You know the Facebook adds that pop up on the right side of the page; those the Facebook gurus suspect you might be interested in based on your activity?  The ones most of us ignore?

This one popped up on my Facebook page today, and for the life of me I cannot figure out why anyone would use this product.  Couldn't you just walk outdoors and watch your flower blossom – in real time with real eyes?

The Timelapse PlantCam automatically takes photos of your garden growing and stitches them together to create a fast-forward movie!

Am I missing something here? Is this really worth $79 … even with free shipping?

If anyone out there in Internet land has used PlantCam, I'd love to hear about your experience – positive or negative.  I'm trying to keep an open mind.  I suppose it could be a nice gesture to set one of these gadgets up so a bedridden gardener can view the progression outside where they cannot wander.  But, the web ad does not give enough information for me to even consider the PlantCam for this use – hell, I can't even get their informational website video to run well!  How long does PlantCam record?  How large a view does it record?  What's the resolution (my favorite photographer will like this question!)?  How tall is the mounting stake and is it adjustable?  And, how sturdy can what appears to be a single mounting pole really be?

In my yard, one run through by a mole or vole would topple the PlantCam in an instant.  Hmmm … wait a minute … I wonder if I could entice one of my really savvy underground rodents to pull the PlantCam down into its tunnel.  Then I could watch these little creatures as they devour the roots of my plants.  Maybe the PlantCam comes with a strap that would allow said rodent to mount it on its back.  RodentCam!  Or, perhaps the PlantCam people could come up with the DeerCam … simply provide a larger strap so gardeners could sneak up to one of these monster rodents, hook on the Cam, and then we could record deer eating our vegetation.  Now either of these would be useful!

Take note PlantCam people.  You're going to have to come up with a whole lot more information, and do a bang-up job of convincing, for me to believe this product has any value.  And, for the sake of full disclosure, I am not seeking a freebie to test, nor do I … thank goodness … have a financial tie with any PlantCam manufacturer, distributor, or advertising agency.

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Categories: Gadgets & Stuff.
Tags: gadgets, PlantCam.

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