End of the Line for the Cisco Flip Video Camera

I was disappointed to see that Cisco are considering closing their division that produces the Flip Video Camera.  I have been a satisfied Flip customer and user for a couple of years, in fact the vast majority of videos I have taken for the TechHead site have been on my trusty Flip Video Camera.  Sure, many people would say with the quality of video found on Smartphones such a the Apple iPhone surpass that found on the Flip though I personally have found the weight and feel of the Flip pleasant to use and features such as anti-shake make it a winner in my opinion.

My only ever gripe with the Cisco Flip has been its lack of an external mic jack socket though in the majority of situations the inbuilt microphone has been just fine.

I do understand the pressure that the Cisco Flip would be under from the Smartphone market though it is a shame that this great little cost effective camera is seeing the end of the line.

The closing of the Flip division of the company may not be the end of similar consumer level products being dropped from Cisco’s portfolio with company spokeswoman Karen Tillman informing that "We will be substantially reducing our investment in the consumer market as a stand-alone business and will invest in it only in partnership with enterprise and service providers customers". 

Here’s hoping that they don’t touch the entry level Linksys range of switches that are extremely popular in many business and home IT lab environments.

For more information on the Cisco Flip’s demise:

San Francisco Chronicle:  http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2011/04/12/BUC31IV1Q4.DTL

Financial Times:  http://www.ft.com/cms/s/2/e7b6bb0e-652d-11e0-b150-00144feab49a.html

The Guardian: http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2011/apr/12/cisco-flip-camera-smartphones