Interesting Facts

According to figures from Samsung, 2.5 billion people around the globe have a digital camera. (Given that there are 7 billion of us on the planet, there's plenty of room for growth.)

Kodak is credited with building the first digital camera in 1975. (Steven Sasson invented it, but it was a box the size of a small coffee machine with a cassette stuck to the side, so not very practical. Unfortunately this invention has all but killed the traditional camera, and Kodak looks as if it shot itself in the foot by not fully profiting from its invention.)

The shire of Northampton has more speed cameras than any other part of the UK. (But don't worry, you can check on the Northampton police web site to see where they are! http://www.northants.police.uk/default.asp?action=article&ID=2123 Is it just me, or is this daft?)

powered by ODEO According to Tesco supermarket razorblades are stolen more than other products. (In a report in the Guardian it seems that Tescos take a digital photo of you each time you pick up a Gillette razorblade from the store's shelf - it only takes one to prompt the camera - and again when you present the pack at the checkout. Tesco says that the photos are "temporarily stored", but does not specify for how long. However, Smart Labels Analyst magazine explains that this system enables the store to "blacklist certain shoppers and keep an eye on them". In his interview with the magazine, Alan Robinson recounts an occasion when his Cambridge store was able to show the police a photograph of a shoplifter in the act of removing two packets of razors from the shelf: "The police were completely flabbergasted, having never seen anything like it in their lives.")