I have to admit, I remember the days of Samsung‘s “moon shot“ that they had to dial back the PR. Customers were so furious about that.
When I took my first picture of the moon using my Nothing Phone 3(a), I was a bit skeptical at the result. Immediately my mind went back to when this first happened with Samsung. I was like “please don’t let this be AI generated“.
The moon always faces us in the same direction as it does not rotate. So we only ever see one side. So they use a little bit of AI and high definition photos from NASA and the ESA to stitch together a perfect picture of the moon or at least near perfect. So, is it the exact position of the moon from that moment in time that you are looking at it? Yes. Are YOU taking that photo? No. It’s a trade-off really. If it pleases people to see the moon they are looking at, no harm no foul. For us techies, we know what it really is and what is going on under the hood. Should we be calling it out? Probably not as it is not an “advertised feature” from Nothing. What Samsung did with “moon shot” was criminal, kind of like when Apple sold the iPhone 16 based on “Apple Intelligence” - it was all false advertising. Nothing just baked it in and never called attention to it.
In all honesty, being a computer tech for over 30 years, and an amateur astronomer, I understand how optics work. Right now it is just physically impossible for a cell phone to take a perfect picture of the Moon. Does it seem a bit shady? Kind of. But at the same time, most people that look up at the Moon think it’s beautiful, and wish they could take a picture of it. They don’t understand the science of optics, light refraction, or much about telescopes if anything let alone have the hardware to mount a cell phone to a telescope to take a picture of the moon. In that respect, it’s a nice parlor trick to please and inspire amateur astronomers.
So, in a world that is as crumby and lousy as it is - I say let the dreamers dream and have that awe-inspiring moment of happiness…
