Monday, June 25, 2007

Web 3.0: The Future Of Video

Recently I've been working on an article about what video content will look like in Web 3.0. I've found the topic to be too cerebral and hard to explain without drawing pictures. And then I found the below video that sort of sums it all up nicely.

The future of streaming video is clear and it involves unprecedented access and live remixing (or live mash-ups). I see a future where individuals can subscribe (for a fee) to network satellite feeds just as easily as one can currently subscribe to a podcast. From there, in real-time, that network feed can be manipulated and rebroadcast, whether it be cut with personal footage, picture-in-picture or with graphical and audio overlay.
For example, if I like sports and want to host my own version of SportsCenter, I could do live audio commentary over a basketball game feed and rebroadcast it to the web, live and streaming. I could even have a p-i-p window with my face in it. We're at war in Iraq? I can broadcast my own liberal anti-war CNN with live insurgence video and graphics. Presidential debates? I could do my own witty Mystery Science Theater 3000 commentary or turn it into a group experience with live opinion statistics overlays (like the video above) and a chat window next to the video for group discussion of issues. For the celebrity gossip folk? Rather than go to the red carpet, Perez Hilton could just as easily make snarky comments into a web cam as he cuts from the E! red carpet feed back to the NBC feed and back to E! again. The possibilities are endless. Everyone gets to watch their favorite news show because they get to create their favorite news show.

And I'm not just talking live video communities as discussed here at TechCrunch. Just getting in front of a web cam is so amateur and voyeuristic. Not to mention creepy. Such a community is no different than the millions of shit videos and users that get buried on YouTube and MySpace. What I'm talking about is legitimate content with most definitely expensive licensing fees out of financial reach to your average schmuck with a web cam. The future of video is professional content with a twist. Interactivity. Targeted to niche audiences, by niche auditions.

1 comment:

Gwendolyn Kronsage said...

isn't that what "youtube streams" and operator11.com are already presenting us today?