GoPro. So Long Consumer Electronics Company; Hello Lifestyle

GoPro. So Long Consumer Electronics Company; Hello Lifestyle

The Product

I’m a tech nerd through and through. New technologies, new gear, new ideas, I love them all. I’m also a video production professional and love what I do. That is why I’m excited for GoPro’s new product line, but more excited for the lifestyle they just created.

On Monday, GoPro announced an entire new lineup of cameras. The new cameras come with twice the video resolution, increased frame rates, and some models even come with a built in LCD display. They’ve also raised the price on their highest end model by $100, to $499.

Specs and prices are well and good, but there’s something larger here. GoPro has figured out how to put technology that was $20,000 five years ago into a $500 unit. What’s more, they are creating a lifestyle. Yes. A lifestyle. Here’s why.

The Lifestyle

GoPro is in-between a product company and a social media company. They create a great product, with a good price point, and make it very easy to edit with included software and share on social media. They’ve also figured out how to get them everywhere. Whether it’s water-skiers, skydivers, wingsuiters, firemen, policemen, stunt pilots, or anyone else that has a need for a rugged, nearly indestructible camera, GoPro has figured out how to get it in peoples hands and get people to share what they shoot with their networks, which in turn gets more people to buy and share and on the cycle goes. Essentially, you pay them to be a spokesperson.

In all of this, though, it let’s people share who they are through video. Not photos, not status updates, but videos. As the world becomes more centralized and we all become part of this big thing called life and the world around us gets smaller and smaller, sharing ourselves will become more critical. When I meet people now, I already get told that they know me. Whether it’s through social media or friends, people now know you before they meet you, to some degree anyway. GoPro has created the share everything lifestyle, and it is going strong among almost everyone.  

I love my GoPro Cameras and have owned almost every version and will probably buy the new one. I will also probably share all of the videos I do across my social media, but that is the type of person I am. I tahink this lifestyle is cool, but I’ve been living this lifestyle since before social media and will probably continue this lifestyle well after all of this is gone.

Tip of the Hat,