Device to Device Communication

One barrier to eliminating the computer from digital photography is USB. It was designed under the assumption that the computer is the host, and that all other devices plug into the computer. You cannot, for example, plug a USB drive into a USB printer; the two will not recognize that they are supposed to communicate with each other, nor would they know how. Kind of like trying to plug the female end of an extension cord into a electical wall outlet.

BlueTooth, on the other hand, was exactly designed for communication between any two devices. Problem, though, is that BlueTooth is rare and is v-e-r-y slow, expecially when dealing with the huge files created by digital camera photographs and movies.

Not that USB can't be made to communicate with any two devices; this already exists for cameras that can plug directly into printers. And I had an earlier posting of Olympus designing a camera, hard drive, and DVD burner to recognize each other through USB.

And then there are workarounds. Here is one reported by Mobilemag.com that I missed:

"Xmultiple has designed a new technology called FlashPoint, this technology will allow for users to send data from one FlashPoint device to another FlashPoint device, or to any flash memory-based drive currently on the market. With both male and female USB connectors, you simply connect any old flash memory keychain, press the transfer button, and your files get sent over to the other device."

The company says it works with cameras, printers, scanners, disk drives, cable modems, card readers, hubs, and flash drives that support USB v1.x and 2.0.

So, a limited form of two-way communication at a pricey cost: US$95 each.