So a not-so-idle question: What do you think are the top three most generally recommendable small(ish) cameras, circa October 2014?
I'm pretty determined to publish a list of "Small Cameras We Love," which I've had on a low boil for a long time now. (Long enough for the cast of candidates to shift not once but several times.)
I like lists because I think they're fun. But my enthusiasm for lists has been fading for two reasons: one is that I keep encountering lists that are poorly thought-through, and the second is that lists have become known as an easy knee-jerk way to suck in peoples' attention on the Internet, and I have a reflexive dislike of cynical manipulation.
Re the poor ones, I was stuck with nothing but my phone for amusement while waiting for an appointment a few days ago, and saw a list of "23 Novels You Must Read" that I thought would serve as diversion. Wrong. The compiler obviously mainly read horror, on top of which he or she piled some standard recommendations. I mean, yes, To Kill a Mockingbird is something everybody should read, but most people already have, many of us while in high school. So to include it on a list is not...information.
(And there were several collections of short stories on the list, apparently another special interest of the listmaker's. Block that title.)
Sometimes you see pretty original research in list form, however, and that can be interesting. For instance, this map from Paul Lamere's MusicMachinery.com shows the most distinctive artists in the top 100, state by state, from a year or two ago—that is, the things people in each state were listening to that most of the rest of the country wasn't. So in New Jersey they were still listening to favorite son Brooce, probably fantasizing that the rest of the country hasn't moved on, and the Newts and Emmets are still stuck on the Dead and Phish, and the Detroiters have elevated Young Jeezy to localized stardom statewide, and Texans are loyal to stolid straight country. And who or what is "Bonobo"? (I know what a bonobo is.) It doesn't mean much in the history of the world, but it's all kind of touching. As I say, fun.
So give me your top one, or two, or three, but only if you give it some thought. Lists aren't important, they're just fun; but they're only fun if they're good.
Mike
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