Exactly 4 years ago to the day i was on my way to Barcelona. It’s the 12th January 2007 and this blog is only 3 months old. I’m still a teenager. In terms of technology, what did i have with me on that trip?
Camera – Casio Exilim ex-s600
I bought this camera in late 2006 and at the time i think it was the slimmest point and shoot camera in the world. Features included 3 x optical zoom, video recording in MPEG4, 6 megapixel sensor. Here’s some photos i took with it…
When i head off to Barcelona in two days time, i’ll have a Panasonic TZ7. Ironically, this is fatter and heavier than the camera i head 4 years ago, but i’m now beginning to care more about quality and less about convenience. Don’t be surprised at all if you see me pick up a proper DSLR camera later in the year (the big & ugly type ones).
This can record video in HD plus it has a nice 12 optical zoom so it’s definitely a step up from the camera i had 4 years ago. I’m also armed with 2 x 8GB SD cards, 4 years ago i had one 2GB SD card and one 1 GB SD card. Memory was much more expensive back then, even with ebay. Disaster struck on the last day when my (nearly full) 2GB card somehow got corrupted. All videos and pictures were wiped. Luckily, i was able to recover about 95% of photos when i got home.
Phone – Nokia 6600
In January 2007, i had a nokia 6600 which was getting old at that time. 5 months later it would be replaced by the then king of smartphones, the nokia n95. The n6600 could take crappy pictures and about 7 seconds of video, yes literally 7 seconds of video at a time. So that wasn’t of much use to me compared to a normal camera, but today things are a little different…
photo credit: if you love me
I now have an iPhone that can not only take decent pictures and show them to me on a nice screen, i can upload them direct to flickr if i have wifi in my hotel. Or, i can shoot HD video, edit it on the phone, then upload direct to youtube. That was unthinkable 4 years ago, especially the editing part.
Maps & Booking References
4 years ago i had a folder full of maps for the metro, booking references for hotels, flights etc… and then i would have kept all that in a folder. Now, i’m confident enough to place trust in my iPhone to store all that stuff for me.
I’ve already downloaded all the ‘Barcelona’ apps i’ll need to get around. There’s an app for the metro, ‘lonely planet’ app which shows you maps and places to go / see, plus i even have an english / spanish dictionary on there in case i get stuck.
The iPhone also acts as a sat nav in that it can pick up my location and tell me how far i am from certain locations in meters. Plus the compass will tell me in what direction to head. So getting lost isn’t really an option.
Now the downside of that is that Google maps can’t be stored offline, so it costs a bomb in roaming data charges to use that kind of feature, but luckily enough there are several apps that store their own maps of the city offline, so unless Barcelona has been completely rebuilt over the last few days, they should do just fine 🙂
Sharing
4 years ago, i took a few hundred pictures which at the time i thought was a ridiculous amount to take. This time it could well top the 1,000 mark (between my camera & my iPhone) and that wouldn’t surprise me. I’ll be taking as much video as i can too. In terms of battery power, i have a back up battery for my camera plus i have portable recharger for my iPhone will will charge it three times without needing to be charged itself.
So i’m much better prepared. Battery life shouldn’t be a problem, memory shouldn’t be a problem. If something happens, i’ll be able to capture it and share it with the world. I wasn’t so prepared 4 years ago and i think that shows just how much more eager i am to document more stuff and share it with the world. I’ve definitely become more valuable to the internet because i upload more than i did 4 years ago. The same can probably be said for all of us and who knows, maybe in another 4 years time i’ll be live vlogging from Barcelona on my phone whilst using it to pay for stuff and check in to hotels & for flights.
There’s no doubt about it, the phone is what has changed most over the last 4 years and it’s probably what will change most over the next 4 years. Never mind the apps, Google’s Android & iOS didn’t exist last time i was in Barcelona and i think that says it all.