Project ICONICA

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Project ICONICA
Syracuse University School of Information Studies
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ICONICA?

• Our mission is to research Images and the
  strategic implications of the CONvergence of
  Image management and image CApture.
• To begin, we have chosen to focus on Image
  Management Software as the crucial interface
  between cameras, images, users, and services

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Observations

• Image management capabilities are one of the main
  value-adds of digital imaging
• No image management software (IMS) has gained
  widespread public acceptance
• Most business models seem to be based on giving
  away the IMS and capturing revenue from output
  (prints and printers) or capture (cameras).

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Research Questions

• RQ1 Market Share
• What is the market share of different IMS
  software products? Does any particular software
  have a dominant position (roughly defined as used
  by more than 40 of the surveyed population)?

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Research Questions

• RQ2 Usage of IMS software
• Is the use of IMS software a) minimal, b)
  moderate, or c) central?
• Minimal means that the IMS is used for little
  more than to get the images out of the camera and
  onto a computer. Moderate means that the user
  utilizes one or two features in addition to
  downloading, such as basic cropping or
  organization of images into albums. Central
  means that the IMS software is the users primary
  mechanism for organizing, sharing, and printing
  images.

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Research Question

• RQ3 Vertical leverage
• How much vertical leverage exists between
  capture, management, and output products?
• Do users let their choice of digital camera
  dictate the IMS software they use, or do they
  select an IMS independently?
• To what extent does the IMS guides ones choice
  of printing and other output services? We would
  also be interested in any evidence of the reverse
  direction Can an IMS influence ones choice of a
  camera? And can output service providers
  influence ones choice of an IMS?

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Progress to date

• Survey instrument
• Pilot testing
• Review of IMS products
• ACDSee
• Kodak EasyShare
• Adobe Photoshop Album

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Other Interesting questions

• Possibilities of converging IMS and capture
• Direct naming via voice input?
• Automatic attachment of metadata?
• Blurring boundary between moving and still images
• Implications for image management

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Image Management Software Products

• ACDSee
• Kodak EasyShare
• Adobe Photoshop Album
• irfanViewer
• Picasa
• PhotoSuite 5.0

• Thumbsplus
• Apple iPhoto
• Microsoft Digital Image
• Paintshop Photo Album
• Photo Explosion (Nova)