Rant: WOW.... the difficulties of real estate photography...

[fuzzybabybunny]

I take pictures of houses. I then give these pictures to realtors.

You have no idea just how computer illiterate some of these people are... and how badly they maintain their computers as a result.

So I upload my jpgs to a gallery website. The realtor goes to this gallery and clicks the prominent "download" icon to download the entire set in a zip file. This is where the mayhem starts.

50% of realtors have no clue what a zip file is. Lots of them are also using old OSes that don't support zip natively. I was just on the phone with one for half an hour trying to explain to her how to "select all the files and drag and drop them to your desktop." But it's not entirely her fault because during extraction WinXP just gets stuck on "calculating time remaining" or something and doesn't extract anything. So then I tell her to download the jpgs individually from the website. Then she tells me that when she double clicks on the file it doesn't open and nothing happens. After verifying in File Properties that it is indeed a jpg file, it turns out that her OS is screwed to the point of not even being able to open jpg files.

*face smack*

 

[corkyg]

Most of the opnes I deal with a fairly computer literate. They have web sites and know how to post house photos, etc. I suppose that it could be a regional thing. I was secretary for our homeowners associatyion for 5 years - and it was fun dealing with realtors who wanted forms filled out and copies of CC&Rs, etc. They finally learned how to get them off of our association website.

HOA

Note the link, "Info for Realtors." If they don't know how to do that, then they don't get the info.

Seems like you might have opened up a niche market in your area, Fuzzy. Offer a training program for the major real estate companies. All of you can benefit.

 

[magomago]

"If you have trouble getting the data off the website, I can gladly send you a copy of the pictures on a CD for 5 dolla, make you halla"

edit:

If it is a problem, ditch the standalone .zip. Build self extracting zips. That is the way to go

 

[fuzzybabybunny]

Originally posted by: magomago
"If you have trouble getting the data off the website, I can gladly send you a copy of the pictures on a CD for 5 dolla, make you halla"

edit:

If it is a problem, ditch the standalone .zip. Build self extracting zips. That is the way to go

I'd like to, but it's not possible with our gallery software (Apple's MobileMe). It creates the zip on its own, and a CD is not possible because realtors want their photos NOW. Just yesterday I did one where the realtor wanted a 3 hour turnaround time for the photos, and I had to set the batch to process on my laptop in the car while I was driving around and taking photos of other houses that came after.

I mean, I'm not trying to call the realtors stupid. A computer illiterate person can get by just fine if their computer is working correctly, but shit just hits the fan when things happen like their OS has problems with file transfers or even displaying jpg files...

 

[GodlessAstronomer]

My Dad is a real estate agent and so was my mum for a while. They are both computer literate but I have met many of their colleagues and helped them with computer problems so I can relate. People in this field of work often seem to be real technophobes. I don't know if it's true in USA, but most real estate advertising and dealing is still done through news papers or real estate magazines, it hasn't really migrated to the web. These people really seem to be a generation behind Fuzzy, I have found one thing that computer illiterate people seem to be able to deal with quite well is CDs. Just chuck a bunch of JPGs onto a CD, costs less than a buck and the physical media really seems to make them comfortable.

Edit - ah crap, just saw your last post about no CDs. Sorry.

 

[magomago]

Originally posted by: fuzzybabybunny

Originally posted by: magomago
"If you have trouble getting the data off the website, I can gladly send you a copy of the pictures on a CD for 5 dolla, make you halla"

edit:

If it is a problem, ditch the standalone .zip. Build self extracting zips. That is the way to go

I'd like to, but it's not possible with our gallery software (Apple's MobileMe). It creates the zip on its own, and a CD is not possible because realtors want their photos NOW. Just yesterday I did one where the realtor wanted a 3 hour turnaround time for the photos, and I had to set the batch to process on my laptop in the car while I was driving around and taking photos of other houses that came after.

I mean, I'm not trying to call the realtors stupid. A computer illiterate person can get by just fine if their computer is working correctly, but shit just hits the fan when things happen like their OS has problems with file transfers or even displaying jpg files...

