A new report from In-Stat finds that while “a camera is considered by many users to be one of the most desirable features in wireless handsets, yet, evidence suggests that only a tiny percentage of camera phones are used regularly to transmit pictures or to store for later use.” The report, “Mobile Imaging Services — Focusing on the User Experience” (#IN0502053MCD), covers the market for camera phones and related services.

The report also says that those who now use camera or camcorder phones say they are less likely to replace their phones in the near future than other users, I know I won’t.

“People who haven’t yet purchased camera phones are very enthusiastic about all the uses for their images,” says David Chamberlain, In-Stat analyst. “However, once they start using their new phones, they are turned off by perceived poor picture quality, slow network speeds, and the difficulty of creating and sending pictures. Our survey found that very few pictures actually make their way out of the handset to be shared with others.”

Thats true.

But one thing that the article or report doesn’t talk about is the highly innovative “beyond camera” ways people are using their camera phones, some of which can be read on the musing of the Pondering Primates Blog. But beyond using the camera phone to read barcodes, I have seen a plethora of people use their camera phones to record ephemeral information and visual documentation wherever and whenever it’s needed. I have seen someone use their phone to take a picture of a meal they enjoyed, I have been in the car with someone who took a picture of an intersection to remember it later. And I have been in a conference board meeting where someone took several pictures of a white board before it was erased so he could review the notes while on the plane ride back.

The best example I have ever heard is of a friend of mine’s grandfather who takes pictures of what section he is parked in, in a parking garage.

I know I have taken a picture of a book at a book store, as well as its bar code (in order to look it up later on Amazon) but more importantly to remind myself that I wanted it in the first place.

And I KNOW insurance companies are beginning to use it to document claims like flooding damage and fender benders.

And lets not forget the heavy impact they are having on citizen journalism and and moblogging. Some of the first pictures we saw of emergency situations like the Tsunami came from camera phones.

This could go on…

Do I use my camera phone to take “vanity” pictures of my friends and family? Very rarely. But I do use it just as much for on demand real time situations.

When it comes to a camera that is located on a portable communication device, it’s time we looked beyond the “traditional image capturing” that we normally think of when we think of camera’s and start to see them for the ubiquitous capturing devices that they are. The focus on the disappointment of the camera phone does not take into account its smartmob like possibilities.

What are some ubiquitous ways you can think of using your camera phone for?

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“How to Do Everything with Your Camera Phone (How to Do Everything)” (John Frederick Moore)

Technorati Tags: camera phones, mobile, phone image, phone pictures

This entry was posted on Tuesday, February 7th, 2006 at 12:37 am and is filed under Camera Phones, MOblogging, MobileActive, Smartmobs, Video. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.