I have just seen a feed from the Fuji Rumors site (Why is it not Fujifilm Rumours...?) that tells of the retirement of Mr. Hiroshi Kawahara - the Fujifilm manager who first conceived the X-100 camera and who has done so much for the design of the X-series. You can google over there and read it yourself - it is quite interesting.
Apart from the fact that I like and use the products of this company, the article was interesting for the fact that it points out how little we know in the consumer world about the designers and technicians who make the products we use. I am sorry to say that up until now I had no idea who would have been the architect of the cameras and lenses - indeed still know little of the rest of the team...and it is the same for each of the manufacturers.
The occasional trade factory trip to Japan or Germany is wonderful, but you can only meet a few people. Just as well - they need to be busy about their designing and manufacturing and have little time for rubbernecking tourists. Yet the tourists want to ask questions and give ideas.
The problem is not so much that the important people are hidden, but that they are anonymous. We have no George Eastman or Victor Hasselblad to communicate with. And it is hard for the people who do not speak or write the Japanese language to interchange meaningfully with those who do.
So? So perhaps the advertising and liaison people in each big manufacturer should encourage websites and interest groups like Fuji Rumors as much as possible, but also find an official factory figure to take over the role of communication as well. We're well served here in Western Australia from Fujifilm, Canon, Nikon, and Olympus who send regular visitors but perhaps a factory connection that is direct would also be a good idea.