EEEk....3 hour turn around? Tell them you gotta go take a shit, and that on its own takes atleaset 1.5 hours.

Hmmm I wonder how the K-7 would handle the HDR scenes, as it does in camera HDR. I heard from some reports that its a little overdone, but the sample or two I saw seemed to make it appear okay as far as HDR goes (if you realllly want them to come out great, its always about tweaking it yourself on the computer...). I think the biggest complaint was that it didn't align the photos before it created the single hdr file...but shouldn't be an issue if you are shooting on a tripod + remote release. Can't wait to see the reviews for the details of how it works (although I know the K-7 manual is on Pentax's website but I'm too lazy lol)....but that just might be the ticket (albiet, an expensive 1.3k ticket lol) if they want them instantly.

Tell them this:
"If you want it now, you need 2 lrn 2 use teh intArnets. Not my fault if your pc is full of malware from the beastiality you habitually watch watch"

or

"for a 5 dollar fee + cost of shipping, I will overnight the CD to you"

IMO if they can't download a .zip file and extract it, they are stupid especially if they've dived into the world of online real estate. If they can't do anything because their pc is ridiculed with spyware and wouldn't display .jpgs, they are double stupid. Feel free to vent your feeling FBB. and think about Quintox's advice...maybe once you are more established and have a decent network you can start basic classes on how to do things. Make quite a bit of $$$$ that way.

 

[DisgruntledVirus]

Originally posted by: magomago
maybe once you are more established and have a decent network you can start basic classes on how to do things. Make quite a bit of $$$$ that way.

Shhhh don't tell him that.

I was going to PM him and say "next time you're in Ohio, I was hoping you could teach me the ways of the forc... errr snorgl.... errr photography."

 

[magomago]

Originally posted by: DisgruntledVirus

Originally posted by: magomago
maybe once you are more established and have a decent network you can start basic classes on how to do things. Make quite a bit of $$$$ that way.

Shhhh don't tell him that.

I was going to PM him and say "next time you're in Ohio, I was hoping you could teach me the ways of the forc... errr snorgl.... errr photography."

Photography? I'm talking about 'how to download pictures to your computer and upload them for your real estate website' I'm sure people would pay a decent amount to learn these simple things Imagine charging 150/head for a 3 hour class and having 10 people attend. Not bad. And its not like you don't want to teach them anyways....

You can still snorgle with him if you want

 

[DisgruntledVirus]

Originally posted by: magomago

Originally posted by: DisgruntledVirus

Originally posted by: magomago
maybe once you are more established and have a decent network you can start basic classes on how to do things. Make quite a bit of $$$$ that way.

Shhhh don't tell him that.

I was going to PM him and say "next time you're in Ohio, I was hoping you could teach me the ways of the forc... errr snorgl.... errr photography."

Photography? I'm talking about 'how to download pictures to your computer and upload them for your real estate website' I'm sure people would pay a decent amount to learn these simple things Imagine charging 150/head for a 3 hour class and having 10 people attend. Not bad. And its not like you don't want to teach them anyways....

You can still snorgle with him if you want

Promise?

Yeah, you're just talking about "how to do something useful with this thing that you paid money for and sucks electricity 101" now, but WHERE DOES IT STOP!?!?!?!?! Now, pay for classes on real estate website. Next up to charge for? Photography tutorials. I see it now....

 

[akugami]

My cousin, a navy supply personel, has done tech support for people in the navy when he's working on shore and not on a ship. You'd be surprised at how stupid (yes, stupid) and computer illiterate some of these people who are suppose to be using computers to help defend our country are.

 

[EvilYoda]

Originally posted by: akugami
My cousin, a navy supply personel, has done tech support for people in the navy when he's working on shore and not on a ship. You'd be surprised at how stupid (yes, stupid) and computer illiterate some of these people who are suppose to be using computers to help defend our country are.

No, I probably wouldn't be too surprised. Bless them, though.

 

[randomlinh]

and there's your lesson, don't use mobile me =P