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GoPro Quits the Drone Business (theverge.com)
GoPro has announced that it's exiting the drone business, citing the challenges of turning a profit in an "extremely competitive" market. From a report: The company revealed the news during its earnings report today, saying that its Karma drone would be the last it would make. The company is also laying off hundreds of staff and reducing the pay of CEO Nicholas Woodman to $1 as it struggles to manage its rocky financials. The $799 Karma drone was first unveiled in late 2016, but proved to be an unfinished and expensive product.
A Chinese company called DJI is clobbering every other competitor.
Some say it grew suspiciously fast and suspect gov't-backed cheating & subsidizing. But at this point there's no solid evidence.
Table-ized A.I.
I have a GoPro. I do a decent amount (30-40 weekends/year) of cave exploration, mapping and cave diving, so it's nice for that. They have a good range of accessories and extremely durable and waterproof. I would never take a smartphone into a cave. Most of the filming I do is for my own documentation and I rarely share it.
The problem with GoPro is once you've bought one, you don't really need another. Mine is a 3rd gen model and I have no intention of upgrading. Neither does anyone else I know. and I know a lot of people who regularly use their GoPro. Whatever is the current model is bought and then used for years.