I Am Your Camera
January 6, 2014 8:04 AM   Subscribe

 
Obviously, wildlife is anxious to enjoy the benefits of consumer gadget and wealth symbol as should all humans.
posted by JHarris at 8:08 AM on January 6, 2014 [2 favorites]


Don't the cameras come with wrist straps? Considering how much they cost, you would think people would be keeping a better grip on 'em .
posted by zarq at 8:10 AM on January 6, 2014


The crab one is my favorite, because he looks so...shady. And there's another crab in the background who is depressed that he didn't get in on the sweet, sweet GoPro action before the first one.
posted by xingcat at 8:10 AM on January 6, 2014 [3 favorites]


Next on ActionNewsCenter-8...Animal Thieves! What you need to know to keep your loved ones safe!
And, by "loved ones" we mean your expensive gadgets.
posted by Thorzdad at 8:14 AM on January 6, 2014 [1 favorite]


I got an email in the background while watching the crab come out if the hole and my phone buzzed in my hand and it made me jump. DO NOT LIKE LAND CRABS.
posted by nathancaswell at 8:17 AM on January 6, 2014 [4 favorites]


It's not stealing if an octopus does it because we are entitled to nice things.

Scuttle away, little friend!
posted by Mrs. Pterodactyl at 8:20 AM on January 6, 2014 [6 favorites]


zarq: "Don't the cameras come with wrist straps? Considering how much they cost, you would think people would be keeping a better grip on 'em ."

The very nature of the tool is to enable hands-free, ruggedized, mobile operation. You're in a brownie camera mindset; this is a strap-it-to-a-kite-and-see-what-happens gadget.
posted by IAmBroom at 8:27 AM on January 6, 2014 [7 favorites]


That octopus one is EXACTLY what everyone will see when Cthulhu returns and feasts upon them.

Also, I can *totally* hear him thinking "WHY WON'T THIS FIT IN MY SHELL??"
posted by hanov3r at 8:32 AM on January 6, 2014


IAmBroom: " The very nature of the tool is to enable hands-free, ruggedized, mobile operation. You're in a brownie camera mindset; this is a strap-it-to-a-kite-and-see-what-happens gadget."

Ah! OK. That makes sense.
posted by zarq at 8:36 AM on January 6, 2014


For extra amusement, start In The Hall of the Mountain King and then the crab video. It's perfectly aligned to the action.

(not my discovery, but amused the heck out of me)
posted by tavella at 8:36 AM on January 6, 2014 [4 favorites]


Crabs actually steal cameras in order to shoot their own videos.
posted by orme at 8:50 AM on January 6, 2014 [1 favorite]


With the crab one, it was interesting to see it seem to pause as its brain processed information and then created a plan of action.
posted by KokuRyu at 8:51 AM on January 6, 2014



It's not stealing if an octopus does it because we are entitled to nice things.

Shh! Shh! Don't break your cover!
posted by The Whelk at 9:00 AM on January 6, 2014


Watching the crab crawl out with its articulated legs made me think of spiders and NOPE NOPE NOPE NOPE
posted by potsmokinghippieoverlord at 9:13 AM on January 6, 2014 [1 favorite]


It's like Flotsam IRL
posted by Dr. Twist at 9:15 AM on January 6, 2014


This post should really be titled "We have cameras."
posted by entropicamericana at 9:26 AM on January 6, 2014 [4 favorites]


THE CRAB ONE IS TERRIBLE AND I WOULD LIKE TO FORMALLY REGISTER A COMPLAINT

The sea lion one almost makes up for it though.
posted by elizardbits at 9:30 AM on January 6, 2014




GoPro doesn't just make video cameras - it makes a platform for GoPro advertising that is entirely crowd-sourced. Why can't we just say 'octopus steals a camera?'
posted by infinitefloatingbrains at 9:42 AM on January 6, 2014 [4 favorites]


Crabs actually steal cameras in order to shoot their own videos.

