As has been widely account , in a cost - cutting move Cisco has regulate to set its Flip pouch - camcorder division adrift . No , correct that , much as it pains me to say so , “ pose adrift ” connote that there ’s some possibility that — despite low ration , little piss , and floating some 2,000 miles from the nearest land mass — a Divine Presence may rescue the Flip bank line of camcorders from its washy destiny and lay it , ever so gently , in more nurturing hands .
And that just is n’t going to happen . And it wo n’t for these reasons :
The blinding utility
Cisco reportedly acquired Pure Digital , the original developers of the Flip camcorder , for nearly $ 600 million in 2009.$600 million , pay by a company best known for corporate networking solutions . What on earth were they thinking ! ?
To explicate how something like this could happen , tolerate me to reference this personal example . When I lay hands on my first Flip video recording camera , I was bowled over . That Flip camcorder be less than $ 125 , accommodate well into my pocket , shot darned good standard - definition video recording , and could be operated by a modestly deft corpse . In an age where people were just starting to document every burp and tickle on YouTube , an inexpensive and radical - convenient pouch camcorder — one that could be custom skinned to boot — seemed like a natural .
I was so enthralled with the Flip that I proposedwriting a account book about the thing . For those of you who have n’t peddle a leger before , allow me to offer this insightful tidbit : Publishers are a practical bunch . If some reasonable earnings from your sweat and labour is n’t in the posting , you may await a response that begins “ Thank you for your interest , however … . ” And despite my enthusiasm for the gadget ( and this stratum of product ) that ’s exactly the response I expect from my publisher . I mean honestly , who require a account book about a gimmick that ’s almost altogether operated with the press of a exclusive Big Red Button ?
And yet , my publisher bit . And they did because the individual in charge of wamble the decisive thumb up or down adopt a Flip camcorder of his own . And , like me , he fell in love with it . ( To be fair , also like me , he set up the Flip and its like so attractive that he thought there might be a time to come in this scoop video business . Also , to be not - quite - so - comely , myFlip Mino Pocket Guideactually has some solid entropy on produce consumer videos . )
From that experience I have to think that some individual in a exchangeable position at Cisco ( with a much larger and more powerful quarter round , naturally ) get his own Flip camcorder and , in an unguarded mo , opine , “ Hot Diggity ! This is the next frickin ’ iPod ! ”
In hindsight , it ’s easy to scoff at this notion , but consider that Apple took the Flip badly enough that when Steve Jobs herald the video recording - photographic camera - fit fifth - propagation iPod nano , he compared it directly to a Flip camcorder , saying “ This market ’s really detonate , and we want to get in on this . ”
As it turns out , the 5 G nano ’s video photographic camera was no great shakes , particularly when compared to a consecrated pocket camcorder . But the fact that the Flip could earn this sort of quotation from Steve Jobs as well as possibly influence the intention of Apple ’s good - selling non - touch - based iPod , says something about the attractiveness of the machine .
Can you really find fault Cisco ( or my publisher , for that matter ) for retrieve the Flip might be something important ? Possibly .
When good enough is good enough
And you may because , honestly , most people are n’t very apprehensive .
Despite Pure Digital and Cisco ’s efforts to make the Flip the kind of iconic gadget that transcends utility and becomes The Cool Object To Have ( see iPod nano ) , there was this nagging point that was n’t adequately address :
I have a point - and - shoot that takes motion picture . I also have a phone that can shoot video — stinky though it may be . Where does this gadget fit into my life ?
Those who owned a Flip video camcorder or one of the many sac camcorder released subsequently could confidently resolve , “ The Flip is much more portable than a point - and - shoot , shoots far better television than a phone , and is improbably easy to operate . What ’s not to like ?
But that ’s a geek response , from people who ’ve used a Cartesian product and actually thought about it . alas , that ’s precious little ointment for those who reply , “ Who wish ? I ’m just gon na post some YouTube movies of my fraternity comrade fumble Pepsi out his nose . ”
And there ’s nothing at all faulty with that reception . For this kind of machine , that ’s the target user — someone who require to blister out a photographic camera to record a spontaneous consequence . The trouble is that this butt user does n’t really care that much about quality . Why drop more than a hundred bucks on a consecrate camcorder when the speech sound in your scoop is plenty proficient enough .
Couple that with the fact that phones are starting to shoot video that ’s actually quite decent , and the need for a pocket camcorder becomes harder to free .
Alley oop!
lastly , Cisco , unlike Apple , never figured out how to get people to buy The Next One . If you had a late Flip MinoHD , what incentive did you have to buy this year ’s model ? Your camera already shot 720p HD picture . It stored an hour of that video , which is plenty for the form of shooting people expend the tv camera for . And it could n’t be loose to operate on . For most people , the Flip they owned was perfect just as it was .
Cisco strain to entice customers to trade up by offering theSlide HDwith its greater mental ability , but its flip - up “ widescreen ” 3 - inch showing came off as a gimmick rather than something in truth evolutionary . Who could find fault law-abiding consumers for thinking that Cisco had jump the shark ?
Despite appearances , I follow to praise Flip rather than merely bury it . It was a respectable melodic theme , nicely implemented . Yet it , like other individual - purpose devices before it , fell dupe to the dream - now - made - material body — the iPhone , iPod touch , iPad , and other convergence gadget of their tantalizing ilk .
[ Christopher Breen is a senior editor in chief at Macworld . ]
