Rant: Are non CHDK powershot users all idiots?

carl1864

20

« on: 23 / February / 2011, 14:02:39 »

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So this is definitely a rant to get out some frustration, but I'm wondering how many people agree. I'm beginning to believe that Canon Powershot cameras must be marketed towards mostly idiots, and/or owned by mostly idiots. I'm not counting chdk users, just the general population of powershot users.

I have been been trying to buy a couple chdk compatible cameras for months, I have talked to many sellers. Obviously I want to be able to verify the firmware before driving multiple cities over to pick it up. I give plain instructions that they can either simply e-mail me a photo taken with the camera, or plain instructions for the ver.req method. And to this day, not a single person out of many has been able to achieve either task.

One guy thought that asking to send a photo taken with the camera means to use his iphone to take a picture of himself next to the canon camera. He's not the only one, multiple people keep using their smart phones to take photos of the canon cameras. I tell them they are misunderstanding, and to take a picture actually using the camera they are selling, and none have been able to do so. They all say they can't figure out how to plug the camera into the computer, or don't have a cable, or this or that or any other absolutely idiotic reason. Why would they even own a camera if they can't figure out how to upload photos off of it? One guy can't even figure out how to take a photo. Needless to say if not a single person has figured out how to e-mail a photo, the ver.req method is far above their head.

You would think it would be a prime opportunity to just take advantage of their stupidity and buy them for a low price, yet almost everybody seems to want way too much for their camera. They see the MSRP's from the date the camera was manufactured, and think their old 5mp canon is worth $250. One person specifically thought their little s series 6mp camera is "a $500 camera", so they aren't willing to sell for less than $150 since even that is a huge bargain.

How are all these people such idiots?

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fudgey

1705
a570is

Re: Rant: Are non CHDK powershot users all idiots?

« Reply #1 on: 23 / February / 2011, 15:21:56 »

There certainly are enough idiots out there (IQ is supposedly a Gaussian distribution after all), but a paranoid mind could guess that half of them are selling cameras they've never used themselves and are reluctant to waste time learning to use (or to find out they're missing a special cable or a driver CD they aren't aware they don't even need), and the other half are afraid what you'll find out from an image (such as an exposure counter of half a million shots from exif, incredible amount of bad pixels, dirt, smudgy lens, their real name or whatever) -- the seller may even not know what's there to be found but could be afraid you could tell before they have your or someone else's money.

It's either one of those things or Canon has a usability problem the size of a blue whale...

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thepanoguy

138

Re: Rant: Are non CHDK powershot users all idiots?

« Reply #2 on: 24 / February / 2011, 11:05:13 »

The average consumer is an appliance operator.

Price fixing is illegal in Australia. Due to the government consumer regulations the price displayed is called the RRP, recommended retail price. No retailer sells at RRP. The item will sit on the shelves. Most retailers work on turnover. Get the item into the shop and sell it as fast as possible.

In my region Perth, Western Australia, cameras are held in a display case for customers to look at. Most people purchasing a point and shoot camera will buy on price and looks not features. The seller is basically there to take the camera out of the display case so the customer can handle it. As long as the person can take happy snaps, download the shots and knows how to charge the batteries that is as much as the person wants to learn.

Canon like most of the other manufacturers know that most people will set a camera to default, point and shoot. If Canon could gain extra marketing out of CHDK they would have publicised CHDK.

I have had plenty of experience with people purchasing high definition digital televisions and DVD players and using video and audio cables as interconnects instead of a HDMI cable. I have seen ghosty pictures on high definition digital televisions because the owner is using a defective antenna. When it is pointed out to them, they don't see any difference because they have been watching a ghosty picture for the past ten years on their old picture tube television. The same mentality is reflected in other technology.

If you look at the traffic on the CHDK site it is not that high. I Googled the full domain name and found a few sites with traffic statistics. I was quite surprised. The reality is that probably 5% of the population will ever use a digital camera to its fullest potential.

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acseven

661

Re: Rant: Are non CHDK powershot users all idiots?

« Reply #3 on: 25 / February / 2011, 09:50:04 »

Please use another summary other than calling someone an idiot.

Welcome to the CHDK forum! [and RULES]
http://chdk.setepontos.com/index.php/topic,2.0.html
#2.

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