Nick Woodman[1] thinks QuikStories represents the path forward for GoPro. The company’s founder/CEO doesn’t hold back. “You can say this is the biggest thing we’ve done to simplify the experience of sharing video since the invention of the GoPro itself,” he says matter of factly.
Woodman has always been GoPro’s biggest cheerleader, from its founding in 2004, to the major financial struggles[2] over the past several years that have led many analysts to declare the hardware maker dead in the water. Investors haven’t always agreed with the decisions made under his leadership, but his unbridled enthusiasm has never been in question — and the new app is no exception.
Unfortunately, however, it’s not that great. On the face of it, QuikStories is Instagram Stories or Apple Clips for the action camera. It’s the shortest path from a GoPro camera to social media. The app automatically edits clips and photos into a short video, complete with music and transitions. It is, Woodman believes, the missing link standing between the company’s cameras and meaningful mainstream adoption.
“Our customers [had] a bottleneck to actually transforming clips into an exciting video that they could enjoy themselves and share with others,” Woodman tells TechCrunch. “QuikStories is the uncorking of that bottleneck and the opening of the floodgates and making it easier for customers to easily take advantage of the GoPro in the form of a story that’s easily generated on their phone.”
Uncorking the bottleneck
QuikStories is the product of a refocused company. Four years ago, GoPro reshuffled things, and began rebuilding its software team from the ground up, convinced that it was the way forward for a company that appeared to be painting itself into a corner. Early last year, it bought...
Read more from our friends at TechCrunch