"Prosumer" is a word often used about cameras (or other gear) that is targetted for sale to people on the border line between being consumers and professional users.
Examples include the Canon EOS 10D / 300D digital SLR cameras (and Nikon 's D70/D100 etc): these are cameras that are priced for consumers (or at least for very interested hobbyists) and yet could easily be used professionally due to high quality / large number of features / expandability and so on.
World wide words writes:
[A prosumer is] a purchaser of technical equipment who wants to obtain goods of a better quality than consumer items, but can’t afford professional items (older terms for goods of this intermediate quality are semi-professional and industrial quality). Here, the word is a blend of professional and consumer. Prosumers of this sort are famed for their enthusiasm for new products and their tolerance of flaws and, from the marketing point of view, have much in common with early adopters. This usage is common among those selling video equipment, digital cameras, and similar goods [...]
Sources and more information:
I've never gone to the effort of looking up the definition of that word, but that's what I'd imagine that it'd be!
I suppose it came from that quaint American habit of making new hybrid words from combining two words together?
Posted by: alkam on December 8, 2004 09:40 PM|
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Anders Jacobsen [extrospection.com photography] |