(empo-tuulwey) (empo-tymshft) When retro doesn't make sense (Image3D)

Yes, we should have a sense of history. But we should also have a sense of perspective.

My older readers probably remember View-Master. It was a device that looked like a pair of binoculars, with two eyepieces. You would insert a circular disk into the device which contained pictures; you would click on the device to advance the pictures. Because there were two pictures per view, and because there were separate, slightly different pictures for each eye, you would get a 3-D effect.

Well, Rich Dubnow, the lead photographer for View-Master, started a new company in 1997 called Image3D. The company is now allowing people to provide their own pictures. which can be loaded onto a disk and viewed via a View-Master like device. (I don't know if the device is technically a View-Master or not.)

The cost? $24.95 for a viewing device and a disk with seven pictures on it. You can order extra copies for a slightly lower price.

Now this MAY be worth it if the pictures were rendered as 3-D images, but...

Unfortunately, your two-dimensional images will still read as two dimensional through the eyepiece....

Now Image3D can add text or other effects that will appear as 3-D, but what's the point?

Sorry, but this retro idea sounds like a waste of money.