Snap&Send digital postcard

Why send someone a generic postcard with a cheesy canned photo when you can break them off a 'card containing a set of your very own (but also cheesy) vacation photos? Australian University of NSW student Stuart Calvey thinks folks would gladly shell out $25 for what is basically a disposable digicam in a thin, mailable, cardboard housing. His Snap&Send digital postcard concept is making the rounds on the web, which may help the already-accomplished inventor (he won a Packaging Council of Australia award in 2003 for another product) find a backer for his innovative idea. Calvey envisions commercial Snap&Sends as bare-bones two megapixel cameras (sorry folks, you don't even get a "delete" option here) with decent LCDs that can be propped up by the recipient for a slideshow or taken to a photo lab for developing prints. We know that someone who's reading this has the clout to make this project happen, so here's your chance to grab this kid's idea for a song before he loses his youthful naivete and goes all Apple with the lawyers and the patents and stuff.

[Via Digital Photography Blog]

[TZK @ Jan 16th 2006 4:18PM]

Dosnt that guy holding the board look like Toby McGuire? only... a longer face?



In any event.. SURE!

[Steve-Dave @ Jan 16th 2006 4:35PM]

A digital camera that only takes photos once and then you send it in snail mail. HELLO!?!?



More heavy metals in the land fills, just what we need. (and I ain't talkin' about Metallica)



I'm pretty damn sick of our disposable culture.

What the hell else do you do with it once you've looked at all the (crappy) photos? With no delete button, I guess you CHUCK IT IN THE GARBAGE.



BOOOOOO on this horrible, horrible idea.



Here's an idea, how about a system where you can send the photos electronically, and then reuse the camera! OH MY GOD I'M A GENIUS!

[Kitty Velour @ Jan 16th 2006 4:54PM]

I remember someone else coming up with a disposable digital camera idea a couple of years ago, although that time they took it back, wiped it and charged it, then passed it on. Thing is: why would you bother? Cool looking prototype but I just don't think people want 'em.

[n8 @ Jan 16th 2006 4:59PM]

My guess is that the camera is recycled when the pics are "developed" in the same way that all those other disposable digitals are, so don't get your hemp panties in a bunch, Steve-Dave.



It is a stupid idea though. The reason people send postcards is because they cost 15c. The reason people take pictures is to share them with friends - but not to the exclusion of having them for themselves. If I take 20 great pictures of me on vacation, I'm not sending them to grandma in the mail, only to have her have the hassle of developing them and sending them back to me by email.



And yes, he totally looks like Toby McGuire.

[George @ Jan 16th 2006 5:01PM]

Does seem pointless.



If you really *must* send photos via snail mail, burn them to a cd.

[Scoobydoo @ Jan 16th 2006 5:18PM]

Has anyone in Australia EVER invented something really bright? It seems like most of their "innovations" are lame or copied from other ideas...

[Benjibuls @ Jan 16th 2006 5:32PM]

That last coment was pretty pathetically rude.



This idea is crap tho:

� It's a waste of materials

� Digital camera ownership is pretty high

� Price of basic cameras and prints is pretty low



Like many attempts at disposable digital cameras this will fold as it isn't financially of materially viable.

[Eli @ Jan 16th 2006 5:48PM]

I don't see this actually working very well. $25 isn't enough to pay for any kind of LCD I'd want to look at for very long.

[jnasato @ Jan 16th 2006 6:12PM]

#1: AHAHAHAHAHA!



And yes, $25 is quite expensive for such a thing... Maybe $7.99.

[furtim @ Jan 16th 2006 7:30PM]

With lots of people getting camera phones, the market for such a thing is questionable.

[HarryC @ Jan 16th 2006 8:01PM]

#5 ScoobyDoo that comment is so ignorant.



Australians are some of the most innovative and inventive people. One particularly successful australian invention is the black box flight recorder that is recovered from aeroplane crash sites.



Australia also invented the inflatable aeroplane slide



Try also the amazing bionic ear for giving profoundly deaf people a more normal life.



They also had the first prepaid postage stamp system in the world (which is in some way related to this article.)



this list goes on



So yeah, for a country with a population 90% smaller than the US and with a colonised history of just over 200 years Australia has made some pretty astounding contributions to the rest of the world.

