Newsletter: week of 7/28

I couldn't care less about what a 360 camera looks like.

That's what I woke up thinking this morning after seeing all of the reviews for DJI's first 360 camera that was released yesterday, the $550 Osmo 360. Shorter, wider, more battery... ehhh, it's 2025 and all of that will be on par. I just want to know about the software.

As you may heva heard 😉 I took this big ol' bike ride a month ago. On it, I took a 360 camera (Insta360 X5), an action camera (Osmo Action 5 Pro), a drone (DJI Flip), and a small point and shoot (Canon Powershot V1). And by far, the camera I touched the least was the 360 one.

Although the footage I did capture, when I would bring myself to capture it, was great and 100% useful in the final video, shooting 360 footage still comes with the huge dilema of having to edit 360 footage. And, for most folks who use action cameras in the hopes of grabbing quick shots of fun moments, that roadblock of having to edit that footage results in loads of video that will never get looked at.

This is why I think that the 360 camera hardware is the least important part of the story. All I want to know is who is going to bring in-camera, automatic editing to me first! Insta360 has come the closests with it's FlashCut and AI edit tools, but it bakes in some truly crazy creative choices such as wild music and flashy transtions.

My dream is in-camera software that cuts out 4 or 5 angles from a single 360 degree clip and then stores them on the micro-SD card. That's it. That's all I want.

And I think the winner of the 360 camera race will be the one who creates the absolute best software first. What do you think? Am I being a baby, or do you hate editing that footage too?

via hard.images on Threads

📖 What I read:

The Short-Lived Plan to Produce a Trump-Themed Instant Pot
"As its private-equity owner fought antitrust allegations, the countertop cooker suddenly embraced the president’s politics, trying the new playbook of lobbying through flattery."
smh, I hate it here.

Galaxy Z Fold7 Achieves Record-breaking Milestone in the US
I've consistently switched back to the S25 Ultra after completing phone reviews this year, but the Z Fold7 has me in a chokehold. The sales make perfect sense. Samsung nailed this one.

https://www.tumblr.com/thecatscan
No context needed.

The Best Music of 2025 So Far

📺 What I watched:

I put 40 Billion marbles in the Colosseum to find alien life
Thanks to Nathan for sharing this in the chat! Not only is this video so well made, but it's also mind-blowing.

The Power of Delusional Self Belief
The weekly dose of motivational video (featuring some incredible editing).

Life Inside a Singular Artists' Enclave in Brooklyn | “The Candy Factory” | The New Yorker
Someday I'll have a dreamy NYC office space, but for now I'll live vicariously through YouTube videos about them.

The Extreme World of Death Diving

🎶 What I listened to:

say something - Royel Otis
feels like summer in college

Madeline - Zach Bryan, Gabriella Rose
smh Zach Bryan is my problamtic fav

All Night - Beyoncé
sink your teeth back into this one

A Little More Too (Demo) - Nathaniel Rateliff & The Night Sweats

Alright, bud. That's all I have for this week. I am, once again, swimming in brand approval hell, but with any luck, I will have my RX1R III video up by Monday. In the meantime, I hope you have some epic weekend plans ahead!
I appreciate ya,
-Becca