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John Rust writes a provoking piece on the removal of FireWire 400 from every single piece of new Mac hardware — from Mini to Pro — and what it means for the the MiniDV “standard”:

Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to reality. Recording HD video on a little Flip camera isn’t an alternative to a real camera. A DSLR is meant for photos, not jello-like video that can only be recorded in little 5-minute segments of QuickTime video. Why does the “industry standard” have long lists of incompatibilities that will be updated “as more is known”? And who honestly needs to bother with the differences between hard drives and SD cards? They both do the same thing.

John argues that MiniDV tapes were the medium that bridged the prosumer video gap for years, and should remain the predominant standard. After a decade of owning a tape-based camcorder, and 90 days of owning a Nikon D90 (which records HD video on SD cards), I can firmly disagree with him.

Flash memory has revolutionized the way I shoot video.

Scoff at it all you want, but it’s the comparable to the difference between film and digital. Recording on tape takes work to set up, work to shoot, and work to import. So much so, that you need complete and total preparation along with a whole post-processing workflow just to make a simple 60 second clip. And as unimportant as that may seem, it limits experimentation. Which limits creativity. Which is worse than any jello-cam footage, I can assure you.

With flash memory, I can press a single button and I’m recording — and there’s a 0% chance that I’m going to be taping over something. I can actually browse through my separate clips with thumbnails on the camera. I can import HD footage within seconds, drastically reducing the realtime import limitations of MiniDV, and the video actually imports as separate, distinct clips. Amazing!

I’ve filmed more in the last 90 days with the D90 than in the last decade with my MiniDV-based camcorder. The best camera is the one you always have with you, and is not a pain to operate. Experimentation and creativity can spark something so emotionally captivating that pro cameras can only hope to capture.

It seems like there is a gap in the camcorder industry right now. We have high-end cameras coming out that take advantage of flash and hard drive based memory storage. And we have low-end, ultraportable, Flip-style camcorders that bring HD video to the masses. But what about the advanced amateur? John is right, there really is no optimal solution at the moment.

But it’s coming. Like the transition from floppies to CD-ROMs and from film to digital, it will take time, but a better solution is on the way.

Just like Apple’s vision of a non-linear editor with iMovie ‘08 that ruffled so many people’s feathers when first announced, transitions — especially in creative spaces — aren’t easy. Nor are they embraced with loving affection. The first implementation may be flawed, the second, clunky, but over time, it will evolve. And it will make all of us more productive, less frustrated, and more creative.

In the words of Seth Godin, “You don’t have to like change to take advantage of it.”

Should we stick to what we’re comfortable with, or choose to embrace the future with open arms?