A Panorama of the Leaning Tower of Pisa, Italy.

FRUSTRATION is the word that comes to mind today.  I spent most of my Saturday trying to figure out if there is an easy way to publish and share my panoramas (as a common user, not a techie).  As anyone would do, I first searched for my “YouTube for Panoramas” sites and found a bunch.  After getting accounts and trying most of these webistes, I found the whole experience difficult and frustrating.  Perhaps my bar was too high in comparing them to YouTube or any other video serving websites.  Perhaps things are different for panoramas.  Perhaps it’s too much to ask…

On second thought, NO.  I shouldn’t have to lower my expectations for panoramas — they’ve been around as long as photography and videos!  I think the problem is that the panoramic community is not rising up to the challenge of making panoramic medium as common as videos or photographs.

Here’s what I want at a high level:

• Acquisition – Taking panoramas should be as easy as point-and-shooting with a digital camera.  I do believe there are ways to simplify this.
• Post Processing – Stitching, image processing, tone mapping, etc. should be easy as a drag-and-drop, and have access to “pro” features for those who want/need finer control.  I do believe this part has made much progress thanks to many innovative minds.
• File Formats – To a common user, this should be as understandable as a “JPEG.”  My mom knows what a JPEG is, but she doesn’t know what an equirectangular JPEG is.
• Viewing – What happens when you double click on a JPEG?  I want that for my panos.
• Publishing – YouTube, Flickr, Picasa…
• Sharing – YouTube, Flickr, Picasa…

I absolutely don’t think this is problematic.  It can be done.  In fact, much of the work has already been done.  So, why haven’t this happened yet?  Is there not enough demand?  Not enough cash, incentives or investments in this field?  Are there no business models or economics to make this a fruitful endeavor?

My guess is that we, as panorama community, need to make the process — from Acquisition all the way to Sharing — easy as 1-2-3 so that my mom can do it.  Let’s not make it into some esoteric art form that only a few can do.