The Flip Camera: Easy to Use, Fun for Families, and Gone

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Recently, I used a Flip video camera to shoot this:

And this:

Flip cameras are popular with journalists, and I can see why: I use ours to share the familial goings-on with friends and relatives all over the world. I've recorded ballet and violin recitals, trips the to the Met Museum and Prince Edward Island, and uploaded them all to Facebook or YouTube.

We got our first Flip video shortly after they arrived on the market, a Christmas gift from my mother-in-law. The video quality was underwhelming, but it became our go-to camera (period) because it was just so easy to use, and so relatively easy to share clips online. Vanessa even uses it to document her performances and rehearsals.

David Pogue reported this week that Flip was readying a camera that would stream live to the internet. That's amazing, and it's not going to happen. (More on that here).

Last Christmas, we gave my son his own Flip video. He should hold on to that; it's a collector's item now.

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