Seeing Red

Red posted its new approach to selling its cameras yesterday. By modularizing their entire line, they moved away from point-and-click "soccer mom" shooting on the low end, and toward a more professional approach where you specify exactly what you want. The question is how much will it cost for a full configuration? I can see going for the $2,500 Scarlett Brain. But when you add on everything else, you might be spending about $5K+. I dunno. At a certain point you're basically in HVX-200 territory. Plus, the Panasonic comes with something important—a production pipeline that actually works.

But what stuck out to me was this marketing blurb—
The DSMC (digital still motion camera) concept is the epitomy of "Obsolescence Obsolete." As technology pushes forwards, there is no reason to buy a new camera every time a sensor, recording module or display technology improves. Instead you can upgrade individual modules, and even interchange Scarlet and EPIC components at will.

The copy reminded me of what Peavey said when introducing the DPM music synthesizer in the late 80's. Peavey, like Red, was a newcomer to the field. They claimed that their synth would never become obsolete because it used generic 68000 chips and was software upgradeable. But of course, there is nothing more obsolete than non-obsolescence (and 20 year old synthesizers).

The problem comes from misunderstanding the way technology matures. Technology doesn't evolve around components, it develops around systems. Sure you can replace your Red sensor without buying a new camera, but what happens when the fundamental design of cameras changes? What happens when new sensor technologies, form factors and interfaces are developed? What happens when software control extends to areas previously thought of in terms of mechanisms? Apple understands these kinds of problems so it constantly makes their technologies obsolete dropping disk drives, firewire, etc., before the market is even ready for it.

If obsolescence obsolete is just marketing hype, that's fine. I'm just concerned that Red actually believes it.