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Originally Posted by drizo72
I really think that CF is not dead... At least I haven't seen any DSLR with SD cards yet... That would seriously piss off millions of photographers around the world...
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For one thing, I didn't say that CF is dead. What I said was that it is declining technology. IMO, that's the only conclusion that one can come to if you look at the fact that very few new products are coming out that use CF as a storage format.
Take PDAs, for example. With the exception of legacy WM2003 designs that were updated with WM2005 (for example, iPAQ hx2490 and Dell X51v), there are no new Pocket PC designs that have come out in the past year or so that offer a CF slot (at least none that I'm aware of). Most of them use SD, while some phone models use miniSD. This includes FSC, Acer, Asus, Mio and HP.
The other big product category for storage cards is digital cameras. Among current designs from the largest manufacturers, only Canon's digital SLRs and 2 SLR-style "non-SLRs" use CF... the balance of their top-selling PowerShot cameras use SD. All current Kodak digital cameras regardless of size use SD. Nikon is like Canon... only SLRs use CF, while all CoolPix cameras (the balance of their line) use SD. Sony doesn't use CF, opting for their Memory Stick format.
You stated that DSLRs still use CF to support your position that CF isn't "dead". Well, the DSLR is one category of product that is mostly immune to the "smaller is better" trend in electronic devices. The DSLR uses the established 35mm format that is inherently very limited in the degree to which it can be made smaller. You can't exactly use a camera body the size of a Canon Digital Elph as the base for a 35-300mm zoom lens and a flash unit attached to a hot shoe. Since a DSLR's 35mm format dictates that it must utilize a comparatively large camera body, there's no shortage of room for a storage card, so CF works well for this application. The fact that DSLRs continue to offer CF only indicates that they're a category of product that can't really leverage the benefits of a smaller storage card format, not that CF is still a thriving format in general.
The fact of the matter is that manufacturers of small electronic devices are always trying to make them slimmer, more compact, while still cramming in as many features as possible. The main way they can achieve this is to use smaller components that have comparable functionality to larger components. For that reason, SD and miniSD are fast replacing CF in new products.
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Originally Posted by drizo72
Wake up FSC! Make the correct marketing decisions! LOOX 720 was (and is) so great, why change course...
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The lack of new Pocket PC designs that support CF from
any manufacturer is a strong indication that the market is moving in the direction of smaller format storage cards. That may not be the direction that you'd prefer, but it's hard to escape the conclusion that it seems to be the direction nonetheless.
I guess I'm a bit more receptive to this direction myself, since I don't have the investment in CF peripherals that you do. And my CF cards have found a happy home with my DSLR. Besides, I've always been an early adopter, so obsolete peripherals come with the territory. :wink:
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