Closed Digital Cameras - Does Anyone Care?

Karamchand asks: "Free Software and open standards are ubiquitous in the server and even desktop area. But why does nobody seem to care about openness in digital cameras? I couldn't find a single hint as to what main processor my camera uses (I guess many use ARMs and others use TI DSPs), and while searching for information about (re-)programming digital cameras, I had to give up (apart from the scriptable Digita OS which was used by some discontinued cameras by Kodak, HP et al). Do you know of any efforts in this direction, whether they are actual disassembling/programming of cameras or asking vendors to get more open?" I still have my Kodak DIGITA-based camera from several years ago and I loved the flexibility, even though the performance is poor by today's standards (long cycle times, poor battery life, etc). Why are digital camera manufacturers keeping the lid on the capabilities of their products, when digital cameras could be so much more than their film-based counterparts?

because

[spac3manspiff]

They dont want you to port mario 3 to it. I guess

A bigger problem ...

[slagdogg]

Ummm, good luck with that. I'm still trying to figure out how to get pictures off of my cell phone without paying @#$%ing Verizon $0.25 every time. Weak.

Other option

[CypherXero]

Instead of trying to fuck up your camera, why not just give it to me? I'm sure I could use it. :)

Easy ...

[Anonymous Coward]

I'm still trying to figure out how to get pictures off of my cell phone without paying @#$%ing Verizon $0.25 every time

easy, just use your digital camera to take a snappy of your phone's screen, voila!

Re:no, not really..

[Ark42]

I wonder about that. I've never tried anything but my CF reader either. Can digital cameras (like my powershot G5) act as really nice quality webcams if hooked directly with usb?

MAME; Re:One reason for open cameras

[jdunlevy]

The only reason I can think of for having an open-source camera OS is so someone could port MAME to it.

You mean like this [mame.net]?

Re:Obvious reason

[esanbock]

Indeed it does run DOS. I recently hacked mine to play Ultima VII: The Black Gate.

Re:Why?

[ucblockhead]

Yeah. Right. People used to reverse engineer their cameras before the DMCA.