One of the major features in iOS 4.1 (for the iPhone and iPod touch) is the ability to take HDR photos. The camera takes multiple photos quickly, and combines them in software to produce a better exposed image; you get better results from the same camera.

Before HDR photo capabilities were built into the iPhone, there were a number of third party applications that did this. They were sold on the app store for $1 to $5. When Apple announced this feature would be built in, the first thing that came to my mind was the future of these applications. Surely their sales would drop to near zero since the feature is now free.

There are a lot of rumors that in order to get this feature in quickly, Apple purchased a company called Imsense Ltd, which had an HDR app in the store.

I started thinking about how much Apple would pay for Imsense, or how much a company like that would be willing to sell for.

I did some rough calculations on how much money they might have been making and what the valuation of their company might be. But then I realized, Apple could have paid nearly zero for Imsense. Imsense had little leverage in the negotiations because they were just a feature that could be easily replicated.

1. If Apple was talking to imsense, they could easily be talking to other similar app makers. If Apple didn't buy one, they would just buy another. If you weren't on the receiving end of that deal, you walked away empty handed.
2. Whether Apple purchased a company to add HDR functionality or just built it internally (they have plenty of smart imaging people to do this), sales of imphoto would drop dramatically.

Given this, it seems like the best option for Imsense would be to take whatever offer Apple gave them.

It's not as bad as I make it sound. Imsense is full of brilliant people and patented core tech. Apple gets some smart people and saves on development time, and these guys get to work at the greatest company in the world and get stock options.

But it does seem like Imsense was too much of a single feature, easily replicated, with no stickiness. I could use one HDR app today, and another tomorrow.

Posterous is no stranger to the criticism of being a feature. When we launched two and a half years ago, some people saw us as just "blog by email", a feature that existed in other platforms or could easily be added.

But that wasn't the vision for Posterous, the company. At Posterous, the goal has always been to bring easy publishing to the 2 billion email addresses out there. Everyone has something they want to share, and we'll help them do it. How do we help normal people connect with their friends and family?

To reach this goal, we've rethought and rebuilt every aspect of sharing online. It's this larger vision for Posterous that gets me up in the morning and gets me excited every day. This is why Posterous is much more than a feature.

Do you want to help normal people share online? Posterous is hiring! Check out jobs page here. And you should follow me on Twitter.