Slashdot Mirror
GoPro Slashes 15% of Workforce, Shuts Down Entertainment Division (variety.com)
GoPro has announced that it will lay off more than 200 employees and freeze hiring, amounting to a reduction of about 15% of its workforce. As part of the restructuring, the company is also shutting down its entertainment division. In addition, the company said president Tony Bates will be leaving the company. From a report on Variety: Also Wednesday, GoPro also said Black Friday camera unit sales were up more than 35% year-over-year at leading U.S. retailers. GoPro said its Hero5 Black camera has been the best-selling digital-imaging device in the U.S. since it launched Oct. 2, citing NPD Group data. GoPro shares climbed more than 4% in premarket trading Wednesday on the news. The move appears to spell the end of the struggling company's ambitions to branch out beyond device sales into the entertainment biz, which had included plans to produce original shows. The GoPro entertainment unit has been led by Ocean MacAdams, who previously held programming posts at MTV, Warner Music Group, and the Madison Square Garden Co., after Zander Lurie left in January to become CEO of SurveyMonkey. The division at one point had about 200 staffers, including Bill McCullough, who produced award-winning sports documentaries for HBO, and Joe Lynch, who previously led Time Inc.'s live-streaming initiatives.
GoPro equipment is madly expensive. You can buy a knockoff such as an SJCAM with similar capabilities for a small fraction of the price. If you buy GoPro, you're paying out the ass for the name.
I got one as a gift, back when "action cameras" were a new thing and I was still rigging up conventional digital cameras, and it failed for no apparent reason a couple years ago (my best guess is maybe heat from the sun killed it, although it didn't have any telltale LCD rainbowing). I already had a lot of gen1 GoPro accessories so I bought one used to replace it, but next time I have to replace or upgrade I'm going to go with a knockoff.
"When information is power, privacy is freedom" - Jah-Wren Ryel
Now if they just change the terms of service that the license that the user grants to GoPro is just for their site and that any content uploaded by the user will not be used anywhere else without the express written permission from the user, would give them a perpetual low cost advertising medium.
Most people producing video have the occasional lucky shot that attracts attention but the people who take the time to edit and tell a story are not likely to post it on a site where the terms of service allows them to monetize the video any way and anywhere they choose.
DRM? No thanks, I'll just get it somewhere else...
Got one as a present. Videos look nice butc I learn that;
Getting quality footage is hard and gets in the way of the activity.
I'm not a cameraman and should never quit my day job to become one.
There's always some fucking annoying mount to get, fix, attach or remove.
Batties, storage and lens dirty are always an issue.
There's far better options online and most people would not care much to see yours because "awesome" stuff is like garbage these days.
There's a fuckton of shit to do with the money a GoPro is sold for these days.
I am not a hero and neither is 99.999% of people.
A 'singular oddity' is an event that cannot be explained and only happens when you are alone.
GoPro is an overly-priced digital video recorder. What made it become a successful product is that it includes a waterproof acrylic case that is designed to hold the camera, along with multiple gadgets that let you mount the case to just about anything. Using a GoPro, you can get 1st-person video of outdoor sports activities, without worrying about getting your camera wet.
The problem is the price. $400 (or more) for a sport camera is a bit pricey for many people, including me. Although some models are cheaper than that, most are too much $$$.
I have a GearPro that I bought for less than half the price of a GoPro, and mine works great. It is mounted to my bicycle helmet that I wear while commuting to work on my bike. The video quality is amazing.
This is what's wrong with millennials.
Fuck you and your ignorant assumptions.
I'm 50, and the only reason I make videos of my commute to work is to have video evidence when some a-hole is paying more attention to their phone than to the road. The 2nd day of using the GearPro, someone almost ran into me because they ran a stop sign. Unfortunately, I was still learning how to mount the device so it gets good video, and my video of the incident only showed the road in front of me because the camera was pointed too far down.