"...Oddly, though, there was no point-and-shoot analogue in video
cameras...Home videocams were almost without exception expensive,
complicated devices loaded with features like image stabilization,
night-vision mode, and onboard color correction...even with tools like
Apple's iMovie, it was a hassle to get footage off the cameras and onto
a computer for editing and sharing...the camcorder market resembled the
SLR market, but with no low-end alternative. Kaplan and Braunstein
suspected that there might be a place for a much cheaper, simpler video
camera...
After some trial and error, Pure Digital released what it called the
Flip Ultra in 2007. The stripped-down camcorder...had lots of downsides.
It captured relatively low-quality 640 x 480 footage...when Sony,
Panasonic, and Canon were launching camcorders capable of recording in
1080 hi-def. It had a minuscule viewing screen, no color-adjustment
features, and only the most rudimentary controls. It didn't even have an
optical zoom. But it was small...inexpensive ($150, compared with $800
for a midpriced Sony), and so simple to operate—from recording to
uploading—that pretty much anyone could figure it out in roughly 6.7
seconds...
...MP3...
...Skype...
...Kindle...
...Hulu...
...MQ1 Predator...
http://www.wired.com/gadgets/miscellaneous/magazine/17-09/ff_goodenough?currentPage=all
K.I.S.S.
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