Flip video

The news today that Cisco has decided to kill the Flip video business was sudden, but not altogether shocking considering the competitive landscape for small, mobile HD video cameras. Most smartphones can take HD video and easily upload it to the Web now, something that when Cisco bought Pure Digital for $590 million wasn't as commonplace. But with the growth of smartphones there's less need for a separate portable HD video device.

Cisco purchased Pure Digital, the maker of the popular flash-based camera because it was clearly the leader in its field. The Flip Video set itself apart by making the process of creating, editing, and uploading short videos to sites like YouTube very uncomplicated. In the two years before Cisco bought it, Pure Digital--a nobody in the consumer electronics world--said it sold 2 million devices.