What a strange year it's been as as comes to a close, it's the ideal time to look back and reflect.
The pandemic caused a fair share of problems in the drone world, not least of all, many being unable to get out flying. We soon made up for it however when we were finally released from lockdown. And now, as the year ends, it looks like things are getting tough once again.
DJI Mavic 3 We waited and waited for the arrival of the new DJI Mavic 3, all hoping for a massive upgrade on the Mavic 2. Indeed, many looking to upgrade had already sold on their Mavic 2 drones, whilst the market was still buoyant. But oh dear ...... this long awaited drone turned out to be a big disappointment for most potential buyers. Launched far too early, it's fraught with problems and downfalls.
It seems that the zoom is pretty useless, half the software is missing until updates in January and worst of all, the SSD on the Cine version is nothing short of a nightmare.
Those that took the plunge and bought it have reported that the SSD takes so long to download, it renders the drone useless. It begs me to wonder what DJI were thinking and if the promise of massive profits simply got the better of them and clouded their judgement. I can assure you it will do nothing for their reputation.
We will await the developments in the new year and see what happens. I would stake money on it that the sales have been disappointing for DJI.
It was also an awful year for Drone User Magazine as our webmaster, Tony passed away. He is deeply missed. This created a set of problems with the hosting of our issues which took a while to resolve. We had to move to our new platform at Issuu. I think we have almost got it right now and look forward to a bright future. Our readership has doubled as a result so there's a positive outcome at this sad time.
I will take this opportunity to wish all our customers a really happy Christmas and New Year. I hope 2022 turns out a little more positive.
Steve