Tag: video

YouTube Popularity

Post ImageInteresting piece up at News.com about YouTube and the phenomenal success it has been having, at least in terms of traffic. No one is quite sure how they are going to make money, or if they have staying power, but they certainly do not have a lack of users:

According to numbers provided by traffic-tracking company ComScore Networks, YouTube received 4.2 million unique visitors in February. Those numbers are good enough to outpace Apple Computer’s iTunes (3.5 million) and put it within spitting distance of eBaumsworld.com (4.4 million) and AOL Video (4.7 million), both of which have been in business longer.

Personally, I think YouTube is going to run into very big problems. Lately when I have been on the site, I have come across a lot of videos that display a “removed due to copyright infringement” message, and I can only guess that it will get worse before it gets any better.

Like most Web 2.0 companies, they plan to use advertising to make money:

“We’re experimenting with different business models,” she said. “It’s not going to be a traditional model, that is for sure. Right now, we don’t want to disrupt the user experience. But eventually, we’re going to introduce extremely relevant ads that will benefit users and won’t disrupt the service.”

I’ve said it many times before and I’ll say it here again – Google is an anomaly. I don’t think advertising is a truly sustainable business model, and even if it works for YouTube, they’ll never reach the levels that Google has. I think they need something besides simply advertising to truly make it.

Read: CNET News.com

My kids don't know what a DVD is!

[Obviously I don’t have any kids, so play along would you?]

Sometime in the not too distant future…

The strangest thing happened today! My daughter came home from school and started telling us all about her exciting day in the first grade. Then out of nowhere, she asked what a DVD was! I guess her class had been learning about how the screens in their desks work and the teacher made a reference to DVDs. I did my best to explain that in the old days, we needed to have a small, round disc in order to get a movie or something to play. She couldn’t quite wrap her head around the idea – it was kind of like me when I learned about record players. She’s used to having everything appear automatically – the lessons, videos and assignments all appear in her desk, “like magic” she tells me. Having physical media is such a thing of the past, and thank goodness for that too!

I can’t imagine what she’ll think when I explain to her that wireless wasn’t always everywhere and we’d have to disconnect and reconnect to different hotspots!

Back to the present…

It’s going to happen, it’s only a matter of time. The time when we download everything is coming, and it’s coming sooner than you think. Physical media is dying.

As Engadget noted the other day, Blu-Ray stuff is going to start shipping near the end of May. The format war between Blu-Ray and HD-DVD is pretty much useless though. Do we really need a new format? I think the advantages offered are not as great as those offered by DVD when compared to VHS, so people likely won’t upgrade in mass numbers. I think that’s why the Xbox 360 shipped with a good old fashioned DVD drive – people are going to start downloading content more and more.

Think about it for a second. A small percentage of online music sales are online right now, but the number is growing. The big networks like NBC and ABC have started selling downloadable video, a trend that is expected to continue. Millions of people have satellite TV or digital cable services that let them download new content all the time. Broadband connections are extremely popular around the world, and the United States is finally starting to catch up. And when we do finally have wireless everywhere (we’re getting closer) there will be no need for discs. Instead, everything will be accessed online.

Sure things will be difficult at first. What we really want is the concept of download once, play anywhere. That will take some time, but it is definitely achievable, and has already begun with devices like the Windows Media Center PC. Wifi is spreading throughout homes – how long until we see televisions with built in wireless connections so they can access content from devices around the house? These are the kinds of things that will become commonplace.

My brother and sister buy DVD’s all the time, and I have lots of friends who buy CDs, but I haven’t bought any for quite some time now (don’t have time to watch a lot of movies). If I could get entire Xbox 360 games off Xbox Live instead of just demos, I’d probably do that too.

I can already see the headlines – “DVD format disappears almost as quickly as it came!”. Never before has a format been so widely adopted so quickly. Maybe downloading will come almost as quickly? I for one think the download party is going to get much bigger in the next few years.

