Wow, I didn’t see that coming!
I have to admit I was taken aback by Cisco’s decision to “kill” the Flip Video camera. Yesterday, the New York Times reported that the Flip’s parent company will shut down the entire Flip division. Yikes. Cisco just purchased the Flip in 2009 for $590 million bucks, but smart phones with video capability have apparently made the Flip obsolete.
So long, my friend. We hardly knew, ye…
I’ve always been a huge fan of the Flip because of its simplicity and affordability. The little Flip brought online video to the masses, and made it easier than ever to join in the Online Video Revolution. But with the advent of smarter and smarter smartphones with video, even I wasn’t using my Flip as much.
Oh my goodness, did I help kill the Flip?
I’ve been using my iPhone almost exclusively to shoot video on the fly, and it seems this is part of the trend that spelled doom for the Flip. But hell, I had three Flip cameras, so surely I did my part to keep the company alive…
Now what?
Alas, times change, and technology is moving faster than ever. If you have a Flip video camera, there’s certainly no reason not to keep using it. But good luck when it breaks.
My advice, as it has always been, is to create video with whatever you’ve got. iPhone, Flip, minicam, webcam… Just use what you have on hand and keep it simple.
At the end of the day, it’s not about the technology, is about the content! Focus on your message and it doesn’t really matter whether you’re using a Flip, a smart phone or digital camera.
We’ll miss the Flip, but it doesn’t mean user-generated video is going away. Not by a long-shot!
P.S. Learn the very latest and greatest video tools, tips and best practices with “Video in a Day” at http://www.videoinaday.com!
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