Google, YouTube and the Future of Content
I have had too little coffee to be writing this post, but I shared these thoughts in an IM conversation with my buddy Julien last night and realized I should share it here as well.
Google buying YouTube this week as huge news. I won’t call it GoogTube or GooTube, for me I’m going to gall it gTube. It has a certain ring to it.
YouTube was easily the hottest property out there waiting to be scooped up. Facebook is now at the top of the pile in my opinion. I’m sure there are already discussions happening. It’ll be interesting to see what they accept for an offer when the time comes.
What I think people need to start looking at is that this world is not about podcasting, about social networks, about who has the biggest and coolest plot of land in Second Life. It still all boils down to the creation and consumption of content.
A couple of weeks ago Yahoo announced buying Jumpcut which was a huge move. It didn’t get much play because most people had not heard of them, but guess what? They had some pretty slick stuff. They were allowing people to upload video to the web and edit it on line! That is powerful.
You know what business model I think is a huge one and if someone creates it they will elevate this world we live in to a new level? Both Yahoo and Google seem to be moving in this direction from different angles. Other companies have pieces of this as well so perhaps someone is already going down this path.
I want to see a company that gives you massive storage so that you can upload video, audio, photos, text and everything else and have it right there at your fingertips. Then there needs to be an online version of a program such as CastBlaster for audio and something along the lines of Jumpcut or iMovie online as well for video.
Make it super easy for anyone to take content and edit it together as desired. Doesn’t have to have all the flashes and transitions. The basics will do. Allow them to do this online from anywhere in the world.
Then give them a mechanism to publish this to the net and then share it with the world. Make it mind numbing simple for anyone with a Blog/podcast/whatever to take that content and share it appropriately. Link, embed, share.
It IS all about the content. Forget the platform and the delivery mechanism. Those will always change and grow and prosper. People will always want to tell their stories their way. Give them the power to do this. Make it easy for the kid in the middle of the city to talk about what he’s going through or the girl in Europe who just wants to meet boys.
Lower the barriers to create and share the voices and images of the world and you’ve created something extremely powerful.
Who is going to do it first? I’m not going to guess, but I hope there is more then one in the end. It’s going to be fun to watch.
Posted in
New Media, Rambles, Video |
Comments(3)
Amen, CC! A generation ago, we entertained and informed each other though oral stories, handwritten letters, family photographs, and home movies. Then, somewhere along the line, someone told us that only professionals could do that, and so we read newspapers, gathered around radios, televisions, or crammed ourselves into popcorn-soiled movie theatre seats. During these times, we as content producers and consumers, lost the intimacy that we once shared with the storyteller/teacher.
But then something interesting happened. We were given wonderful tools to tell our stories with. We were given blogs, social networks, and podcasts. We now have the opportunity to express ourselves much in the same way as generations ago – even bringing back the intimacy that was once held between producer (storyteller) and content consumer.
From a technical perspective, we have the tools to create and distribute ubiquitously. We need to focus less on the technologies, and more on the skills that we’ve lost by being a generation of content-creation couch potatoes, who were once duped into thinking that we should leave the content-creation to the pros.
Ron
http://www.griddlecakes.com
You can’t say it any better than Ron and CC. Bring on the content!
yeah…. this is all interesting, but why would *I* want to set up a system for all of you to use? Are you willing to pay for it? By space? Bandwidth? Micropayments? Or are you willing to tolerate ad based revenue?
Youtube, MySpace, etc, are turning the internet into what TV has become. A vast wasteland pandering to the lowest common denominator. Anybody want to bet on how many WalMart shoppers also have MySpace pages? And how many of them are complete fabrications?
There is good content out there. All the tools already exist for you to do it yourself if it means that much to you. I don’t see CC dumping MTG for a MySpace page. Hooking yourself to any mass production entity like YouTube guarentees that your content gets lost in the noise.