If Fisher-Price ever make a digital camera for toddlers they'll probably go to Kodak for design tips. One of a new line of digital cameras called EasyShare, Kodak's DX3500 aims to give the mums-and-dads end of the consumer market a comfortable seat on entering the digital photography pantheon. Borrowing from the PDA cradle concept, EasyShare system links the DX3500 to PCs via a USB docking station that makes the images on the camera available at the touch of a button once it's powered-up and perched in place.
Every aspect of digital camera operation that early-adopters of digital camera technology would be familiar with has been simplified for the DX3500 owner. Rather than having a separate power input, the camera's battery is charged via its docking station. Once the docking station is set-up there no wires for the user to become entangled with during regular usage, the power plug and the USB connection can be left to gather dust.
The camera's LCD interface menu options have also been dumbed-down. For instance, the camera's menu only offers two resolution settings: good and excellent. Presented in a casual font this style of interface is immediately less intimidating for the user than cryptic symbols and technically literal setting descriptions. Navigating the interface itself is a matter of scrolling through images and options with a bi-directional gamepad-style pointer that lets you move between and select items very quickly.
We found that Kodak's bundled connection software was simple to install and once we'd completed the set-up process, linking the camera is almost a plug and play experience. The camera becomes an external drive almost as soon as it placed on its docking cradle and using the image acquisition software is a point and click affair, where images load into the viewing pane temporarily before being saved to a specific location.
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