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If you thought Selfie Sticks were a symbol of pop culture degredation, I’ve got bad news. We’ve reached a new low. A company from Israel has launched a new IndieGogo campaign that takes the infamous Selfie Stick and replaces the handle with a handheld microphone. But it doesn’t stop there: the SoloCam app adds a teleprompter, green screen feature, and video effects to your creation, allowing you to announce how dumb you look to your followers in real-time.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XsImzuQEON4
Warning: watching this cringe-worthy video may cause your to face contort into positions so awkward, it may burn a hole in the brain’s of those around you. I can think of only two reasons that purchasing the SoloCam would be worthwhile:
- As a gag gift for a news anchor friend
- As a children’s gift for a little kid obsessed with news anchors
In the first case, it’ll likely collect dust and in the second case, you’ll be dooming your child into a dorkdom of bullying. You might as well have named them Dorkson Weebleton Bajeebles the 9th.
If you couldn’t tell, I’m not exactly a selfie stick sympathizer. I can appreciate that for the solo traveler or wilderness adventures it may be worthwhile stuffing one in your backpack. However, morphing that into a news anchor experience is an absurd and unnecessary proposition that very few people will find useful and all will find overtly amateur.
Would you take anyone seriously who used a SoloCam? Would you use one yourself? Should we shame an intern into using one for coverage on the CES show floor?
If you’re able to swallow your pride and want to buy one, head on over to the IndieGogo campaign where you can snag one for as low as $49.
i like the idea for people who want to break into journalism especially with some of the news apps allowing citizens to post and report the news.
Agree. It makes sense for apps like StoryMaker (https://storymaker.org) but if I see someone vlogging their lunch with this…
I think this is the dumbest thing I’ve seen since the Segway
At least the Segway could be fun.
I don’t understand all of the selfie-stick hate, but I have not seen anyone actually use one, so maybe I am missing something. To me, this seems like a reasonable solution for people who do not have someone else to operate the camera for them.
I should get one and interview Rob Jackson, the author of this blog post.
Agreed.
My selfie stick hate originated on a month long trip to Barcelona where selfie sticks were EVERYWHERE… and it was like dodging lemmings to prevent from bumping into people trying to figure out how to use them and strike the perfect pose. Probably too much hate, but I’m a hater, and haters gonna hate.
My hate stems from a Chicago trip when a guy on video chat on selfie stick almost bowled me over at Cloud Gate while he was talking about how aware he was of his surroundings.
I’m guessing the $49 price tag will kill this thing, anyway.
Oh, good grief! MSRP $99 for the least expensive one? DOA
“…Dorkson Weebleton Bajeebles the 9th.”
Yes. Thanks for the suggestion. Will be using this…
Yeah I’d agree that this takes it a bit too far with the mic and teleprompter thing, but selfie sticks are great for the purpose they serve. You throw one in your backpack when you or you and your girlfriend go on vacation and you get to have pictures without having to ask strangers to take pictures of you. Not only is that awkward and time consuming, they could always run off with your phone. So the selfie stick kind of gives you peace of mind even though it looks completely stupid and conceited to use one.
http://i.imgur.com/ln5vwDe.gif
I could see a high school student using this for a class project/fake interview type scenario. Besides that, I think it’s a novelty item and totally goofy, dorky fun. If you’re aware you’re being a tool, are you really a tool?
Yes
Great for self filming snowboarding
You forgot one use: homemade porn!
The world has come to an end! Had I woken up to discover this was April Fools day, everything would be okay. Sadly, that is not the case. I’m sure this will be a success. Anyone who buys one is off my friends list. On the upside, The video is so bad, it gave me my first laugh for the day:
It saddens me as a follower of this page from Israel that out of all the amazing things israel does that has to do with the Android world (such as amazing apps like Gett, Moovit, etc.), after 6 years of being a Phandroider, this is one of the first times ever seeing Israel mentioned in an article and for such a lame thing ?
The first selfie stick I actually think makes sense.
I don’t want to live on this planet anymore.