The Flip video camera was increasingly being mentioned as an example of innovation. It seemed like an ideal story including the $590 million purchase by Cisco... until it was killed earlier this year:
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/13/technology/13flip.html
What is even more interesting is that the Flip created a whole product category, so it is going to be great to see whether the argument that "smartphones are killing every other device" holds (I don't personally think so), or if this is a typical case of "good design with bad strategy".
Here are some of the pocket video cameras to follow in the near future:
I own a Flip and I've really enjoyed its simplicity. This is an attribute rarely found today in electronic devices, and even more in "smartphones"... two AA batteries, no cables and hours of video. Cisco probably was the wrong company to buy the Flip, and the consequences are now visible: a rich group of entrepreneurs, a dead product and an idea that has replicated in a host of me-too products in the market.
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