Flip Camera RIP
Wednesday, April 13, 2011 at 4:00PM 
I was sadden to hear that from Read Write Web and other sources that Cisco is discontinuing the Flip camera brand it purchased in March of 2009. In my opinion the Flip camera totally revolutionized education technology and the way media could be produced in the classroom. In fact, it was on the back of Flip cameras that helped win a Technology Innovative Program award for my former school. First, Flips were easy to use. Just point and press the big red button to start and stop recording. Editing was a snap with the Flip Share software that was developed for the camera. Both of these features allowed teachers and students to easily video all kinds of class activities on the fly. Flips could also accommodate those who wanted to do more with better video editing software. Second, the cameras were inexpensive. Teachers could purchase one or schools could purchase dozens of the little cameras and it would not break the bank.
While there are similar cameras from Sony, Kodak, RCA, and other manufactures, they may all eventually fall to rise of quality video cameras in mobile phones. My Motorola Atrix can shoot 720P HD video and the quality is very good. However, the operative term is mobile phone and many educators are not ready to embrace the mobile phone as a learning tool yet. Maybe the demise of Flip may force naysayers into experimenting with mobile phones. Only time will tell.
As for me, I still carry around my trusty Flip just about everywhere I go and use it for various things. One of the last uses of my Flip was to record South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley's recent visit to our school. Some of the video was shot with my Flip while other video was shot with my Atrix. My trusty Flip will continue to be a companion, always waiting for that perfect moment to record and share.
Reader Comments (3)
I, too, am very saddened to hear this news. I hope you will write to the company and share your thoughts with them!!
I'm sad but not overly sad to see this happen. We will still be able to buy these on the market at least for a while. And let's face it, we liked them because our admin understood the device and allowed educators to use them in classrooms. But most middle and high school kids have the ability to capture video on their mobile phone devices, and even actually would use those if allowed in school. Just today I helped a student pull a drum cadence recording off his phone for a scholarship application (he needed it on a CD to go in the application envelope.) Funny, but if the app had said post your recording to this website, he wouldn't have needed me at all. I am not saying ditch out flips. I have teachers who will continue to use these handy devices. But this act on Cisco's part makes me realize it is time to teach our teachers about videos from cell phones, and how to harness this avenue for student learning. I don't really think that many kids need to be taught much, they just need to be given a green light to use them. And so we add another paver to the road for open access on students' personally owned devices in schools. Hmmm, maybe I will move this over to my blog afterall.
@Cathy You know I agree with you about the use of cell phones. Fortunately, I am working at a school where our principal wants the teachers to think outside of the box. I just sent out the mobile phone passes for this semester's students. It is funny but students ask if it covers the iPod Touch and Nintendo 3DS (which has a camera). I am loving the creativity students are showing with devices they use everyday outside of school and how they can relate it to school activities. Hmmm, I think I smell a future blog post coming.