Projection Screens & Cell Phones At #SMWTO

I am not a professional photographer, I am not an amateur photographer, or a photography hobbyist. I know how to use my cell phone to take pictures and I know hot to use your average digital camera (and older, analogue cameras) to take a picture. Honestly I don’t even really know what an SLR is and why its better than any other digital camera.

The above being said I have to wonder if there’s technology out there which allows for cameras – specifically cell phone cameras (like on my BlackBerry Torch) to take pictures of what they’re displaying without it ending up being just a white screen.

This was especially true for me during Social Media Week in Toronto (#SMWTO) during which the above picture was taken. The reason it became so relevant to me during #SMWTO was because so many people at the events were live tweeting what was going on at the talks. However, when we wanted to tweet pictures of the screens that were displaying valuable info relevant to the topic being discussed they simply didn’t come out. You would think events connected to “Social Media Week” would plan better for this. Then again, maybe the technology doesn’t exist yet (except for using huge HD screens which would be massively expensive). If it doesn’t someone should invent one soon.

In-Flight WiFi But Where’s The Outlets?

WiFi OnBoard logo on my plane

Second posting being written from above 37,000 feet above Florida, this time northern.
On my way down to Florida for the past week and now on the first leg of my trip home I notice something. Although all 3 flights have been equipped with WiFi (for a price, but that isn’t at issue) none of the flights chairs came equipped with an outlet of any sort be it regular electrical or USB. I am well aware that my particular flights have each not been longer than 3 hours (and this one is 2) but for most people using a laptop that is the limits of our battery life. Even a BlackBerry, iPhone or Android device would be pretty drained after continuous WiFi use for 2 hours.
I understand not having electrical outlets in a way because outlets & voltage are not a global standard. USB (Universal Serial Bus) however, IS a global standard. I think the airlines (I refer specifically to Delta as that’s who I’ve flown with on this trip and I am unsure about other airlines) should have made the necessary modifications when they outfitted their planes with WiFi to add USB outlets for us to charge our mobile devices.

Posted with WordPress for BlackBerry from my Torch.