If you're a Flip user, you don't need to get your panties in a twist about the new iPod Nano. It didn't devalue your investment. If you were thinking of buying a Flip, you don't have any reason to change your mind.

About 1:30 pm yesterday (09/09/09)my Twitter TweetDeck* started lighting up about Steve Jobs' presentation on the new iPod Nano. Almost all were gloat-tweets, tagged with #flip and #iPodNano, like the following:

"Time to replace my flip with a Nano"

"New video on #iPod nano! Say goodbye to the #Flip video camera. You have just become extinct."

"actually mourning #flip right now. a whole industry killed in one fell swoop"

"#iPodnano now has video and mic..... *waves bye bye to #flip* so true! another wave of products crushed by apple"

There were even one or two hand wringers:

"This coming from someone who is a real #flipvideo fan. But, damn."

In Steve's presentation, he showed a picture of a Flip, and waved good-bye to it. He noted that you can, for about the price of a Flip UltraHD, get a device that not only plays iTunes, but has an FM radio and a pedometer. It can synch up to your special Nike shoes (kit and shoes extra), and IT SHOOTS 8 HOURS OF VIDEO! And it's "YouTube friendly."

Well, guess what. I did the math. An hour of video per gigabyte tells you the resolution. The iPod Nano shoots 640x480 resolution. That is VGA -- not HD, not even widescreen for YouTube. That is 1/3 the resolution of the Flip MinoHD or Flip UltraHD. You didn't hear that in his presentation, and you won't see it on the site (at least anywhere I can find.)

The video demos you see on the Apple website are displayed in 290x220 resolution, so don't be surprised if they look decent. The device includes some gaudy in-camera effects that we will all soon grow quite tired of.

So, let's see. I can buy a Flip HD camcorder for about the same price as a Nano, and take great video. Or I can buy an iPod Nano, listen to FM, count my steps, take lousy video, and still have to buy a phone.

Here are two great articles on how Flip got it right (and, implicitly, how Apple seems to be losing focus):

Wired Magazine: The Good Enough Revolution: When Cheap and Simple Is Just Fine
Economist Magazine: When less is more

*Follow @FlipInFocus on Twitter, or become a fan on Facebook