In case you haven’t heard the awful news, Cisco decided April 13 to pull the plug on the original pocket camera, known affectionately in our office as only the Flip. Of course, we all “flipped” when we heard the news, but we were not surprised by the reasoning. Some of the “obituaries” have not only been quite moving, but also very true.
From TreeHugger:
…The Flip made video accessible, not just because it was so easy to use, to connect and upload to the computer, but because its form was not intimidating; it was so small and inconspicuous that it actually made interviewing easier. For both the intimidated videographer and the nervous interviewee, it was just a little thing that didn’t look like a camera, it was something else…
Flip cameras also played a huge role in advancing social justice around the world. From Egypt to South Korea, “the little camera that could” helped tell many stories about pain and triumph. Like someone else already mentioned, we hope the folks at Cisco will kindly donate their remaining Flips to marginalized populations worldwide who can use them to continue to change the world. A good example of using Flip cameras for social change is exhibited by the wonderful Kenyan youth working with Kibera TV, who use Flip cameras to tell stories in their communities.
Flip cameras certainly have made the world a smaller, more accessible place!
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