totally right, Fred - mathew ingram

you might be right but what a sad sad thought - Steven Hodson

commenting via friend feed, cuz that's where I am. More evidence I suppose - Ivan Kirigin

quality (of a picture, sound, etc) comes at a price of inconvenience/ sometimes this price is just not worth it. - 9000

Steven, do you really think it's a sad thought in the context of Scoble using the camera in his phone to do the interview? I agree with 9000 plus it's cool that convenience can sometimes facilitate some very cool conversations. - Robert Seidman

And it often beats security too! Just look at the way on-line banks removed initial requirements to have a certificate installed on your machine to login, so that users could check their accounts from anywhere. That doesn't mean the removed all security though, it's a balance, and possible peer pressure too. My son will take a leak in the bushes when he his playing soccer with his mates, but that would never happen when his mum is nearby ;-) - IanBlackburnold

Thank goodness for both 'convenience' and 'quality'...At least we can choose based upon the situation that we're in.....To use an analogy, there are plenty of times that I stop for fast-food when in a rush...I'd be in big trouble if my *only* choice was high-quality full-course restaurants. - Chris Rossini

Exactly right, Fred! - Robert Scoble

Convenience isn't a replacement for quality, but rather an augmentation: it lets you do more. - TranceMist

I agree w/ Trance and especially Chris R. I carry an iPhone around but would never dream of taking a serious picture with it. That's what my D200 and 50mm lens are for - and I'll opt for the "inconvenience" of my D200 any day of the week... - Anthony Citrano

Anthony: but if you had a Nokia N82 you might decide to leave the D200 at home. The pictures I'm getting with it are pretty damn good for a cell phone. http://www.flickr.com/photos... - Robert Scoble

Two thoughts spring immediately to mind: (1) Convenience beats quality when the thing being created has little inherent value or an overwhelming inherent value. In the vast space between, quality wins. (2) "Convenience beats quality" suggests a quickie camphone video itself will inevitably be superceded by a text transcript or summation, since a scannable transcript or well-done summary will always be more convenient *for the auidence*. - Roger Benningfield

@Robert Sceidman I think that this attittude of quality playing second fiddle to something being convient is sad. I've watched a couple of these Qik videos and while the idea of being able to catch a spontanous moment is cool I didn't like the quality of them at all and end up not watching the whole thing. It is ideas like this that ends up in the long run of making us feeling that "almost as good as" is okay and I'm sorry but that sucks. - Steven Hodson

@Scoble: I have an N95 (got it via their PopTech sponsorship) but don't carry it around much. I think it has the same camera, no? - Anthony Citrano

@Roger: Amen. - Anthony Citrano

@stevenhodson If the quality is low and you choose not to watch it, it is no worse than if it had not been recorded, which is what would have happened if it had not been convenient for him to record it. - So in some cases, low quality (but convenient) = high quality (but not recorded), but in other cases low quality > nothing. Total effect LowQuality >= HighQuality unless HighQ is convenient enough to be used. - Luke Gedeon

The N82's camera is even better than the N95's. Has a flash, too. - Robert Scoble

Absolutely. And for communication it's about 'communicating' and if you can do that, despite the quality, then you've accomplished your task. It's like not watching TV because it's not in HD. - AJ Kohn

@AJ: For the record, my household is rapidly approaching that point. Dish Network is already launching an HD-Only package for those who have no use for SD programming. It's like going back to dial-up after you've had broadband for a few years. - Roger Benningfield

@Roger: I like HD but it's not the end-all for me - and I'm a TV junky - though (obviously) more for the content. I'd still enjoy Lost if I had to watch it on a 6 inch kitchen TV. Once I get the new TV I may be more on your side though ;) - AJ Kohn

@Scoble - hm, cool - found this after you mentioned it - http://www.thenokiaguide.com/my_webl... - agree, not bad for a cell camera. - Anthony Citrano