Selfie sticks were first conceived in 2014 by Wayne Fromm, and became an instant hit around the word. As smartphone cameras became more sophisticated and powerful, the popularity of “selfies” – profile pictures taken by oneself – rose accordingly. So popular were these photos that “selfie” became a word in the Oxford dictionary. However, the facial features in these photos are frequently bloated and unflattering as the smart phone cameras could only be extended an arm’s length away.
The Modern Selfie Stick
It has been a few years since I have purchased a selfie stick, and I was pleasantly surprised to see that they have solved many of the issues with the first few versions. The modern selfie stick no longer runs out of power at the worst times, takes literally a second to be capture-ready, and can extend longer while retracting shorter and weighing less.
I bought this selfie stick in singapore and was glad to see that the energy-draining Bluetooth shutter triggers have become a thing of the past. Instead, this selfie stick uses an audio jack to interface with your smartphone and trigger its shutter. It takes a second to plug in and is far quicker than waiting for a Bluetooth device to pair with your smartphone.
Without the Bluetooth device in its handle, these selfie sticks are also much thinner and can retract to just the length of your palm, and are also thin enough to stow into your pocket! The smartphone bracket doesn’t have to be detached from the selfie stick while keeping too, which is a nice keepsake from previous selfie sticks as it means quicker set up and no risk of losing a small part.
While being so compact, these selfie sticks can still extend to a meter long – as long as the original selfie stick!
Selfie On A Stick
The first selfie stick was a little more than a stick with a bracket to hold smartphones at the end. While simple, the concept was novel and ingenious. The rod was retractable so that the selfie stick could be retracted easily for keeping, and could be extended during use.
The length of the selfie stick allowed smartphone cameras to be held further away. This had the twin effect of making features less distorted and more flattering, as well as capturing more of the background. This is also one reason why selfie sticks quickly became an essential item in every tourist’s luggage, as they journey around capturing photos of themselves with foreign scenery.
The downside of this selfie stick was that it was still rather long when retracted, and could not be pocketed easily. The smartphone bracket also had to be separately screwed on, which made setting up and keeping the selfie stick a hassle. However, the drawback that dwarfs them all is the lack of a capture button: smartphones had to be put on a timer and could capture one shot each time only. This was a major inconvenience if you wanted to capture a photo of a quick event.
Bluetooth Selfie Sticks
The next generation of selfie stick quickly remedied the drawbacks of its predecessor. By using Bluetooth technology to communicate with smartphones, it was able to trigger the shutter with a press of a button built into its handle. The smartphone bracket could also be folded down for compactness rather than having to be detached.
However, Bluetooth selfie sticks introduced a new set of problems of its own. For one, the Bluetooth device made the whole selfie stick thicker, bulkier and heavier – not desirable characteristics for something you’ll be carrying around on tours. The extension of the telescopic rod also became shorter as the bulk of the Bluetooth device meant that less telescopic segments could be built in.
There were some inherent problems with using Bluetooth technology as well. For one, it took time for the Bluetooth selfie stick to become paired with the smartphone, which could cause one to miss out on a selfie-worthy opportunity. Bluetooth selfie sticks were also notoriously energy-consuming, running out of power in a matter of hours, and draining the phone battery as well. They have a knack for running out of power at the worst times, and have to be charged hours in advance of leaving the house – easily neglected if you are packing for a trip.
Selfie Drones
The selfie drone is the radical newcomer to the selfie scene, and could very well replace the modern selfie sticks. This exciting drone doesn’t even have to be held at all! It hovers with the stability of a quadcopter and gives you unlimited range, making even the modern selfie stick look inadequate, all while recording in 4k HD.
Using visual recognition, the drone tracks the owner so that he is free to enjoy himself and have his entire experience recorded for perusal. Some models are even small enough to be stowed in your pocket.
The only downside is that the battery life is horrendously short: about 10 minutes of air time for 40 minutes of charging. With the advances in energy technology, this can be easily solved and I wouldn’t be surprised to see selfie drones taking over selfie sticks in the near future!