In a presentation at the Web 2.0 Summit, Pokorny pointed to Apple's iPhone 4 and its front and back-facing cameras as revolutionizing mobile photo publishing on the web. The two types of cameras, and how they're used in photo-sharing mobile applications, represent huge philosophical differences, he argues.
Pokorny used one simple slide to illustrate his point, as seen below. In the center of the slide is the iPhone 4. To the left, Pokorny lists buzz-worthy photo applications designed as back-camera applications: TwitPic, Path, Instagram, Picplz. DailyBooth sits to the right as the primary application serving the front-camera crowd, in Pokorny's mind.
Pokorny then made the point that the crop of applications building object-driven experiences around the back camera appeals to users over the age of 25, while his application -- which focuses on faces, not objects -- appeals to youngsters under the age of 25. The not-so-subtle point is that these trendy applications are missing the mark. They are the past; DailyBooth is the future -- at least according to Pokorny.
Pokorny's biased conclusion is especially interesting considering that Picplz just closed a sizable $5 million round of funding, Instagram is on fire and Path believes that its approach to private photo sharing is the future. The theory that faces are the future of photo sharing is one that challenges the core purpose of these applications.