Notes on Podcasting & Video Blogging

Post ImageLunch is a meal I generally skip, so I got to spend some time talking to Robert Sanzalone during the break. He’s presenting a session on podcasting and video blogging – here are some notes:

  • Robert says podcasting kind of came from Apple…I disagree, but I see where he’s going with it. Apple has the iPod and rolled in support to iTunes, so they give the impression of being the first.
  • Blogger is a great tool to get people blogging – all you have to do is link an MP3 file. I suppose in the most simple terms, sure, but there’s more to that. You need the enclosure tag.
  • Robert suggests using Audacity for recording and editing, some other audience members suggest using GarageBand if you’re on a Mac.
  • Sounds like Robert likes video – he has used MovieMaker and says it works quite well. He suggests that if you have a digital camera with video capabilities, you can produce videos. I suppose…but the quality there is not so good.
  • Who is your audience? Robert says that’s a problem with the “tech” community, they don’t always consider the wider audience.
  • A video tool/service he likes is vimeo.
  • Another service he likes is YouTube, because it transcodes the video for you. In a way I suppose, but it’s not like you can download the video. A service that does have downloading is Revver – looks like they transcode everything to MOV format.
  • Robert says a service that does some more of the pieces is blip.tv. You can connect it with Flickr too. It still stays in the format you upload it in though.
  • The service that does the best job, according to Robert, is Dailymotion.
  • If Flickr does video, none of the other services will matter – is the general feeling it seems.

Lots to think about with video, I still don’t think we’re ready for it.

YouTube to be acquired?

Post ImageAccording to Michael Arrington, the popular video sharing site YouTube has signed an agreement to be acquired. An update on the post mentions that the rumor is highly speculative, but interesting nonetheless:

Whoever the buyer may be, it’s not News Corp. They have confirmed directly to me it has not acquired YouTube.

YouTube raised $3.5 million in venture capital just three months ago from Sequoia. It was founded in February 2005.

I remember early last year when I first discovered YouTube – there was almost nothing on the site! My how things have changed. YouTube has been quite popular in the blogosphere lately, as news has spread that their traffic is pretty amazing and by some measures has overtaken Flickr. Speaking of Flickr, my guess for the potential suitor is Yahoo – they’ve been on a Web 2.0 buying spree lately, so I wouldn’t be surprised at all if they picked up YouTube as well.

I’ll be keeping an eye on this rumor for sure!

Read: Techcrunch

NHL coming to iTunes?

Post ImageEarlier I mentioned that Apple would be making SNL skits available via iTunes for customers to download to their video iPods – but that’s not the only iTunes news of the day! Apparently the NHL is close to reaching a deal to offer video via Apple as well:

According to Sports Business Journal The NHL is very close to reaching agreements with Apple Computer Inc. for video downloading. “It would be fair to say we are close,” said Doug Perlman, NHL executive vice president of media.

Considering the NHL lost many of its American viewers with last year’s strike, this can only be seen as good news for the league. I wonder if they would offer entire games, or just highlights or something?

Read: Kukla’s Korner

Apple to sell SNL skits

Post ImageMacworld took centre stage in the world of technology today, so don’t be surprised if you see a lot of Apple-related items as you scan the headlines. One announcement that I found quite interesting is that Apple intends to sell Saturday Night Live skits through iTunes:

Apple is set to announce today that it will sell a limited number of archived “Saturday Night” skits through its iTunes Music Store for $1.99 each, for viewing on video iPods or personal computers.

The offering is the latest expansion of Apple’s iTunes video library, which includes content from television networks including NBC and ABC.

Seems to me this is an excellent idea; it’s exactly the sort of content most people will want to have on a portable device. There’s a theory that the coming battle between Blu-Ray and HD-DVD for the successor to DVDs will be meaningless, because content will be downloaded instead of purchased on physical media by the time all is said and done. I tend to think the theory holds some merit, and announcements like this one from Apple only make it even more likely. Already consumers download a lot of stuff and not just on the computer – take for example movies on satellite or digital cable.

Imagine if we had wireless everywhere! You could be walking to work or school or wherever, and get a notification that a new SNL skit is available for download. You simply say yes (and your credit card is charged), and pretty soon you’ve got a new video to watch! It’s powerful stuff.

Read: NYTimes.com

Mark Cuban on Network TV

Post ImageThe recent product announcements by Apple are already having an impact. Mark Cuban thinks that Bob Iger, President and CEO of Disney, has saved Network TV by allowing the sale of TV shows on iTunes for the new video iPod, and I’m inclined to agree:

The future of network television got immediately brighter yesterday. All because Bob Iger had the brilliance to say yes to giving consumers his content, where, how and when they want to consume it.

