Less is way more

There’s a new camcorder on the block. As written about in David Pogue’s New York Times review (thanks to 37signals for the link), enter the Flip:

The screen is tiny (1.5 inches) and doesn’t swing out for self-portraits. You can’t snap still photos. There are no tapes or discs, so you must offload the videos to a computer when the memory is full (30 or 60 minutes of footage, depending on whether you buy the $150 or $180 model). There are no menus, no settings, no video light, no optical viewfinder, no special effects, no headphone jack, no high definition, no lens cap, no memory card. And there’s no optical zoom — only a 2X digital zoom that blows up and degrades the picture. Ouch.

Instead, the Flip has been reduced to the purest essence of video capture. You turn it on, and it’s ready to start filming in two seconds. You press the red button once to record (press hard — it’s a little balky) and once to stop. You press Play to review the video, and the Trash button to delete a clip.

There it is: the entire user’s manual.

This is brilliant. I want one. :)

 

Comments

 
1. George

I read that article in the NYT waiting for my econ class to start. Yeah, Sounds like my kinda device too.

 
2. Ben

Mmm, yes. Someday…

 

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