Photography’s renaissance rests on a few unbeatable advantages. Compared to other kinds of content—songs and movies—photos are, technically and legally, much easier to share and mash up. If you come up with a great, unexpected new site centered on TV shows, you need to get huge servers and pay for expensive bandwidth and licensing deals. If you’ve got a fantastic new take on photos, often all you need is an app. That app lives on a smartphone, which is the world’s most popular point-and-shoot camera. For the first time, cameras are connected to the Internet, they know who your friends are, they know where you are, and they can be constantly updated with new powers. The camera is powerful (Apple’s iPhone 4S is 8 megapixels) and intelligent, and the pictures keep getting more interesting.
Why photography is every tech product’s most valuable feature.

