A few days ago, there was an interview (quite short) in the German daily Die Welt (The World), one of several serious publications in modern Germany and always a pleasure to read. The interview was with the new CEO of Leica, Rudolf Spiller and one of the topics was the future of the M9. The interviewer asked: "Your main money generator, the M9, will be soon out-of-date. What is next?" Mr. Spiller of course kept his cards before his chest and only remarked that there is a roadmap at Leica. My topic here will address the idea of the Leica M9, soon being outdated. Before discussing this topic, I would like to ask attention for another remark, made by a Mac Book Pro user on a mac-forum. I am a user of the MBP too, but his person had a june 2009 version (the most recent one and in my view a very potent product). The person said that he eagerly awaited the next generation of the MBP, because his current one was getting old, because it became slow when that user had 25 applications, 50 tabs on the browser and ten windows all open at the same time. The computer could not cope with this load because he had to wait for five seconds before something meaningful happened. The whole idea that a current and very competent computer is obsolete after nine months production time is a bit weird, but imagine that one really needs 25 different programs and 50 internet connections active at the same instant of time to do one's job or hobby. Perhaps this person would be better off with a Mac Pro or any other high performance computer. Or he could try to learn practicing the art of archery. The main point is the idea of obsolescence. The M9 as it is now, can do everything one wants a digital CRF to accomplish. Yes, it cannot do HD video capture and it does not offer a chip with 36 million pixels. You will not find a hundred creative filters in the menu and AF is lacking too. There are lots of lists with wishes and suggestions being published on the internet about what a successor to the M9 would look like: from monochrome capture to new rangefinder concepts and all kinds of minor improvements, these lists do reflect a simple mental exercise of enumerating what all others have and the Leica M9 has not. No one seems to want to state this obvious claim: I failed to take the picture I want with the M9 because of this specific shortcoming of the camera. I have said it before and I cannot repeat it too aften, I am afraid to note, that there is a dearth of information from actual users of the digital CRF camera who have encountered the limits of the CRF type of photography when operating the M8/9 camera. We all know that the CRF type of camera has its inherent limits and this observation is nothing new since the Nikon F arrived on the scene and comparisons with the M3 were possible. The Nikon F added motordrive, zoomlenses, integral exposure and a host of additional features to the generic camera design. A natural division of labour occurred: there is an optimum tool for different types of photography. When discussing the features and characteristics of the M9, one would expect to read about the photographic capabilities and limitations in practical assignments. The analysis of the suggestions made by persons like Reichmann and Hogan, brings this conclusion: one is vainly searching for the problem-solution relation of the proposals. Does anyone of the proposed additions help improving the quality or content of the Leica photograph. It is not easy to define the essence of Leica images, this is a very elusive concept, but one that is needed if improvements or ameliorations are to be evaluated. Technology is not an end in itself, again a timeworn comment, but one that needs repeating as many camera buyers are so gadget conscious. A brilliant instrument is one that does the job with the less possible effort, based on the idea of engineering simplicity. The content of Leica images is not only the optical excellence, but primarily the power of vision. Black and white photography has often been compared to the characteristics of a poem. One could add that a true Leica photograph is an image, stripped of all unnecessary visual content to deliver an image that is realistic, precise and simple. These attributes can be related in a direct way to the technical engineering of the M concept. If this is a good description of the Leica image, in the tradition of the picture essence of the M3 engineering, then we can measure any proposal against this yardstick and ask if a certain proposal can specifically help the photographer to attain this goal. In my opinion, the M9 should not evolve into a more complex design, but an even simpler design. The rangefinder should become more accurate, especially for the focal lengths from 75mm to 135mm, the optical designs of the lenses should incorporate new concepts about aberration control and focus constancy and the software in the camera should allow the direct transfer of the image quality of the captured file to the printing stage without loss of performance. Mine is a very conservative and limited set of proposals, and one that might preserve the spirit of the M line from M3 to M9. The strength of the Leica CRF concept is the tight coupling of technical/optical quality with the simplicity and purity of vision. The best engineering and the best design will always be found in instruments that are simple and effective. From this perspective, the Leica M9 will not be obsolete even in ten years, just as the M3 can still deliver excellent images that can even surpass technically and vision-wise the results that are possible with most digital cameras now available. From the gadget perspective, the M9 was already obsolete from the beginning. But then every Leica M model was antiquated from the start, compared to the slr competition. At least as far as features are concerned: the engineering on the other hand has always been first class and often the envy of the competition.