Flip Video Was Successful! So They Killed It? - Krazy Ken’s Tech Talk

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The Flip Video camera forever changed the camcorder industry, but is it just me… or… did it feel like it kinda vanished fast? Despite it being popular? Well, there's a reason for that. Come along, grasshopper, and learn about the twisty tale behind Flip Video.

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👇Lots of cool people helped make this episode possible!

Special Thanks To:
Brad: Camera Op
Brent: Camera Op/Assistant Editing/Flip Testing
Mirrations: Flip Testing/Production Assistant
Sage: Research

Special thanks to Steve (Mac84) for playing "Steve Jobs".

More thanks to @psivewri for Nokia footage!

And special thanks to my amazing Feedback Team!

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00:00 Introduction
00:40 Jonathan Kaplan / Pure Digital
04:04 Camera Hacks
04:42 Point & Shoot 225
07:41 The Google Deal
09:04 The First Flip
11:24 Flip Video F160 Camera Test
14:07 Flip Video Ultra
15:45 Flip Video Mino + More Products
18:00 Acquisition: Happy Ending?
21:03 Everything Changed
23:51 Why Shut it Down?
26:17 Jonathan: Where is He Now?

#KrazyKen #ComputerClan

[psychorabbitt]

Of all the ads I've seen during a YT video, I don't think I've EVER seen an ad for a teleprompter.

[psivewri]

Great video Ken! It was an honour to provide a bit of footage for your episode 😊

[aspuzling]

The main reason Cisco bought Flip was to acquire their video patents which Cisco could use to fight against lawsuits from other video conferencing hardware providers. For that, Flip may well have been worth $300m. Many people think the plan was always to shut down the consumer side of the business.

[lancealcantara]

Still remember that time where i saw those cameras at a plainrock video... and actually questioned what it was. Finally could understand its history a couple years later...

[ENDfilms]

My uncle got an Ultra and didn't get much use out of it, so then it became my first digital camera (video or picture). Lots of fond memories, from making movies with toys on my bed to documenting ideas and creations of mine. :)

[SavvySage]

Thanks for having me on-board for the research Ken! This was a complicated yet fun story to look into.

[BuckeyeStormsProductions]

I worked at an electronics store at the time Flip hit it big. I got a good deal on one between sales pricing, coupons, and employee discount. My wife asked me why and I said because this was basically a look at the future. Everyone will have a camera on them all the tims, and everything is going to be recorded and online. I used it quite a bit, and had a lot of fun with it. After babying it for months I finally started getting more adventurous and used it as a poor-man's GoPro...strapped onto any and everything.

[GuyverUSA]

— Holy Moly . I did not expect that ending with the founder . 😳

[superbmediacontentcreator]

I wish Ken would do a video on the demise of Quicktime and Flash since it killed off my interactive panorama business. Nothing ever came along to replace the ability for interactive panoramas for scenic or sales as object panoramas.

[IvanovIvanAKrutoi]

I mainly remember the Flip Video from that comparison video that Stuart Ashen did many years ago, where he compared the Flip Video Ultra to Creative's Vado video shooting camera.

"Flip the flip on the Flip, hear the blip..."

[cjzani]

I just remembered my wife had one (UltraHD) and it's still sitting in a drawer next to my computer, gathering dust as a fading relic. New enough that it was already owned by Cisco based on the branding.

[kaysit]

4:22 Kipkay is such an OG. Man is YouTube relentless.

[Tamajyn]

I'm actually amazed how good this looks for the time. The colours seem nice and honestly it handles the highlight bloom and rolloff better than some modern phones i've seen.

[resolvanlemmy]

Jonathan had a lot of different jobs. Wow.
Also, the way Cisco just killed the Flip Video line so abruptly is just brutal.

[NoSuRReNDeR]

I was teaching a video editing class at a community college back them - we had ZERO money but I was able to convince them I needed the students to get cameras so we could EDIT footage that was THIER work so they would be inspired to cut it... These cameras were a GODSEND to that class although I recall having to transcode the format.. It all worked best since the tiny budget meant this way I was able to get everyone a camera instead of just 1 or 2 .. they had a place and time

[AddieDirectsTV]

At my 2nd station, we gave the "Multi-Media Journalists" (aka One-Man Bands) a Flip Cam in addition to their main ENG-type camera. It was literally never used by them.

[pseudotasuki]

It's remarkable how much your attorney doesn't look at all like another YouTuber.

[Azeria]

I had a flip as a kid, the weirdest thing though is that what made me nostalgic in this was seeing that wrist strap…

[ericwilson]

I remember in the mid-2000s all the YouTubers were using flip cameras for their vlogs. If they stuck around they could have had the market that GoPro has.

[nerwin]

I remember how popular the Flip cameras were when I was in high school, everyone wanted one. It was quite revolutionary for its time I think.