With the start of University and College just around the corner I received an email from a Mum thinking of buying a Flip for her Son who is about to fly the nest. It got me thinking I wish I’d had a Flip when I was at Uni several years ago! Here are 7 reasons why I think a Flip Camera would make a great piece of student kit:
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1. The Flip is cool, it turns heads and starts conversations. That’s useful for First Years needing to make a first impression and strike up friendships. I am not suggesting you are going to start filming complete strangers, more like on Day 1 sitting in the Bar: “Have you seen this babelicious new camera?”. Remember cool people make friends easily – Ever seen the Fonz in Happy Days?
2. They say University years are some of the best years of your life. You’ll want to remember them later on in life, having a pocket size video Flip Camera means you’ll be able to capture all the fun and games of University life without carrying an obtrusive camera around like you’re a Video nerd doing their Media Studies project instead of socialising. Not a good look.
3. Time to share. Every student needs a decent social networking page to build Uni friendships and keep in contact with school mates who are now scattered all over the country. You might even want to show your Mum and Dad your new room, girl/boyfriend or tattoo! The Flip Camera plugs straight into your PC or MAC via the USB Flip out arm and sharing is easy via Flips own online sharing service or uploading to You Tube and then sticking the Video in your Facebook, MySpace or Twitter feed.
4. You can use it for your studies (yawn). You can record lectures, study groups, experiments, shoot the whiteboard, or use it as a voice recorder during one to one sessions. You can record your latest thoughts about your dissertation into it for later reference.
5. If you are interested in a Media Career (after your Spanish Art degree) you can learn the basics of filmmaking, editing and video journalism with the Flip. The principles are the same however small the camera.
6. You could make money out of the Flip. Who knows the person in your circle of friends could turn out to be the next Brad Pitt, and you’ll have the Video of them dancing like a madman at the Freshers Ball to sell to Celeb TV in years to come. Also if you capture unusual student pranks or crazy stunts you could make advertising revenue via sites like YouTube and Break.com.
7. If your Flip gets stolen or trashed at College (this has been known to happen) it won’t hurt as much as losing a £300 swanky Camcorder. Mum will forgive you (eventually).
