Friday, September 29, 2006

Canon innovations

One of the things that makes a consumer products company like Canon successful is finding ways to get the same consumers to buy new products over and over again. An example of how this can be done is found in a Fortune camera review:

Designed for serious amateur photographers but also friendly to the casual point-and-shooter, the Canon Rebel XTi also features a built-in cleaning system that reduces the chance that dust inside the camera will spoil a shot, a bugaboo that plagues most other cameras in its class. No matter how careful one is when changing lenses, dust can enter the camera body to ruin subsequent shots. The XTi literally shakes any dust off the sensor when the camera is turned on or off, using ultrasonic vibrations. The motes are then immobilized on a sticky trap. Also, the camera can "map" stubborn dust particles on the sensor and then erase them from images via software.

These seemingly minor innovations can add up to making older products completely obsolete every few years. The faster the innovation cycle, the more often consumers will want to get the latest thing and the more sales companies like Canon will make.

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