Dowbrigade

As
prices for digital camcorders are finally falling near the Dowbrigade’s
reach, we have been comparing models and media. The main differentiation,
and sticking point, seems to be how they save the VERY LARGE digital
files they create. Flash memory is still limited in size, DAT is fragile
and cumbersome to wind and rewind, mini-DVD’s are neat but hard to find
and limited to 30 minutes of video per, and keeping your camera hooked
up to a computer is impractical. The New York
Times
reports
that
one
company
is moving in a promising direction – tiny hard drives on a card the size
of a Compact Flash chip. This is from “Camcorders Finally Find Hard Drives"
by David Pogue:

No, the real future of camcorders suggests itself every time you see
somebody wearing those white iPod earbuds. Earth to electronics companies:
Hard drives! A 60-gigabyte iPod’s hard drive can store 15 hours of video,
and it’s only 1.8 inches in diameter. Now go build one into a camcorder!

JVC is the first company to see that particular light. Next month, it
will release its new Everio GZ-MC100 and GZ-MC200: a pair of breathtakingly
small, tape-free camcorders.

Unfortunately, these tiny hard drives only hold 4 GB – enough for one
hour of video at the highest quality, and cost $200 a pop. Which begs the
question: Why can’t we connect our digital camera directly via Firewire
and record on the hard drive on the iPod that I ALREADY HAVE?
By
my calculations
I should be able to store 2 and a half hours of high quality video and
still have half the space for my music and podcasts!

This seems like a natural solution.  The iPod fits
in our breast pocket or clips on our belt, and can go wherever the camera
does.
Surely there is
no technological reason this can’t be done, just that camera companies
haven’t
thought of
it yet
or
don’t
want
us doing
it. Or is it possible? Anybody more knowledgeable know if there is a way
to do this?

article from the New York Times