Tech Blog

[#1]

Yesterday was launch day for the iPhone3G S and the tech world was a buzz with people buying them, wanting them, and waiting for them to activate. Buzz is resisting the siren song, while I have a loaner for a week and this morning I read on the tech world's must-read blog TechCrunch that the Flip Camera has no chance against the new iPhone3G S. As much as TechCrunch is on the mark on many tech topics, Michael Arrington is way off the mark on this one. Here's why...

The iPhone3G S is a cool device. It has a lot of features that the iPhone should have had when the 3G version came out (tethering to computers for Internet access, video recording, voice commands) and several of my friends have scooped them up already (at a pretty penny I must add since they all already had iPhones), but I haven't heard any of them say that this is the killer device. The device that is the be all and end all. It is also certainly not a Flip Camera killer. The two devices serve different niches. While there might be overlap between the two, the niches are separate. When you get an iPhone you're not buying it for the video camera (at least I hope you're not), you're buying a phone. The video camera is a bonus. The video it takes is okay, not great though and not HD at all. The Flip Camera is a video camera. That's it. Nothing else. The video it takes is great, even in the previous versions the video was very good, and getting the videos online is easy. Sure you need a computer to do this. No you can't live stream with it (which I really would like to be able to do actually), however you aren't buying it do to that you're buying it as a simple video camera.

My Blackberry has a video camera, I've used it a few times, but the video isn't great, it's kinda crummy actually. I'm going to venture that the iPhone will be similar. People don't give up point-n-shoots because they have camera phones. Michael is smack dab in the middle of Silicon Valley. He's a little tech blind. My Blackberry is a backup camera for me, if I had a Flip it would be a back up video camera. No matter how much Michael would like it to be, the iPhone isn't going to replace digital cameras or Flip Cameras. Dedicated devices always give you better results than something like a phone with extras. 

When it comes right down to it the Flip Camera is a wonderfully simple device for recording great video. It does its job probably better than a lot of video cameras that cost several hundred dollars more. The iPhone is just, at it's core, a phone + internet enabled iPod. Yes, it is also a revolutionary device. Yes, it has influenced phone design since the moment it hit the streets, but the one-device-to-rule-them-all it is not.

Flip, you have nothing to fear from the iPhone. Michael is just wishing for the Nerdvana device that has yet to be created. 

Message Edited by ElizabethS on 07-28-2009 12:40 AM

Message Edited by Laura on 08-21-2009 11:10 AM

Message Edited by ElizabethS on 09-10-2009 07:58 PM

[#2]

Sometimes I get tech blind too, but to assume that everyone will want a smartphone and a data plan and the added complication is actually kind of ignorant on Arrington's part. Believe it or not, not everyone is like us with the twitter and the smartphones and all the gadgetry. Some people just want the video clips and are happy to upload them when they get home, after they've spent the day concentrating on their family and friends. This is brought into perspective when my girlfriend gets pissed at me when I tweet during dinner.

I too was skeptical about Pure Video's philosophy with the Flip, but I finally got it and actually employ more than one on a regular basis to augment some of my regular gear. It's not to say that smartphones won't catch up in quality one day, but I'm certain that Pure Video will be pushing ahead as well. Add to that the relationship with CISCO and their portfolio of technology and things could get very interesting.

[#3]

Just got word that Pure Video will be releasing an app to compliment the video recording feature of the 3GS. Their app will allow direct upload of videos taken on the 3GS to a new site called Flipshare.com. Looks like they don't fear the 3GS either, but rather see it as an opportunity. No date has been set for the release of this new app on iTunes.

[#4]

Exactly Stephen ... buying a iPhone for the video camera is like buying a car for the cup holders. Sure you get the, but you know a decent travel mug might be a better deal. I can imagine the EyeFi and CISCO and Flip will come up with some cool device to send streaming video out through the device. It isn't rocket science.

[#5]

I'm really glad to see this post!  I saw the same article as soon as it came out and had a hard time really expecting such a useful device to really be overtaken by the iPhone 3G S. 

Thanks guys!

[#6]

flip needs to worry more about the new pocketsized point/shoot cameras that are offering HD video and HDMI outputs.  Lots of affordable options hitting the shelves plus they take far better still images.  all of the portable video camera manufactures need to come out with features that separate them from the alternatives.

[#7]

@unclespeedo that is an excellent point. Especially when small point-n-shoots use SD cards so you have virtually unlimited storage. Whereas the Flips have drives that fill up and have to be off loaded instead of just getting swapped out with a fresh one.

I've been wondering about getting a small point-n-shoot (so I don't always need to lug a DSLR around)...now I have more to think about. 

[#8]

@trishussey - This is actually one of the really neat features of my latest point and shoot.  Definitely handy and much better than using an iPhone or any cell phone.  I actually used my older Canon SD900 (that was stolen - replaced with a SD990) to shoot my videos in the How-To-Video section.  There's no way any iPhone could compete with that quality.

[#9]

@krypto yes, my good old Canon records movies, not terribly well though. But playing with the Nikon D90 and D5000 ... wow those are some awesome movies.