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Get used to vertical photos and videos

Integrating cameras into mobile devices has been going on for quite a number of years now.  In that time the cell phone [mobile] camera has become quite a convenient feature.  However, an unexpected side-effect is that the perception of a "normal" orientation for a picture or a video is shifting. The expectation is that at some point in the near future the "natural" orientation of our photo and video content will switch to vertical instead of the far more practical, and pleasing, horizontal.

It's almost as though the first camera appeared in a cell phone simply because the creators thought to do it.  Then, after the fact, the uses for the shooter were realized.  Today, people snap pictures on their mobile devices of nearly everything, and new services have sprung up around the Internet to cater to this doohickey.  Thanks to the mobile camera we have shots and footage of nearly everything now.  And as we continue to find new uses for our mobile cameras, we're finding new ways to misuse them too.

Currently, the chief offender has to be photos and video shot with the camera (read phone) held vertically instead of rotating it sideways (artistic flare aside).  So now, besides wildly shaky video and blurry pictures, we get to enjoy them as though we were peering through a cracked closet door too.  In spite of HD cameras being embedded in so many mobile devices, we're continuing to build an endless supply of even more terrible content simply by holding our devices wrong.


UPDATE:  This video does a nice job of making the same point, just in a more satirical way.

Vertical Video Syndrome - A PSA
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bt9zSfinwFA

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