[Namssorg @ Jan 16th 2006 8:32PM]

I think it's funny that engadget readers are slamming 'disposable culture' I mean, I agree it sucks-- and I'm an engadget reader!



Think about how many products you see on engadget that will be trashed in more than 3 years from the time people buy them. I'd like to see some more long term, sustainable designs... like a cell phone designed to last a lifetime, having it repaired and upgraded rather than trashing it for a new model. Big changes though.. someone's got to be willing to make that lifestyle change.



Regardless, it's an interesting concept, probably could have been put to use in some better way.. but oh well.

[Garriq @ Jan 16th 2006 9:05PM]

Well, I could see this being useful in some instances. Say you're sending a child to camp or something, I don't know. If it had memory for a couple of pictures or a small looping video it would seem pretty cool I guess.



And on a side note, ease up on the flaming guys.

[Changaz @ Jan 16th 2006 9:19PM]

I give it 2 weeks tops before it gets hacked.

You heard it here first!

[Stu @ Jan 16th 2006 11:05PM]

#5 ScoobyDoo - I'm astounded at your comment!



Here is a quick list of Aussie inventions:



- Heart Pacemaker

- Hills Hoist clothes hanger

- The Bionic Ear (cochlear implant)

- Dual Flushing Toilet

- Black Box Flight Recorder

- First feature length film

- Anthrax vaccine

- In-vitro Fertilisation

- Meat-flavored water

- Ultra sound

- Victa lawn mower

- The Box Kite

- The Combine Harvester

- Variable Ratio Rack & Pinion Steering

- The Electric Drill

- Latex Gloves

- The notepad

- Xerox Photocopying

- Refrigeration

- Penicillin

[Marc @ Jan 17th 2006 12:09AM]

I wish him all the best, and that apple comment made me lol.

[granny down east @ Jan 17th 2006 12:36AM]

Meat Flavored Water! My favorite

...next to Foster's.

[onuo @ Jan 17th 2006 3:42AM]

Check out your facts firsts stu !



http://inventors.about.com/library/inventors/blpenicillin.htm





onuo

[onuo @ Jan 17th 2006 3:55AM]

It was Alexander Fleming who invented Penicillin - A Scot not an Aussie!



Check your facts Stu...



onuo

[onuo @ Jan 17th 2006 4:01AM]

Sorry for the double post !



Why is engadget so slow for posting now ?



onuo

[jarbles @ Jan 17th 2006 4:49AM]

To the creator of this product who no doubt is going to read these comments and feel like "crap"... don't listen to these guys... they are the online equivalent of grumpy old men - if it isn't made by Apple they think it sucks. Your idea is a great proof of concept... to boldly go where no one else will go (asking the "simple" questions) and receiving answers to questions people won't ask is a giant leap towards a future with more variety.



All of these people who commented above apparently don't want variety... if it's new and different it's no good and they will find the most ludicrous excuses for reasons it is "bad". Ego often times gets in the way... "AH HAH!! I came up with a refute to this design in the two minutes I took to read the write up, I am a better person. Nevermind if it is a valid point or not, I came up with it and it sounds good." Blah blah blah...



Don't sweat it... life's a garden, dig it.

[Z @ Jan 17th 2006 8:13AM]

Some thoughts:



1.) The only way something like this would succeed, especially now that we're in a digital world where we're all used to deleting photos as easily as we take them, is if this cheap product allows us to do just that: delete the photos.



This product is going to have cheap optics, a cheap LCD, a cheap controller, and cheap everything, which most likely isn't going to amount to photos that are much to look at. I mean, analog disposables could take decent photos, but going digital at this price point is going to yield questionable quality - less than that of an analog disposable which is less than half the suggested cost of this proposed product. So at the very least, considering that it's going to be difficult to get even half-way decent photos out of a product like this, people are going to have to be able to delete and retake photos over and over until they finally succeed at taking ones that they're happy with and that are worth sending to anybody.



2.) Secondly, and again, for this product to succeed, it'll need some sort of a flash for decent picture quality, otherwise, forget it.



Analog disposables have flashes. This product will need one built-in, too.



3.) Thirdly, because it has an LCD which will drain battery power in a way that analogs wouldn't, it may need some sort of a user replacable battery, like say, one or two AA's, or at least AAA's.



