Flip founder Jonathan Kaplan is sad that Cisco has decided to ditch the brand, but is convinced that people still want a standalone, handheld camcorder in addition to their smartphone, he said in interviews this week.
"It is a sad day," Kaplan said in a video interview with All Things D's Kara Swisher, who is also a Flip enthusiast. "I am sad because I think the Flip really did change the world."
Cisco announced Tuesday that it will restructure its whole business, dump the Flip, refocus its home networking business, and integrate its ūmi home telepresence product into its enterprise offerings. Cisco acquired the Flip business in 2009 for $590 million. Kaplan joined Cisco at that point, but left the company in February.
Kaplan did not have any details about why the Flip was killed, saying that it was likely just its time. He pointed to Swisher's Flip, a version that was released for President Obama's inauguration and included his "Change" campaign slogan.
"It says 'Change' right on it," Kaplan said, pointing to the camera. "And I think that that really is the theme; it's all about change."
In the wake of Cisco's announcement, analysts suggested that ditching the Flip was a good move because the proliferation of smartphone-based camcorders made standalone devices unnecessary. That might make business sense, but consumers still enjoy the Flip, Kaplan told GigaOm.
"What was good for Flip and the Flip team is not the same for Cisco's shareholders," Kaplan said. "Cellphones will take high quality photos and videos but they are a different use case and billions of dollars can be generated in revenues from single purpose devices."
Users have taken to Twitter to express their disappointment, prompting Flip to tweet yesterday that "We have the best fans/friends/followers in the world."
"I can't believe the Flip camera is being discontinued. I love my Flip," CNN news anchor Anderson Cooper tweeted Tuesday.
For more, see PCMag's Ten Top-Notch Flip Video Camera Alternatives.