[A lot of people have been reading this as me suggesting the "only" or "best" solution. See my comments, below.] I've been harping about compact cameras for awhile now (my latest rants about Nikon's most recent Coolpix introductions are now on the 2011 Archived News page).
Every now and then I offer a glimpse at the product that we're not getting in hopes that some engineer somewhere in Japan will get the nerve to try something a bit different. Today I expand on that theme by adding an article on how to socialize compact cameras before they're even more marginalized by cell phone cameras. Consider it my Valentine's Day gift to the camera makers.
Not that the way I describe is the only way to "fix" low-end compact cameras, but it is a quick and to the point way. One that could probably be achieved in the very next wave of Coolpix.
Update: Many have suggested that the camera makers should just Bluetooth to phones. They could--as I point out that's a high-end solution. From the camera maker's standpoint Bluetooth is problematic in another way, though: either you (1) lose the relationship with the customer the minute the image is taken (i.e. the phone is the device controlling what happens to Bluetooth inputs), or (2) you end up having to write apps for dozens and dozens of phones and keeping them up-to-date. Of those, #2 is probably preferable, as you can continue to sell something to your customer (the app). But we already know that the Japanese camera companies aren't capable of keeping up with the minimal software they already do--keeping up with the cellphone world would be beyond their ability, I think.
Anyhow, the point the article wasn't to necessarily suggest the best possible solution, but only that a workable solution has been and continues to be available to the Japanese camera companies, and they just don't see it. First, they don't see the need for it, and second, they just don't see what can already be done. The point is this: the customer wants something that the camera companies aren't providing.