First Generation Nerd

So YouTube sent out a memo to its “content partners” (read: professional film/video guys/companies), telling them that they will now “be able to upload and monetize videos in [their] account that are longer than 10 minutes” (via Silicon Alley Insider).  Though seemingly unlimited in length, the limit to the file size is 1 GB.  This move has a couple of interesting implications:

1.     Longer video times means more networks could use YouTube as the distribution outlet for their online television shows.  Most major networks are up in arms about individuals posting television shows on the site (a la the Daily Show debacle), but if they embrace the popularity of YouTube, they could benefit from increased exposure.  Honestly, what is the difference between going to comedycentral.com to view the videos or watching them on YouTube?  Answer:

2.     Advertising.  These content partners are now able to monetize their content, via advertising.  YouTube will make a couple of bucks, as will the content providers, and we won’t have to watch hour broadcasts on five different pages. 

Indie film producers also can benefit from longer videos and larger files.  They can now post their films, in their entirety, onto one of the most popular web sites in the world. 

What I don’t understand is why Google/YouTube (GooTube) isn’t working on higher quality videos rather than longer ones.  Increasing the file size limit will allow people to eek out a bit more quality, but highly compressed 320×240 doesn’t really do some films and shows justice.  I realize most people aren’t that concerned about video quality, but even a step up to SD would be warmly welcomed.  There are a few people who are doing higher quality on YouTube now (the HD trick apparently no longer works, but higher quality is said to be available).  Interesting developments!

A friend recently showed me a great website called UStream.tv. UStream is a great tool that essentially allows anyone to start their own Internet TV station. But it’s not just streaming…it’s also interactive.

When you access someone’s UStream channel, you are also logged into a chat board that is updated live, either in the stream or just on your screen. Popular technology blogger of former TechTV fame, Chris Pirillo has his own UStream channel that is mainly him sitting at his desk most of the time, but has select clips that you can browse through if he’s not actively streaming content.

So what?

I work in academia, and can think of great distance learning capabilities that could be accented with UStream. If a professor is delivering a lecture or screen cast, comments and questions could easily be delivered and dealt with in real time by the professor.

Honestly, I don’t think this is even remotely the next attempt at “IPTV,” but it’s an interesting new way to bring consumer created content to your computer!

If anything, I hope that my follies can help other people not make the ridiculous mistakes that I do.

Allow me to explain.

I am a media specialist at a college, and my latest video is going to be taken halfway around the world to Korea for recruitment. In my typical fashion, I decided to go the “extra mile” and translate some key phrases into Korean using a couple of online translators. In an effort to double-check the translations, I even went the extra step to reverse translate what I got on the sites to see if they would come back to English unharmed. Well, everything checked out, so I went forward with the video.Imagine my surprise and embarrassment when I showed the video to a native Korean (a stoic man, at that), and he straight busted out laughing when he saw my first phrase! He said it was written as a two-year old would have said it.

In all fairness, three out of my four translations were okay, but they were mainly proper names (New York City and Washington, DC). Even so, the sting from my initial failure stuck with me, and I dare say I may not trust an online translator blindly ever again.

Beware of online translators! (On-line interpretation take care!)

Geesh.