There are digital cameras out there ($300+- models) that are powered by AA batteries, so why couldn't this thing be made super thin (not much thicker than the AA or AAA batteries themselves) and powered in the same way?



How are people going to be assured that after snapping and deleting and re-snapping photos and then looking through all of them, that there's going to be enough juice left for whoever they're sending it to, to be able to look at all the photos, too, enjoy slideshows, etc., and maybe for awhile before having them developed?



Allowing the product to run off of cheap disposable batteries like AA's or AAA's will allow for piece of mind and more success of the product.



4.) They're going to have to allow a way for people (or whoever receives the camera) to develop the photos at home on their computers - not just through some stupid proprietary service. I mean, taking it down to a store and using a kiosk down there to develop the photos is fine, but we're all used to digital cameras where we can pop the memory card out and do it ourselves. Long gone is the need to rely on the film development stores like we did with analog cameras. That old business model isn't going to work with a digital disposable. People are going to need a way to remove the photos themselves, otherwise this product will be met with very limited success.



I don't know if this will mean the product will have a super cheap/low capacity SD card inside of it of some sort, but at the very least, it'll need this if people are going to use kiosks to develop the photos.



5.) Forget about making the LCD less than 1.8" or less than 12-bit color, otherwise, it's useless, and will cause the product to fail in the marketplace.



I say that, because a big part of what would differentiate this product from an analog camera is the LCD screen, so if the LCD is complete crap, then it's useless, and then why not just buy an analog disposable at that point, and for less than half the cost?



6.) I don't think optical or digital zooms will be necessary for this product to succeed.



7.) It's difficult to say whether or not a few quick and easy (and easily deleted or removed) digital photo "effects" or filters would help this product succeed. Some would say no, while others might think they'd add a fun twist to the photos.



*******************



The difficulty with making a camera like this is that it's very nature is going to have to follow the usability model that pertains to today's digital cameras and that is already in place and deeply rooted in today's society...



...So deeply rooted, in fact, that digital cameras are reaching a market saturation point in society. We know this is true simply due to the fact that someone thinks a $25 digital disposable equipped with an LCD is a good and workable idea. Not to mention, it's now very difficult these days (and with some places, impossible) to go into any electronics store and find a film-based point and shoot. Everything's digital now.



And now that people have been long-exposed to the conveniences and control that digital cameras provide them, they can't be expected to respond favorably to something that takes that away despite it being digital, even at a $25 price point, especially considering that the idea is that the camera probably isn't meant to be used twice.



People would be more apt to going out and spending $100 or more on a used, refurbished, or new digital camera while maintaining all the features and control and convenience that's inherently built-in. (I just sold my used Pentax 550 in perfect condition for $100, and it's a 5mp camera with 5x optical zoom and all the bells and whistles). And considering the existence of online businesses, including eBay, these aren't difficult to find.



Not to mention, thanks to computers and the internet, it's so easy to process and send photos to people, even without a product like this. Maybe this could appeal more to the older generations who don't have access to, or understand computers and the internet.



Although I wish the inventor much success, considering all these facts, and the usability factors of our digital world, as well as the reality that digital cameras are constantly coming down in price while decreasing in size and increasing in power and features, IMO, it's going to be tremedously difficult to carve out market space with this type of product, even at it's suggested price point.

[Rocket Punch @ Jan 17th 2006 11:32AM]

WOW! Finally! He has answered a question that nobody ask! So you use a stamp to send digital media to the intended receiver.....



I also have an invention of my own and I will only debut it here just for all Engadget fans! It is a new way of doing math. It is a hi tech calculator that when you do your math it will send the input thru WIFI and the internet to a "CCC" which stands for Central Calculation Center. In the center people will do the math for you with proven technology involving a "pen" and a "notepad". Once they got the answer, they will then contact you wil VOIP technology thru WIFI and internet and tell you the answer right on your bluetooth enabled mobile communication device.



Anyone interested!?

[threefingeredlord @ Jan 17th 2006 3:27PM]

Great idea, sounds good for parts.

[Paul @ Jan 17th 2006 4:44PM]

Meat flavoured water is a real invention, its water for dogs.

Also, you should chck some of your facts in regard to penicillin. While its wrong to say an Australian invented it, Howard Florey (an Australian) worked in a team to help isolate it for medical use - and was part of the 1945 Nobel prize recipients.