Why Pictures Instead of Words?

I'm experimenting with a Flip Video by Pure Digital to explore the possibility of asking students to use them as an adjunct to some of their print stories that will also be put on their blogs. It's an idiot's camcorder. You point, you push a button, you get 30 minutes of digital video. You swing out its little arm and plug it directly into your USB port.

The resulting video is ready for uploading to YouTube. No file conversion needed.

It is impossible, I think, to make things too simple. Minute amounts of bother or complexity discourage us. I'm thinking this kind of device might allow student reporters to add a little something extra to their stories. Whether or not that little something extra actually adds value I have yet to decide.