First, how do Cisco's valuable channel partners benefit with Cisco capital and management attention focused on in mass retail outlets for between $130 and $230, and whose success has spawned a large group of copycat competitors?

Second, Cisco's expertise is in developing and supporting complex technology. I fear Cisco risks being "dumbed down" ... for example, a recent shows Cisco gaining market share in [small to medium business] routers but losing ground in the high-end router segment to Juniper Networks.

PEHub blogger Lawrence Aragon, who writes about private equity:

It sounds like a pretty good deal, but you have to understand that the VCs put $95 million into Pure, which makes the Flip digital video camera. Assuming they own half of the company, that's a return of just over 3x their money. For a middle-of-the road VC firm, that would be a decent return, but for big name backers Benchmark Capital and Sequoia Capital that's pretty much a dud.

Did Pure Digital's investors push for a relatively cheap acquisition before the Flip loses its market share? Does Cisco have plans for the Flip, or for Pure Digital, that aren't obvious from outside the company? Cisco's suggests Cisco, an enterprise IT colossus, is trying to become a household brand as well: