crok”, he quips. “Apple had the best touch, and a casing that would be a cinch to waterproof. It could have even included a battery and SDHC cards that could be swapped. They could have made a real Leica quality device as I had described back in 2007. He chose instead to rake in as much money as he could with beautiful devices that cater to the kiddies!”.
NOTE: Steve Jobs compares his 2010 iPhone 4 to the classic Leica camera. Wonder where he got that idea? Could it be from our 2007 article?
As you can see he makes a lot of hoopla how much thinner the new iPhone 4 is than previous models, and how beautiful the stainless steel band that sandwiches the pretty high definition screen and glass of equal quality on the opposing side. We don’t think this form factor is all that important and as of July 12, 2010 Consumer Reports can’t recommend the iPhone 4.
Thinner doesn’t mean much to a Content Producer when the plane crashes in their back yard or when they want to record any big deal that comes across their path. Quality of video to HD level is what will sell the Content. If the darn iPhone 4 were twice as thick it could include all the features that we specified for the VidYou! It wouldn’t have forced the defective antenna design and it truly might have been of classic Leica quality. But no. Steve Jobs grokked thin is in! We’re here to tell you on this 13th day of July, 2010 that thin doesn’t mean that much to a serious videographer. They want Quality and performance that will be “locked and loaded” when that big moment comes around.
Back in 2009 at the Consumer Electronics show Bob Kiger used Velcro to put an iPhone back to back against a Pentax Optio W-30 and sported it to everybody he interviewed. If you think thin is more important than waterproof, simply dunk your iPhone 4 into the water and see what it’s worth after a few minutes submerged.
Oh! About the dog. She was dubbed the world’s first HD DJ “Doggie Journalist” at the 2010 National Association of Broadcasters when she walked the convention floor sporting a 1080p GoPro waterproof camera.
Here she is showing sexy ladies during Spring Break at the London Bridge. Darn . . . you can’t watch them on the iPhone 4!
Very soon we vidiots will share how Apple, Adobe, Google, SONY, Panasonic, Samsung, Microsoft and more companies are so full of greed to own web “video” standards that video has really gone to the dogs!
RSS
We believe that the world is in a near terminal state of “viral quibbling”! Some of the links on our 2007 article have been erased by the publishers. Shame on them! iPads are a joke!
Those who wish to contest this article can “Bring it on” There’s a lot more to the back story of digital video than you will get by “Googling” or “Binging”