Shellfies?
posted by Devonian at 9:46 AM on January 6, 2014 [10 favorites]


I couldn't watch the octopus one. Those things fucking terrify me.
posted by slogger at 9:46 AM on January 6, 2014 [1 favorite]


Also, these videos would benefit from a Yackety Sax sound track.

Then again, what wouldn't?
posted by slogger at 9:48 AM on January 6, 2014 [1 favorite]


I wonder of the octopus has as much trouble getting his/her computer to recognize it as I am having.
posted by Danf at 9:55 AM on January 6, 2014


Normally, the threads with GoPro stuff in them tilt so hard toward complaining about Pepsi Blue, I feel like people don't even give the actual content a second thought. In this case, it's sorta icking me out that it's too far the other way. Not sure the proper calibration between enjoying a thing and being wary that it's clearly marketing in this case.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 10:03 AM on January 6, 2014 [2 favorites]


That reminds me of the classic Aesop fable: One day, a crab was sitting in his burrow when he decided it was too deep. He climbed out of it and began digging another burrow, but this one, he decided, was too shallow. He went back and forth between the two burrows, unable to decide which was better. He was resting on the sand in between the two when suddenly, an eagle, wearing a GoPro® HERO3™ swooped down, grabbed the crab, and dashed it into a boulder. MORAL: the GoPro® HERO3™ is available in stores now.
posted by gwint at 10:16 AM on January 6, 2014 [12 favorites]


Who else wants to go in on a kickstarter campaign to get that sea lion a camera?

It really wants to direct! I'd watch that movie: Un film de Marlin Scorsese.
posted by potsmokinghippieoverlord at 10:28 AM on January 6, 2014


What is it about these cameras in particular that tend to get stolen by animals? Do they look more attractive to animals than other cameras? Is leaving them out where animals will try to take them a meme more so than with other cameras? Do other cameras get taken by animals just as often, but don't get promoted by GoPro's marketing team? Are these all complete hoaxes by GoPro's marketing team?
posted by bleep at 10:33 AM on January 6, 2014 [2 favorites]


"It's not stealing if an octopus does it because we are entitled to nice things.

Scuttle away, little friend!
posted by Mrs. Pterodactyl at 8:20 AM on January "


Shh! Shh! Don't break your cover!


Worst mimic octopus I've ever seen. Picks as her cover an extinct reptile.

And then goes and blows that cover.
posted by sebastienbailard at 10:47 AM on January 6, 2014 [1 favorite]


Thanks for reminding me, I was running a time-lapse on mine and went two hours too long....
posted by nevercalm at 10:49 AM on January 6, 2014


Picks as her cover an extinct reptile.

Nah, I'm a pterodactyl by marriage. I still take it very seriously but really I am an octopus.
posted by Mrs. Pterodactyl at 11:00 AM on January 6, 2014 [6 favorites]


Mrs. Pterodactyl: "Nah, I'm a pterodactyl by marriage. I still take it very seriously but really I am an octopus."

I don't know if you have or desire children, and typically I consider that sort of thing absolutely none of my business, but...
posted by exogenous at 11:22 AM on January 6, 2014 [2 favorites]


I don't know if you have or desire children, and typically I consider that sort of thing absolutely none of my business, but...

You're welcome!
posted by Mrs. Pterodactyl at 11:23 AM on January 6, 2014


We need to get one of these to Indonesia.
posted by Ogre Lawless at 12:19 PM on January 6, 2014


What is it about these cameras in particular that tend to get stolen by animals? Do they look more attractive to animals than other cameras? Is leaving them out where animals will try to take them a meme more so than with other cameras? Do other cameras get taken by animals just as often, but don't get promoted by GoPro's marketing team? Are these all complete hoaxes by GoPro's marketing team?

The camera is small, lighweight, and in it's case, basically indestructible. Plus, with Wifi, you can control them remotely.

