Stop buying them Ricoh, start buying those iPhone Pros!
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Direct video download to vlog on why iPhone pro is future for street photography >
Tim Cook is great!
The really really big issue here right now is supply chain issues. So this is where I am very very admiring of Tim Cook—the master of supply chain and logistics.
Problems with Ricoh, Fujifilm & these Japanese companies
So it seems the real critical issue here is supply chain issues. For example, I actually wanted to buy a new Fujifilm X100 VI, and also a new Ricoh GR III HDF… but the problem is they are all out of stock, all backordered… even if you want to buy it, you cannot.
Therefore, the critical issue here is availability. I want to buy it, I have the money for it, but I can’t buy it! Super annoying.
iPhone Pro thoughts
Looks like Apple listened to me, my idea for a “quick draw” idea… made available via the new camera control thing in the bottom right corner. It is a good idea because it makes it very very quick and easy and available to quickly quickly quickly take a picture, without delay. All those other strange touch-enabled exposure control stuff seems more like a gimmick, because it kind of looks like what a Samsung phone would do… Anyways, better than nothing. And also having it in the bottom right corner is a good idea because these damn iPhones are so big now… And also the ability to just make all of your apps sit at the bottom of your screen is an insanely great idea because most people have pretty small hands, their thumbs cannot reach all the way to the top.
NEW ERIC KIM APPLE TV+ SERIES: “Mastering the Art of Street Photography”
So I have this pitch idea for Apple TV+ (eric@erickim.com)—and the general idea is how can you use an iPhone, iPhone Pro, etc., to travel the world, be like ERIC KIM or Henri Cartier-Bresson, and make really awesome photos?
And also there would be a cool tie-in with the iPad Pro… The new M4 one… because I might be the only one I know, the only perhaps influential serious photographer on the planet who only uses an iPad Pro… I haven’t touched my laptop in about two years.
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Why is this such a big deal? 
I suppose this is a big deal because iPhone 16 Pro I think is finally probably good enough to replace the RICOH GR? 
Granted the truth is in terms of image quality and workflow… The Ricoh GR III, Ricoh GR IIIx, now the HDF’s… aesthetically probably look way better, but maybe from a innovation perspective it makes more sense for us to just burn the ships behind us, and buy some thing which has an interesting double dipping ability – AI, ChatGPT as well as photography?
Still artistic photography is the future
I really thought that the iPhone commercial with the weekend was very lame.  Apple is taking the wrong direction here… Come on… Your mom is going to have zero inspiration or motivation to use the iPhone pro to shoot a commercial or to shoot cinema. Apple going to whole cinematic route with iPhone is a very bad idea. A better strategy is instead… To focus on the still photography aspect. 
For example it looks like the new update on the photo styles is actually a super smart idea. No more needing to use loser Instagram or third-party apps — and actually… When are the things which inspired me to purchase some Apple stock at least with my Roth Ira accounts ,,,was the new iOS 18 is insanely great! And hats off to the apples photos team… It looks like what Apple is trying to do here is trying to cut out Instagram from the equation… And do the more smart strategy of making Apple photos look like it’s on social media platform?
I don’t think Instagram Facebook Metais a sustainable model. Sooner or later people are going to get sick of the ads, and want to bail and jump ship. I also think the same thing will happen with Google… There’s going to be a point where everything is this going to ChatGPT everything or searchgpt everything — no more lower click bait Google and YouTube videos — nobody likes ads! Especially kids, they hate ads!
Also a funny thought… Most google employees I know… Or IT tech workers, almost all universally have ad blockers on all of their devices. And almost all of them pirate stuff on VPNs and pirate bay etc. So it is a little bit ironic that Google is trying to crack down on AdBlockers now. My better suggestion is just try to make the YouTube premium app so so good on iPhone and Google devices… That you will actually make people happy to pay the $10 a month or whatever for YouTube premium! And also googles idea to monetize the pro version of Gemini AI is good idea. 
I think about Google will certainly find very very soon, I think she already knows… Is advertising on the Internet is not a sustainable business model. Rather I think subscriptions and to pay for things is the way forward!
Just buy it then return it?
Maybe the good idea is just buy the new iPhone Pro and return it if you don’t like it ,,,? And just test it out?
OWN YOUR CONTENT
If you live long enough, you’re going to wish you didn’t sell the rights to your content to some third-party.
Same to owning your own platform!
Create for 30 years from now!
PHOTOGRAPHY ENTREPRENEURSHIP 101: How to Become a Photography Entrepreneur >
Create your future!
“I bought every V12 engine, wish I could take it back to the beginning” – JAY Z
Also–
Subscribe to the $20 a month ChatGPT pro,,, and experiment with the new ChatGPT o1 preview — your mind will be blown!
AI ALL THE WAY!
ERIC
More AI thoughts here:
Forward the turbo!
Also whenever in doubt,