SubscribeThe power of smartphones is being recognized quickly. The Iran election protests showed that anybody with a cellphone is a potential cameraman or citizen journalist.
Here’s an example of a professional broadcast journalist using the video camera on the new iPhone to shoot an entire story and run it on air: http://cbs4.com/video/?id=78304@wfor.dayport.com. And here’s a link to a Poynter chat about this story: http://www.poynter.org/column.asp?id=2&aid=166352
While this is a good example of how to use new technology in journalism, I dislike the fact that the media only discusses the iPhone, as if it is the only option, or the best choice for everything. There are plenty of other smartphones on the market. The iPhone is good, but ‘media’ people need to open their eyes to technological developments around the world, not just the latest shiny products being put out by Apple.
Heidi
/ July 10, 2009Well, what other Smartphones are just as good or better for journalists? I’ve used both a Blackberry and an iPhone and I would never try to use the Blackberry as part of my journalism/multimedia duties – the iPhone is more user friendly, is easier to handle at deadline or in an unfamiliar situation and has better desktop integration and support, meaning my cameraphone video can be easily edited and published.
What have you used that compares to the versatility and ease of the iPhone?
AmirKurtovic
/ July 11, 2009Personally I use the T-Mobile G1. It has the same features of the iPhone and also includes a full QWERTY keyboard. The service is less expensive and App Market has tons of free software. It has a full browser, camera, camcorder, voice recorder, GPS, etc. It can take pictures with GPS cordinates and automatically upload them to Twitpic and Picasa, and embed them on a custom Google Map. I could go on forever with what it can do but the bottom line is that I can do more with my G1 than I could with an iPhone, and for less money. But nobody ever talks about anything but Apple products.