Each One Teach One: Camera Phone

  According to an article by EETimes the first commercial camera phone was released to the public in 2000. This camera phone was not released in the United States, but it was actually released in Japan. The company that had sent this new camera phone to the public is named J-mobile. Camera phones now compared to the camera phones that were first released have many differences. One main difference that they had in regards to the camera is the number of megapixels. Camera phones or smartphones now such as Apple for example the new iPhone 13 has a 12-megapixel camera and up to 63 megapixels for the panorama option. The cameras on the camera phone back in 2000 had only .1 megapixels according to an EETimes article. In the United States, the camera phone wasn’t released until 2004 by Sprint. The man behind creating the camera phone in the United States goes by Philippe Khan.

Now we know where the first commercial camera phone was released but the bigger question is why it was released. I am going to be focusing on the first camera phone in the United States designed by Philippe Khan. Philippe Khan was inspired by the birth of his daughter when creating the first camera phone. June 11^th, 1997 Khan was the first person to upload a photo of his newborn daughter to the internet in real-time by using a system connected from his digital camera and his phone. This connection is what sparked the idea for what was the camera phone. Khan’s camera phone was not released to the public until 2000.

        With the invention of the camera phone in the United States, Philippe Khan wanted to solve his problem of real-time sharing. Philippe Khan want to share pictures of his newborn baby with his friends and family as it was happening right in front of him. I guess one could say that the real problem is solved with the invention of the camera phone was staying connected with friends and family in real-time. By posting pictures or sending them immediately, instead of printing out pictures off a digital camera then mailing them to family who may live far away or even waiting for that family to visit to see pictures of what you did on vacation, your newborn child, or even what color you painted a room you are able to stay connected with loved ones. 

It is obvious that the camera phone has grown tremendously throughout the years but what effects has the camera phone had on society up until now. Obviously, over the years, we have seen an increase in camera technology when it comes to phones. By having a camera on our phones and using pictures to share what we see and hear every day people have come accustomed to “seeing is believing” but not everything you see you can believe. 

As the camera phone has become more advanced along with technology the impact that it has made on society can be positive and negative. The camera phone has allowed many people to stay connected with their friends and family by sending pictures, posting them online, or having an easy place to store photos for quick access. The hassle of getting photographs developed or downloading them to a computer for printing is all at the touch of a button. It can be easy to get wrapped up in the good and fun parts of a camera phone but what some people may not realize is that the invention of the camera phone along with the ever-growing industry and technology has changed many industries one being the digital camera industry. By having a camera in your pocket there was less need for big bulky cameras and with technology advancing, cameras in these phones have become so high quality they are just as capable of capturing an image in the same way as most digital cameras.