At the end of the day, that’s what it’s all about. That’s what podcasting is all about. Giving consumers control over the time, place, and method of consumption. I just hope the television executives don’t screw this up by forcing advertising down our throats too. Proceed, but proceed smartly!

Read: Mark Cuban

Podcasting to benefit from MP3 player growth

Post ImageI came across an article on CNET News.com today which cites an IDC report and proclaims that shipments of MP3 players are expected to hit 124 million units in 2009. That’s an incredible 370 percent increase from the 26.4 million units that were shipped worldwide last year. Podcasting is surely going to benefit from the surge in mobile devices, and it may become an even richer experience too:

The report also explored the revenue potential of three other portable devices that play back compressed audio: DVD players, mobile phones such as the Motorola Rokr and gaming devices such as Sony’s PSP. This category of “other” portable play-back devices is expected to exceed 700 million units shipped with an estimated $114 billion in revenue in 2009, IDC said.

Combined with the MP3 player category, all compressed audio players are expected to reach 945.5 million units shipped and $145.4 billion in revenue worldwide by 2009.

Combined with new devices that also support video, such as the new video iPod, the potential market for both audio and video podcasting is huge. I don’t know the numbers, but I would expect a large majority of podcasts today are simply played on the computer, not on a mobile device. As more people acquire these devices, and as the devices themselves become easier to use and update (like wireless transfers of audio files, support in all major automobiles) I think that trend will change. More and more people will listen on the go. The main potential problem that I would predict is poor battery life – it needs to drastically improve from where we are today.

It will be exciting to watch podcasting grow in the coming years! So far 2005 has been a big year for podcasting, but I am certain the best is yet to come.

Read: CNET News.com

Video iPod Released

Post ImageAt long last it has happened. The oft-rumored and much ballyhooed video iPod was unveiled by Apple’s Steve Jobs today along with a new iMac and an updated iTunes that includes music videos, movies and TV shows:

The iPod has “been a huge hit for us, so it’s time to replace it,” Apple CEO Steve Jobs said as he showed off the new video-capable MP3 player at an event here. “Yes, it does video.”

The music players, which come in black or white with a 2.5-inch screen, will be available in a 30GB model for $299 and a 60GB version for $399. The new devices hold up to 15,000 songs, 25,000 photos or more than 150 hours of video, Apple said.

Pay attention to the media coverage this device will get in the coming weeks. What’s significant is not that Apple has released a video version of the iPod, but that no one seems to care about the Portable Media Centers that have been out for months from companies like Creative. Seems as though Apple can do no wrong!

Perhaps Microsoft and Real set aside their differences for the simple reason that they can’t beat Apple if they are trying to beat each other. It has been suggested that Apple and Google would make good partners in the fight against Microsoft (and now Real perhaps). I don’t think they would, for the simple reason that Steve Jobs never releases anything into beta!

Even though the video iPod has been a long time in the making, I have to admit I am still somewhat surprised. Given the recent bickering between Jobs and the record label executives, I expected it to be harder for Apple to add movies and music videos to their iTunes store. On the other hand, Jobs is much more powerful in Hollywood (Pixar, etc) than he is in the eyes of the RIAA.

The Apple domination of media continues…

Read: CNET News.com

Skype 1.4 Released! Video coming soon?

Post ImageSkype launched the latest version of their Windows software yesterday, bringing the popular VoIP tool to version 1.4.0.71. I installed it on both of my machines this afternoon, and it appears to be running quite well. Here are some of the more noticeable new features:

  • You can forward calls on to mobiles, landlines and other Skype Names.
  • They have added downloadable ringtones!
  • There’s a bunch of new emoticons, 21 to be exact.

You can see the entire list of new features, changes, and bugfixes here. And the coolest feature of all? A feature that might be coming in as little as a month, according to a post by Roland Tanglao:

There you have it! Skype introduces video calling in November 2005 for Windows. So Mac and Linux Skype video calling will be there in 2006 which means 2007 is the year of video calling for the masses.

Definitely check out his post to see the picture he attached. Interesting indeed! You can download the latest version of Skype at their website, and be sure to keep your eyes open for that video version!

As the new version of Skype has call forwarding, and because the application seems to work fairly well on my Tablet PC, I have decided to have my “mastermaq” account connect automatically, and I have set the old “blogosphereradio” account to simply forward. So if you want to get in touch with me over Skype, please use my mastermaq account.

Read: Skype