So, they sort of lend themselves to "lets put the camera here and see what happens" type photography.

I've got one, and it's super nice when it works. They still need to sort the bugs out of the firmware because the random lockups and behavioral weirdness is super irritating in what would otherwise be a perfect device.
posted by Pogo_Fuzzybutt at 12:31 PM on January 6, 2014




What is it about these cameras in particular that tend to get stolen by animals? […] Do other cameras get taken by animals just as often, but don't get promoted by GoPro's marketing team?

“GoPro” has characteristics of a genericised trademark. In informal speech it’s used much the same way “Xerox” is.

It’s certainly a boon to their business at the moment, but I wonder how much credit their marketing department really deserves. If Xerox’s history is any guide, GoPro’s makers will ultimately spend more time and money fighting the perception that they spent creating it.
posted by Fongotskilernie at 1:58 PM on January 6, 2014


Fyi, for anyone interested the money shot of the crab video starts just after this point, rather than having to watch 90 seconds of a very slow moving crab.
posted by smoke at 2:54 PM on January 6, 2014


This is when a surfer in Kona loses his GoPro off his board on wave, then then found it, and then set it to music.
posted by Danf at 3:19 PM on January 6, 2014


What is it about these cameras in particular that tend to get stolen by animals? Do they look more attractive to animals than other cameras? Is leaving them out where animals will try to take them a meme more so than with other cameras? Do other cameras get taken by animals just as often, but don't get promoted by GoPro's marketing team? Are these all complete hoaxes by GoPro's marketing team?


Many of these videos were very clearly the work of that company's marketing team (check out how often these amazing bits of cinematography are from users who have posted fewer than five or six videos in the past, for example). A lot of it is annoyingly dishonest, because they've clearly pretended to be something they're not in the past.

But at some point, I'm sure that this genre got so popular that people are actively trying to recreate it with new animals and new situations. So it looks like they've won and actually created some truly successful guerilla / viral marketing.
posted by graphnerd at 3:40 PM on January 6, 2014 [2 favorites]


One weird trick to market your camera. Steal the attention of people by pretending to be non-advertisement content!
posted by Nelson at 5:45 PM on January 6, 2014 [2 favorites]


How to recognize Mrs. Pterodactyl (XKCD)
posted by tigrrrlily at 12:07 AM on January 7, 2014


Woah seals are fast!

So, in the interest of diluting the Pepsi Blue a little, does anyone know of a decent off-brand 'action camera'?
posted by Drexen at 8:24 AM on January 7, 2014




It’s certainly a boon to their business at the moment, but I wonder how much credit their marketing department really deserves. If Xerox’s history is any guide, GoPro’s makers will ultimately spend more time and money fighting the perception that they spent creating it.

That's only if the term becomes ubiquitous, which only tends to happen when it's uniquely identified with a kind of product. Thus, Kleenex for tissue and Xerox for copying, and, potentially, Google for searching, which their legal department was keen for awhile to get people to stop using it as a general term.

Not only had a lot of people not heard of "GoPro" before these videos, but unlike those other terms, the word isn't nonsense, or near-nonsense, taken by itself, its components have other meaning, which I think would be a barrier to its widespread adoption.

I would agree that in the future it'd be nice to keep this kind of trademark identification off of Metafilter, that the language in the post is just over the edge, in how it makes sure to identify the camera as "GoPro," without even an indefinite article. Maybe if it was identified as "a waterproof camera" instead just by the trademarked name, it wouldn't seem so much like advertising.
posted by JHarris at 8:28 AM on January 22, 2014


Hm, that is interesting, but it still isn't as ubiquitous as Kleenex was, possibly just from market size. Still, I am no expert on this.
posted by JHarris at 9:15 AM on January 22, 2014


We need to get one of these to Indonesia.

Nature has a new episode about those macaques: The Funkiest Monkeys
posted by homunculus at 8:07 PM on January 29, 2014


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