The Blink
II digital camera has a lot going for it. It's cute. It's small.
It's cheap. And surprisingly, it's not Mac compatible. Maybe I'm just
used to every digital camera on the market being plug-n-play with OS
X. Make no mistake, the Blink II is a "toy camera". The picture
quality isn't great, but it's a lot of fun and small enough to wear
as a necklace.
The company
that makes the Blink II camera is SiPix. All they need to do is write
a few lines of code so iPhoto will recognize their products. I've contacted
them about this, but they don't think there's any market for it.
I think the Macintosh community can prove them wrong. Here's some contact
info for SiPix and ways you can let them know that Mac users aren't
second-class citizens anymore.
Please help the
cause. Tell SiPix they should make the Blink II and
all their cameras compatible with the Macintosh OS.
Use
the SiPix
Technical Support web form. Don't select "Mac OS"
as your Operating System. If you do, you'll get a generic message
that says "We do not currently offer Macintosh-compatible
solutions." and no one will actually read your message.
If
you are feeling extra pissed, you can call their North American tech
support hotline 510.651.9199 or the European number 00800 800 74749.
People
have tried to use some of the new tools and code available now that
the Mac OS is based on BSD Unix. Check out this link, especially if
you are Unix savvy. http://www.mkaz.com/ebeab/osx_blink.html
Here's
some sample emails people have sent to the SiPix support staff.
Feel
free to copy and paste or modify these. If you have a good one,
send
it to us.
"Help.
My husband bought me the Blink II digital camera for Christmas.
It was a nice little stocking stuffer. But I was amazed to discover
that it's not Macintosh compatible!!!!! Why is this? Because you
are a European company? Macintosh computers are very popular here
in the United States. If you plan to sell your products here,
please make them work with the Apple platform. I want it to work
on my iMac. Thank you." ~Laura
"Dear
SiPix, I recently purchased your Blink II digital camera from
Amazon.com. I was very excited until i plugged the camera into
my Apple PowerBook. I thought the camera was broken at first.
Then I realized that my problem was much worse. You aren't a Macintosh
compatible company? Why? This is astonishing! The Macintosh platform
is a trail-blazer for the digital photography industry. Please
add Macintosh support to your products ASAP!" ~Greg
"Hello.
I just got back from a holiday vacation in Europe. I wanted a
fun toy camera so purchased your Blink II camera at a local store
near Germany. I'm home in the USA now and want to see my pictures.
But your camera won't work with my Macintosh G4 computer. I've
tried plugging and unplugging the camera several times. My wife
and I have 3 other digital cameras that all work fine. I have
a Canon PowerShot, Sony Mavica and a Minolta Dimage X. Your Blink
II camera is the only one that won't work. Any ideas?" ~Fred
"Dear
Mr. Grossmann, While shopping this holiday season, your SiPix
StyleCam Blink II Digital Camera was high on my priority list
until I learned that it was only compatible with the Windows
operating system. Should you ever decide to support the Macintosh,
you have another sale here! Have a wonderful New Years!" ~Stephen
S
"I
have been using SiPix BlinkII daily for a few weeks now,
with an IBM ThinkPad and using Windows 2000, ever since I had warranty
repairs completed, thank you very much. [ the shutter switch stopped
functioning in the first week].
Now, every time I pull out my camera, I pray it doesn't malfunction again, since
I love the convenience and the size of the SiPix; but your hardware support policy
is frustrating.
I had to argue for warranty repairs when the mechanism failed ; since I was told
SiPix isn't doing repairs on the dumped cameras, regardless that I paid the full
price.
I also was troubled to learn my $54 camera was earlier this year being dumped
on the market for $12, and that the BlinkII was being undervalued and unsupported
by SiPix. I
was also extremely shocked to discover that my BlinkII digital camera
wasn't Macintosh compatible. Every USB digital camera I've
ever seen has been plug-n-play with any Macintosh computer
running OS X. Apple practically reinvented digital photography.
All the major electronics and photography companies adopted Apple's
FireWire technology overnight. And Apple continues to trail-blaze
with products like iPhoto and iMovie.I can't understand why SiPix
will not support the BlinkII; this is really a lovely device.
Every time I pull it out, people 'ooh' and 'ahh', call me "James
Bond, Sir"; ask questions, and then they ask me to email
them the 'spy' pictures.
I love my SiPix, and hope it turns out to be a better investment
than your company seems to think it will be.
Here's hoping you will either add the Apple -Mac USB recognition
code, or
make the hack possible by opening the appropriate section of
code to the community. Hoping to remain a satisfied customer."
~ Leo
Honestly
I was extremely surprised to find out that a digital camera wasn't Macintosh
compatible. Every USB digital camera I've ever seen has been plug-n-play
with any Macintosh computer running OS X. Apple practically reinvented
digital photography. All the major electronics and photography companies
adopted Apple's FireWire technology overnight. And Apple continues to
trail-blaze with products like iPhoto, iMovie, Final
Cut Pro, iDVD
and DVD
Studio Pro. What will it take to get SiPix make their cameras work
in iPhoto? If you took the time to send an email to SiPix, we thank
you!
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