Say it ain't so, FLIP

I am so surprised and disappointed at the news that was spreading yesterday.  I heard on the radio on my long drive home that Cisco is going to stop making the FLIP camera, a pocket sized video camera designed to record and easily upload digital video to the web.  By the time I got home and looked around on some news feeds, my disappointment sunk in and turned into some frustration as I realized I hadn't heard wrong.  Cisco is going to kill this very popular consumer-based project to "focus on selling its core products," which unless you are a systems manager, you probably have no idea what they are.  You can read more about it here.
A few years ago when my first child was born my wife and I bought a FLIP to share our daughter with her grandparents who are located in different states and countries.  We have loved this camera, as have our parents who get to keep up with their granddaughter's exploits from afar.  It has only been recently that I have brought these cameras into my classroom, and they have been very useful and worth every bit of the $100 or less price tag.  So it only figures that this would happen as soon as I get something going.  On a daily basis, my students record homework problems being completed and explained so that I can post them to my webpage for homework help for students at home, and numerous student groups have incorporated digital videos into projects for my class to add a bit of flair and interest to their work and/or presentation.  The more I use these cameras, the more I find I can do with them, and I have gradually been working them into class projects more and more.
Earlier this school year I convinced our school to purchase two of these cameras for our use, and I have essentially had permanent possession of one of them.  Feeding my disappointment is the fact that Cisco does not plan on selling the FLIP product line to another company, but rather, they are just killing it.  With this news, my concern is that we are going to be stuck with only two FLIPs rather than growing to the point of having at least a classroom set of 10-12 of the cameras to really get some use out of.  I really don't think I have the persuasive abilities to convince a district examining possible layoffs because of budget concerns to spend their money on more video cameras.
My advice to anyone reading this is to get out there and buy up these cameras while they are still available.  They have really been an asset to my classroom, and I highly recommend getting these devices into the hands of your students; you will love the results of their work with them.  For a few examples of FLIPs being used in the classroom, visit the links below:
My Class Website
David Sladkey's work with FLIP cameras
Megan Powers' Book Projects