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TV news takes a turn for the worst

by on29 September 2015


Apple fanboys replace real cameras with iPhones

There is always a great danger when an Apple fanboy gets control of a hardware budget and a Swiss television station is going to find out the hard way.

Swiss television channel Léman Bleu has decided that since Apple tells them that its iPhone is as good as a real TV camera, they might as well fire their camera people and give hacks iPhones instead.

The station has given its news team an iPhone 6 kit for covering their stories, and to use for live shots. What this means is that we can expect shaky selfie to camera news and shedloads of unsteady footage which makes the viewer feel sit.

Apparently Léman Bleu's news director Laurent Keller said that it was a "search for lightness and responsiveness, but also a way to reduce costs of producing a newscast.

He told Le Temps, a Swiss newspaper that iPhones were not inferior compared to television cameras when it comes to recording quality. In a quote which could only have been written in an Apple press office he said

"It's up to us to reinvent the grammar of the image, to learn to shoot differently," he stated.

He claimed that the switch also makes it convenient for reporters to go live at any time, either by air or on social media. This is reportedly essential for the station, which only airs for a few hours a day.

However they are on a hiding to nowhere on this one. A Charlotte TV station also tried to bring in Apple gear to replace the use of real equipment and lost watchers in droves,

The reason was, despite what might be claimed by Apple, a several thousand dollar camera with a large lens held by a competent camera person is always going to destroy a $19 camera held by a hack, whatever logo is on the back.

Charlotte experiment was plagued with technical problems and outputs had "amateurish quality."

When a comany interviews a CTO it is always a good idea to see if he uses an Apple phone or has an iPad. That way you know that letting him spend more than the price of a cup of coffee is a bad idea.

Last modified on 29 September 2015
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