Unlike my scathing review of the Flip Mino yesterday, CrunchGear’s Doug Aamoth can’t find anything bad to say about it.
In fact, he has nothing to say about it at all. That’s because Flip never delivered a promised test Mino to him, either before or after the embargo. The company flooded the blogs and news outlets with them a week ago, and we’re hearing reports that club go’ers in Los Angeles (at least the good looking ones) are being handed them for free. Almost everyone who wants one has a Flip Mino, and most of these people have written glowing reviews that completely ignore the fact that the Mino competes with digital cameras, not camcorders. Did the fact that we’ve been harsh on the Flip in the past have something to do with this?
CrunchGear did receive a delivery from Flip that included the press release, an empty box and a return address form. But no Flip. In lieu of an actual review, Doug created the video above chronicling his frustration.
“Mino something you don’t know”
Well I have not used the new flip Mino. But I am a huge fan of the flip. It works great and is very easy to use!
Looks like the Mino is minor on the list.
By the way Doug, according the the Wall Street Journal, who’ve apparently had a test Mino for a week now, it’s pronounced “minnow.”
It should be pronounced “Me no”
very funny..
sounds like someone really wants one of their own otherwise you wouldn’t have wasted the time posting about them twice in so many days.
i agree with you mike the hype is overrated but by posting about them you are helping to fuel the fire of the hype, in a roundabout way. just let it go.
Get the VADO from Creative.
jason – i think i’ll probably live without a mino. they did offer to send one, just the day after the embargo broke, so there was no use.
I actually like the discussion in the comments to my previous post (first link above) around how well they are doing from a marketing perspective. it’s an interesting device, worthy of attention. it’s just that in our case, it’s negative attention. this second post is just because i think that video is hilarious. they sent him an empty box.
The phone conversation was hilarious, probably more entertaining that seeing the actual camera
So, was it difficult to get the rights to rip off a chunk of “The Office” theme song?
Brian – i was actually going to ask the CG guys about that. They need to change it, even if it’s fair use.
I have an N95. Soon, a lot of people are going to have one, or another 5 megapixel cameraphone, which probably does ok video too. Why do they need this?
To drive home Michael’s point, woot is selling a camera with the same or better specs then Flip for $100 less.
I think there is a lot to be said for simplicity. Most users want to accomplish something. They don’t want to take the time to figure out all the features. Push a button and it takes video. Plug it into your computer and share that video with friends. Done.
To tie this to another article on the frontpage. Twitter’s simplicity is what is going to work for the masses. Where, I think friendfeed has too much going on for the average person.
He could have at least reviewed the packaging!
Those ignorant masses! Don’t they know that they are buying the wrong thing?!!
Seriously, it would help to ask why people buy the Flip. They are the people who never bought a videocam because it was too big, had too many menus, was a pain to do transfer, etc. They are the same people who buy point and shoot cameeras and (here comes the punch line) just point and shoot. They skip all the menus and proprietary extras and probably don’t even know their cameras can take video, never even tried it once to see the result.
My wife has two video cameras that she never uses. She just got the Flip a month ago, and she carries it everywhere and uses it a lot. Her comments take up too much room, but they fall into:
*I knew how to use it when I pulled it out of the box.
*I just aim and press the button
*When I want to see what I shot, I just scroll forward or back and it plays it for me
I like features and specs as much as the next guy. But we have to appreciate the benefit of good design, and by that I mean simple design. The first iPod did not take off just because it looked cool. It beat a raft of competitors because it was very easy to use. People got how to make it do what it was supposed to do. So does the Flip.
Check out “Dressed for Success” and other great short films that were all filmed on a Flip at the Cannes Film Festival:
http://www.face...shortfilmcorner
(disclaimer – some good friends and one close family member helped organize this competition.)
That is some damn funny stuff. I just burned 10 precious minutes on it, but it makes me happy.
That video was one of the best things ever published on the “crunch” suite of sites…
the reviewer does NOT understand customer experience behavior. Mark’s wife’s comments above capture them well. the fact is that people are NOT comparing flip’s to their cameras and they are comparing it to video…and using it more. So consumers are creating that relevant benchmark and that is exactly why they have been selling like hotcakes. Perceived usability goes a LONG way in today’s world. Products are not about features or specs. Too many developers and other high tech folks still do not understand this…
Thanks for the great post ;D