The Filmer: Jonathan Kaplan

The Filmer: Jonathan Kaplan

theflip.com

Here's a familiar scenario: Buy a video camera when the first child comes along. Take loads of video. Stick tapes in a drawer. Shelve camcorder until the next child is born. Pure Digital Technologies CEO Kaplan set out seven years ago to turn that old saw on its head. The company's $130 Flip video camcorder, a compact device where you simply frame your subject in a small screen and press a button to record, made it so easy to shoot video and upload it to a PC or YouTube that even a child can use it. Flip's astounding success has turbocharged video sharing online—and in the process it forced Sony, Samsung and others to create a slew of easy-to-use devices that will compete with it.