It’s Fan Friday here at 5 Flat Tires, and once again I am sharing another product I’m a fan of. Recently I raved about some software I love (Evernote) so I thought I should also take this opportunity to rave about some hardware I love.
The truth is, I’m not really a hardware geek. Yes, I love my GPS watch and all 3 of my iPods, but I’m a pretty simple girl and I like to keep my electronics pretty simple. I already have FAR TOO MANY battery chargers and I don’t understand why we can’t all agree to just use one universal charger for EVERYTHING. But I digress.
Today I want to tell you all about my current favorite hardware: my flip video camera. This camera came in very handy last week when I recorded Holly Justice running 100 miles as she won the Cool Moon 100 race in California. No, I did NOT record the entire 100 miles – because that would have taken 30 hours and it would have involved way too many bathroom breaks. Instead, I took the lazy option and just recorded the highlight of the race: the last 1/4 mile as she crossed the finish line. I figured that was the most important part of the race.
And I was reminded about how much I LOVE this tiny little video camera. Here’s the exact version I have.
I’ve had my cute little flip video for about 3 years now, and it comes in handy in some of the strangest situations. Originally I used it when I was learning to golf. By having someone record my golf swing, I could immediately watch the play back and literally see what I what I doing wrong. Then some of my friends realized how handy that could be when golfing, so I started recording some of my friends while they golfed. Everyone appreciated the immediate feedback as they experimented with their golf swings.
Recently, our CrossFit team did a gymnastics workshop and this little camera came in handy there, for recording people as they attempted skills like handstands and muscle-ups.
In just a few short years, technology has evolved (and shrunk) to the point that I can carry around this terrific video camera in my purse, because it is just that small and compact, it literally fits in the palm of my hand. Or the pocket of my golf shorts. Or my running shorts.
But I’m a fan of the Flip video camera for more than it’s small size. I’m a fan because they designed this camera to be totally and completely SIMPLE. It is so simple to use, it came with NO user manual. It came with no instruction manual. You just turn on the power button and hit the record button. That’s all there is to it. Nothing complicated or confusing or irritating.
Even better: there is NO charging cord to keep track of! You just flip open the USB port on the side of the camera and insert that directly into your computer. It charges itself WHILE it automatically uploads your videos to your computer. You don’t need to do anything extra- it practically operates itself. I love electronics designers who have the discipline and the sophistication to keep things really simple. It’s a video camera and that’s all it does. You record videos and upload to your computer. Period. End of story.
My camera can record up to 2 hours of video and it has a great battery life and great video quality. It fits in my pocket and it never turns itself on and it never misbehaves. It does exactly what I ask of it to do and it doesn’t overly complicate my life. I’m a fan of products that provide quality AND simplicity.
I didn’t realize how handy it would be to have a video camera in my life. Until I had one. And then I started using it again and again.
Even if you are NOT planning to run 100 miles like my (crazy) friend Holly, I bet you have something interesting going on in your life you’d like to record. So if you want a video camera WITHOUT an instruction manual and WITHOUT another charger, you might want to try out the Flip video camera.
