Flash drives for tandem student video/stills

[Skydave103 0]

Has anyone given any thought to using flash drives instead of DVD and CD's to give to students for their videos?
I have looked into prices and they are cheap enough for a 4gb (2gb is too small if you end up with a 6-8 min vid and 70+ pics)
They are about $10. charge them $15-20. All they have to do is move the vid file to their computer, no hassle with ripping it. easier to carry than disc's.
My worry is they formatting or losing it.

Who thinks there is a market for them?

LifeshouldNOTbeajourneytothegravewithawellpreservedbody,buttskidinsideways,cigarinone hand,martiniintheother,bodythoroughlyused upandscreaming:"WOO HOO!! What a ride!!!"

[mnskydiver688 0]

I also presented the same idea last year and there was some interest. Do a search, you may find some answers.

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[azureriders 0]

Would work well for most, but we do still see a lot of people who do not use computers and would prefer to simply be able to play the disk on their DVD player.

In my experience it is also very important to keep your pictures easy to have printed at Wal-Mart. I have never tried this from a flash drive, it may work great but if Wal-Mart is not set up for flash drives it will cause grief.

I also don't think it would be a good idea to add any expense to the video as the cost is already a limiting factor to videos sold, however you offered it as an extra that they could pay for if they liked it may just work great.

Personaly if I was buying I would pay for the flash drive.

[beowulf 1]

Walmart is setup for using flash drives and it is very easy to use.

I think the majority of people will want a DVD that they can just pop into their player and play. They won't want to play it on their computer or deal with burning it to DVD.

I think having the option of putting it on a flash drive would be a good idea, but having it as the only option would frustrate a lot of people.

[DSE 5]

Quote

I think having the option of putting it on a flash drive would be a good idea, but having it as the only option would frustrate a lot of people.

Many people felt this way about DVD vs VHS, too.

[PhreeZone 20]

Best option is to provide the DVD and a digital copy of the jump. You can do this fairly easily with a lot of software and just email them a copy of the video in something like a FLV file. the Flash format can directly be played, can be uploaded to YouTube or can be forwarded.

Yesterday is history
And tomorrow is a mystery

Parachutemanuals.com

[DSE 5]

I'd not want to send em' an FLV, FWIW, for YouTube, because it's gonna get re-encoded (and lose a significant amount of quality).

I agree that DVDs are a delivery mechanism for the next while.
There are at least three major DZs that plan on offering USB drives as the primary source of delivery next year.
DVD burning will always be the slowest part of delivery, and it's somewhat limited due to the breadth of options to deliver (speed).

The concept of putting photos and video on a flash drive is very appealing. If you know where to find the drives, they can be had very inexpensively.

[Skydave103 0]

Quote

I'd not want to send em' an FLV, FWIW, for YouTube, because it's gonna get re-encoded (and lose a significant amount of quality).

I agree that DVDs are a delivery mechanism for the next while.
There are at least three major DZs that plan on offering USB drives as the primary source of delivery next year.
DVD burning will always be the slowest part of delivery, and it's somewhat limited due to the breadth of options to deliver (speed).

The concept of putting photos and video on a flash drive is very appealing. If you know where to find the drives, they can be had very inexpensively.

I was thinking of it as an upgrade. Like we used to do from VHS to DVD's. It will be much easier to put it on the computer and share it with friends.
I'm thinking that the people who would want it on flash drive have their computer connected to their tv anyway. Just a convenience for them.
No need to rip it.
and really easy for people who want the raw footage.

Micro center has them on sale. $10 for 4gb. might go pick up a few and see what happens.

thanks for the input

LifeshouldNOTbeajourneytothegravewithawellpreservedbody,buttskidinsideways,cigarinone hand,martiniintheother,bodythoroughlyused upandscreaming:"WOO HOO!! What a ride!!!"

[DSE 5]

Call Charley at ZReiss.com.
Tell him I sent you. Please be very nice to him. He's not very patient.

[adamT 0]

You could also just burn them a data dvd. 12 cents for 4.7gb, not gonna get flash memory that cheap anytime soon.

[howardwhite 6]

Jumptown has quotes for imprinted drives in the ~$5.50 range for 256 mb.
We'll probably start adding the option in the next month or so, not as a replacement but a supplement to the DVD, as we already do with YouTube uploads.

HW

[Skydave103 0]

Update:
Sales have been good, feedback has been GREAT!
sold out of the fist batch and had to buy more!

It seems to go in waves, won't sell any on a busy weekend but sell them during the week when its slower.
go figure.

LifeshouldNOTbeajourneytothegravewithawellpreservedbody,buttskidinsideways,cigarinone hand,martiniintheother,bodythoroughlyused upandscreaming:"WOO HOO!! What a ride!!!"