People saying that this can’t compete with DJI are missing the point.
This product knows its target market (hint, not the people who browse HN) and, based on my initial first impressions, I think it’s nailed it.
Forgive me for a slightly contrived analogy, but if a
DJI Mavic is a DSLR, and a DJI Mini is a portable point-and-shoot camera, then Pixy is a Polaroid. It’s certainly not got the highest picture quality, doesn’t have good altitude or range and the 30s flight time sounds laughable, but it’s a nice looking, approachable device that looks like it could be used by anyone to take videos they currently can’t with the devices they currently have (the mode dial is a brilliant idea.)
I think this thing will sell very nicely. The big question for me is whether the Pixy wireless streaming to the phone allows exports out of the Snapchat app, if it does then all the biggest TikTok stars will buy one immediately and it will explode in popularity.
Completely agree with you. Not only that, but Snap (it seems) have done a great job in limiting the features so it only focuses on their core users use case.
They didn't go for a skydio "follow me when I go for a run" they don't have a flight path. Though you likely could get the drone into trouble if you tried, a 30 second clip is enough for it to start flying, you move a few feet away, it follows you with a very close range, and then it is ready to land again.
A great example of constraints making a better/simpler product.
Why would people who browse HN be left out of the target market? I think I can speak for many that we'd be interested in this product if it could compete with some of DJI's offerings.
Lacking that + any sort of open-source software that we can go in and tinker with, and it's a hard sell to anybody, not just HN readers.
This product knows its target market (hint, not the people who browse HN) and, based on my initial first impressions, I think it’s nailed it.
Forgive me for a slightly contrived analogy, but if a DJI Mavic is a DSLR, and a DJI Mini is a portable point-and-shoot camera, then Pixy is a Polaroid. It’s certainly not got the highest picture quality, doesn’t have good altitude or range and the 30s flight time sounds laughable, but it’s a nice looking, approachable device that looks like it could be used by anyone to take videos they currently can’t with the devices they currently have (the mode dial is a brilliant idea.)
I think this thing will sell very nicely. The big question for me is whether the Pixy wireless streaming to the phone allows exports out of the Snapchat app, if it does then all the biggest TikTok stars will buy one immediately and it will explode in popularity.