IMHO, for the average user who is not going to fool around much with controls and lighting will agree that a compact camera with recording abilities is much more user friendly and feasable since it can be carried in the pocket and point and shoot on the go.
Problem is the quality and the audio which may be insufficient for some but regarding storage media , the price for SD or memory stix are dropping really fast with bigger capacity released in the market. These would allow longer recording time and the compact cameras are offering more options as they are released.
i use a old pentax optio s 3 for recording 60sec clips and it does a wonderful job with audio and zooming capabilities but of course its jurassic age now. didnt have to worry bout tapes or mini dvd and i could delete which clip i felt was not required on the go.Playback and exporting is easy via Pc usb 2.0
Like TS,i will be looking for a new compact cam with better recording capabilities in the near future..who knows what might come next?