Is it just me, or does it seem like the promise of new technologies is finally starting to pay off? When I was in junior high I got my first film camera, a Bell & Howell that took 110 film. It was so awesome (to me at least) I kept it in its protective plastic case (which was about three times bigger than the camera itself) whenever I wasn't using it. The idea of being able to have my own movie camera was so impossible I would have never even thought of it. But that's not the world my daughter is growing up in.
Mattel has recently announced the Vidster (pictured), and from what I've read it seems like they've got it right. For $80 you get a fully functioning, durable video camera (no LCD viewer though), that stores video to an SD Memory card (it comes with a 32 MB card, but you could upgrade it of course). It also runs on 4 AA batteries and ships with video editing software for kids. In my mind this is exactly right. The memory card means no tapes or fine mechanical moving parts for a child to break, and the fact that it runs on AA batteries means no freak-outs from your kid when the camera isn't charged up when he or she wants it. Plus, spending time with your young Fellini editing a movie that they shot is the kind of dad/kid activity that I'm all about. I'm guessing this is going to be a popular Christmas gift this year.
Makin' Movies with the Vidster [PC World via Shiny Shiny]
Also on MDD - First digital camera.
I was trolling the net for sites dealing with dads and to be honest dads like me when I came across your site. I will admit the post re this camera caught my eye. I have been struggling with the whole mini dv tape thing as I have never been good transfering them to the PC using the DV cable but at the same time I can't afford the high end outfits. This looks easy to use and to transfer the files off te card. I am curious to check out how much "movie" it can hold at a time before the card runs out. Thanks for the post!
Posted by: DI_Dad | September 20, 2005 at 04:59 PM
That's awesome! Definitely going to get it. Probably 1 for each son at that price. When I was a kid I got the Fisher Price PXL2000, a camcorder for kids back then that taped poor quality black and white video onto audio tapes. I loved it though and it kicked off a lifetime interest in films, movies, motion design, and directing. I've been wanting to allow my oldest to do something like that, but its really information overload when I try to show him how to do video editing on the stuff I use.
Anyway, thanks for the info.
Posted by: Kevin | September 21, 2005 at 01:41 AM
wow you dads are nice, here in poland we give them a kick in the teeth and back to the mines with ya you little bastards, and guess what? we dont hear them complaining about not watching tv or having video games or anything. but i guess your kids are just so much more precious they need electronics from day one...
Posted by: gaydad | September 22, 2005 at 03:48 AM