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March 2000

Web Sight: Ceiva’s Digital Picture Frame by Marshal M. Rosenthal
An Internet-enabled Picture Frame... Wow!

A few weeks ago I received an e-mail from a wedding photographer who had become disturbed by what he kept reading about digital imaging. "Marshal," he said, "what's going to happen to my repeat sales once customers start taking my pictures and running them through scanners and other 'perfect' copying processes? What will they need me for?" Unfortunately, I couldn't dispel his fears that change won't continue as a result of new technologies- but I did note that it's the professional work he was doing that the customer was paying for, and so basing profit on the shooting and initial photos sold makes the most sense in the long run. But this got me to thinking: how do you build repeat business when the customer has so many technology options once he gets his hands on the photo? Perhaps the answer is to find solutions based on the problem-which is to say, using digital technology to help, rather than hinder, repeat sales.

Now this means thinking "out of the box," so let's take as an example Ceiva Logic. What this company has done is to create a commercial product that takes the power of the Internet to communicate over distance and combine it with a basic desire-to see photos of loved ones. Their Ceiva Digital Picture Frame resembles a conventional one, but consists of a VGA /L.C.D. panel that can display digital photos; holding 10 images at a time and able to go from one to the other when desired. The photos don't have to be permanent either, because the Ceiva plugs into a telephone jack like it is a modem and automatically downloads new images when they've been sent. The owner of the frame isn't involved in any of this, other than to participate in setting up the frame, deciding on whether the images will rotate automatically or not, and paying a service fee of $2.99 a month (there's no charge for sending images and the Ceiva Web site offers a variety of tools to enhance images, including text).

I got one for my mother because I know she will enjoy regularly seeing new photos of her grandchildren. Going to the Ceiva web site, all I do is enter my membership information and then upload images which are then transmitted to her. That she has an Internet-enabled Picture Frame is not lost on my mother either, but the fact is that she doesn't care how it works as long as it does so without causing her problems; waking up in the morning to find new "pictures" is enough for her. As it would be for anyone and this is the great strength of the Ceiva product-that it performs its task without having to involve the owner in a process that could scare him or her off.

Using Ceiva as our example, we can see a number of opportunities that it presents, such as digitizing photos for the customer at the point of sale or as an ongoing service for their own snapshots (yes they can do this themselves but the idea is to make your service so user-friendly that they'd rather have it done right for a fee than have to hassle trying to get it done themselves). Other possibilities exist, such as selling stock images (who wouldn't like a nice shot of the beach to wake up to), and it's up to the photographer to find and use them. But as you can see, digital technology isn't the end of the world and can turn out to be helpful if approached from a positive point of view. And since technology continues to grow and new ideas are blossoming daily, there would seem to be more to look forward to than fear in today's digital age.

The 1500 utilizes the same detachable lens design as that found on the Minolta Dimage EX cameras; the MetaFlash integration occurs between the camera body and the lens unit. Once the image has been taken, it can then be viewed on the built-in 2-inch LCD on the camera body, or downloaded to a computer and into the MetaFlash software which allows for editing and alterations of the image.

The Ceiva Logic retails for $240. For more information, visit the web site at www.ceiva.com.

Marshal M. Rosenthal is a photojournalist based in Los Angeles, and a frequent contributor to many imaging and computer publications. He can be reached at marshalr@pipeline.com.