no trespassing

When I was looking through my photos the other day, this one sparked something in me. I had a topic to pontificate about which would have been relevant to boundaries, limitations and things like putting items in their correct place, and consequence.
But all of that escapes me today and all I can think about is how perfect this was to find by accident while walking along Commercial Drive with Anand a couple of weeks ago. I went over to Vancouver to work on music with Anand before he went to WMC in Miami, where he currently is with Krishen. I got a text message last night – it said “At Mansion – Sasha and Digweed are playing some RIDICULOUS percussional tracks with huge chord progressions.” Sounds like something I would enjoy. Of course I am envious that I am not there right now.
It has come to my attention that I need a new computer. Any suggestions on what I should get? Just kidding, seriously – I know what I need in this department, and have been doing the research for years. Every year my current batch of research becomes obsolete, and so I have to upgrade that research. Basically (and I don’t expect this to come across as great information, but more of a recording of an observation) every year that goes by, every new model that comes along and matches the previous price point of the previous top of the line model, you get more out of an upgrade than you did before. As it is with innovation and (relatively) static price points, the consumer wins in this regard.
This is most overtly parallel to the lifecycle of digital camera functionality and, in particular, what is migrating from the feature-rich point-and-shoot consumer model cameras to the pro-sumer digital SLR models. In short, there are a number of features that were pioneered on the R&D-a-plenty point-and-shoots and they’re coming to the more specialized, higher-end cameras. I suppose the most striking point of all of this is that more features does not equate to high end. Anyone that knows anything about cameras knows that the most important points of the camera are not photo filters or face-tracking live view on a flip-out LCD, but rather the glass, the image sensor, and the person holding the camera. Everything else is peripheral.
All that being said, I am still very happy with the Canon 30D and can see myself using it for years to come, and upgrading the body (not the lenses) in about 3-4 years, for a total lifespan of 5-6 years. Some people are splitting hairs about whether they should get the 30D or the 40D, but my advise is that it doesn’t matter which one you get because they are roughly the same compared to what your options will be in 5-6 years when it comes time to replace it. The Live View technology in the 40D is VERY rudimentary and is not fully functional yet in my opinion – it has a long way to go – just look at the difference between what Olympus’ Live View is capable of and what Canon’s is. When Canon fully slams their R&D budget against Live View, expect to see some awesome results. But I anticipate that even if that has already happened, we wont see the results in actual available cameras for a year or two at least. I don’t know if Canon has a slow turn-around between R&D and actual product roll-out into the marketplace, or if they’re just lagging behind on purpose to see how the tech effects Olympus’ sales, or if they’re just behind, period.
Thoughts?