The saddest part of GoPro to me is that they own the Cineform codec. I love Cineform, and cried when GoPro acquired it. I liked it better than ProRes to be honest. Apple ProRes won because Apple. I worked for company (said company no longer exists) that was internally talking about purchasing Cineform way before GoPro, somewhere around 2008/09. However, this company was going to submit it for ISO standardization. It's a lovely codec, but it did not take off because it was always surrounded by questions of longevity. GoPro's purchase of it did not improve the longevity question, and made it seem Prosumer at best.
GoPro has discontinued its developer program
51–60 of 99 posts
Re: GoPro has discontinued its developer program
#52Earlier quoted context omitted.
Except it's already clear they want customer lock-in on their products. You can't use the remote app without being logged in (which I can't even get to connect, but that's another complaint). Something about some cloud service that costs $5/month to use. Their remote app is clearly the funnel to sell this service, so why would they open up their API? At this point I'm just going to start buying Chinese knock-offs tha…
Wow, I've been passively interested in getting a GoPro camera for a long time, but knowing their remote control requires a cloud service (I thought it was local wifi) is a total dealbreaker. Same with Hue lights. It is absolutely ridiculous for the customer to be locked out of their own hardware.
Try LIFX.
Re: GoPro has discontinued its developer program
#53The saddest part of GoPro to me is that they own the Cineform codec. I love Cineform, and cried when GoPro acquired it. I liked it better than ProRes to be honest. Apple ProRes won because Apple. I worked for company (said company no longer exists) that was internally talking about purchasing Cineform way before GoPro, somewhere around 2008/09. However, this company was going to submit it for ISO standardization. It'…
They have open sourced CineForm in October last year ( https://gopro.github.io/cineform-sdk/ ); also, "SMPTE has standardized the CineForm codec as the SMPTE ST 2073 VC-5 video compression standard".
Re: GoPro has discontinued its developer program
#54Earlier quoted context omitted.
FWIW, I can heartily recommend SJCAM -- their build quality is great for a Chinese knock-off and the resulting image/video quality is really really good for the price of the hardware. However, be careful when on eBay/aliExpress I've actually seen other vendors knocking off the knock-offs.
To get the best deal out of any of the knockoffs and competitors, though, you have to get a little bit knowledgeable about the camera tech. The SJ5000 is a large step up over the SJ4000 because it uses a 16MP Panasonic MN34110PA sensor rather than the SJ4000's 3.5MP Aptina AR0330 (which they upscale to call a "12MP sensor"). And that's just what a $25 bump gets you! This isn't something you're just gonna know, though…
Not too sure about the Panasonic, but the AR0330 is an ancient sensor, being about 6-7 years old now. Not the type of image sensor I'd be wanting to buy these days.
Re: GoPro has discontinued its developer program
#55Earlier quoted context omitted.
Except it's already clear they want customer lock-in on their products. You can't use the remote app without being logged in (which I can't even get to connect, but that's another complaint). Something about some cloud service that costs $5/month to use. Their remote app is clearly the funnel to sell this service, so why would they open up their API? At this point I'm just going to start buying Chinese knock-offs tha…
Sounds like failed experiment. It's not too late to give it up. They should stick to making exciting hardware.
You mean they should convince their now large set of mostly incompetent managers to stake their careers on the long shot of actually successfully innovating ? (like, say, a quality gimbal, or even trying to miniaturize a gimbal ? That would be excellent). Instead of focusing on exactly what they've done before (at best) and "soft" initiatives, and producing more of the same marketing everyone's seen 100x before ?
Yes. They should.
Also: not going to happen.
Re: GoPro has discontinued its developer program
#56Earlier quoted context omitted.
They're finished as a company. They never were able to innovate beyond "it's an HD camera with wifi", and low priced competition ate them up.
Exactly, a hundred Chinese companies can pump out cameras like theirs. What they had going for them was their genericized trademark of a name - people calling all action cameras GoPros - which eventually would have or did come back and bite them. Their stock price is less than a tenth what it once was.
I just don't think the company had the leadership or vision to move outside of their core competency. It should have been obvious that today you aren't going to get very far with a hardware product that is easily copied and difficult to differentiate. At the very least you have to build a whole ecosystem that sells the hardware for you.
Maybe that is just a hindsight is 20/20 situation since I work in a tangentially related industry that is also greatly affected by Chinese companies pumping out cheaper products. But they have had plenty of time to realize this and change course.
Re: GoPro has discontinued its developer program
#57Earlier quoted context omitted.
Except it's already clear they want customer lock-in on their products. You can't use the remote app without being logged in (which I can't even get to connect, but that's another complaint). Something about some cloud service that costs $5/month to use. Their remote app is clearly the funnel to sell this service, so why would they open up their API? At this point I'm just going to start buying Chinese knock-offs tha…
Wow, I've been passively interested in getting a GoPro camera for a long time, but knowing their remote control requires a cloud service (I thought it was local wifi) is a total dealbreaker. Same with Hue lights. It is absolutely ridiculous for the customer to be locked out of their own hardware.
i control my gopro hero3+ (latest firmware) with my iphone 8 plus (running current ios beta and fully updated from app store).
I don't know about nor do i use any cloud service from gopro. i just use a camera and configure it from my phone and it works fine.
Re: GoPro has discontinued its developer program
#58Earlier quoted context omitted.
Wow, I've been passively interested in getting a GoPro camera for a long time, but knowing their remote control requires a cloud service (I thought it was local wifi) is a total dealbreaker. Same with Hue lights. It is absolutely ridiculous for the customer to be locked out of their own hardware.
Now I'm confused,I thought the hue lights and Ikea knockoffs are one of the few smart lights that don't need internet and they never leave the wlan? Most of the others are cloud enabled without a firmware upgrade, I'll give you that
I agree. And I have the hue lights.
I can't remember having to sign in to any online account to use it.
Re: GoPro has discontinued its developer program
#59Earlier quoted context omitted.
Exactly, a hundred Chinese companies can pump out cameras like theirs. What they had going for them was their genericized trademark of a name - people calling all action cameras GoPros - which eventually would have or did come back and bite them. Their stock price is less than a tenth what it once was.
Can you show me a Chinese company that is making an action camera that can shoot 2K60 that is waterproof and small form factor like GoPro?
i assume you mean 4k60?
the yi 4k+ also does that but no it isn't waterproof by itself, however you can see the hero 6 got a $100 price cut because of the stiff competition
Re: GoPro has discontinued its developer program
#60Earlier quoted context omitted.
People are buying Chinese action cameras in such droves? Everyone I know with an action camera owns a GoPro. Something seems amiss to me, though perhaps things are different in California. But then why just these cameras? There are plenty of types of devices that have viable Chinese knockoffs for cheap, yet the non-Chinese brands thrive or at least sustain.
If you own a GoPro, you probably have had to buy a second one. I personally do not know of a single GoPro owner that has not damaged/lost/whatever their camera. After you buy the first one at full price today, do you buy a second one or go out and buy something else? It used to be that you could only get another GoPro, so GoPro sales looked good. Now, for $70, why not try the something else? Based on sales, looks lik…
For most people the latter option is most useful. I bought already 4 SJCams because I end up losing them. The pictures are acceptable. Sound is not needed if underwater or while driving. So all good.