A few nights ago I checked my blog to discover that I had jumped to a whopping 2,000 hits a day.

That same day I received a phone call from Laila Ghambari, the fixed gear biker that I had filmed previously for my Flip Video vs. HD test. Laila informed me that the video test had come to the attention of David Pogue, technology writer for the New York Times.

Apparently the Flip Video camera has 13% of the camcorder market share and people are flocking to the Flip Video for its simple controls and self contained software.

Some of the comments about my test were nice and some very very critical. All I can say is that if you don’t get it, you don’t get it.

The reason the Flip Video is such an amazing camera is that it encourages you, by its very design, to go out and make something.

And that is all that matters.

Most video will never be transferred to film to be seen in a movie theatre or appear in HD on the Discovery channel. In fact, video quality is quickly becoming secondary or dare I say tertiary to content and style.

The same people that criticize the Flip Video for its standard resolution and lack of features are the same people that shoot test targets with their digital cameras and rate lenses according to their MTF score (lens resolution per line for non pixel-peepers.)

Anyone familiar with my work will note that I use everything from 2 year old disposable film cameras bought on sale at Rite Aid, to $30 medium format Holga cameras, to mid century Speed Graphic 4×5′s to the latest and greatest Canon 5D.

The equipment doesn’t really matter in the end. It’s the vision of the photographer/film maker/designer that matters, and you either have it or you don’t.

I think that in the next few years we will see an explosion in creativity as the general public starts using tools like the Flip Video and the power of content creation spreads to those who did not have the money or training previously to create. Eventually we will be in a world where creativity will not be hindered so much by access to training or equipment…

…it will be a wonderful thing.

I for one am very excited and not the least bit threatened by the amateur. By all means I hope I remain an amateur in spirit, for it is the amateur that can create with a fresh mind unhindered by the visual baggage of the past.

My next Flip Video project includes debunking the low-light crappiness myth circulating about the Flip Video as well as using the Flip Video in situations that would otherwise prohibit using a video camera (such as attaching a waterproofed Flip Video to a whitewater kayaker’s kayak.)

This summer I also plan to make a short film (a fiction, not a documentary) using only the Flip Video camera, a tripod, my iPod Nano with Mic and either a bicycle or skateboard as a dolly

It should be interesting!

-Kirk