First time of the spring 2016 semester. Based on the article we read, we have to bet for or against if the real-time video (streaming) is going to be our future.
The article was written in 2012, so oh well… we kind of live in the future.
I was trying to make a list of events where in my experience I’ve been exposed to streaming?
Conferences
All the conferences I organized had livestream to people that cannot attend events. We were using services like Ustream, Livestream, Youtube. Some of the livestreams were paid, so it’s also one of the additional ways of making business.
TED that used to be a private dinner party has TEDLive as a big part of it now, allowing people to watch TED conferences live and be part of the bigger community.
We also embedded some of our streams to news portals, which required much bigger moderation, because no secret: most of the commenters there are trolls.
Meetings
Talking to family and attending meetings while actually physically being somewhere else is also so much easier now. Skype, Google Hangouts, BlueJeans, even Facebook messenger has a video option.
Concerts
There is no way you can attend every single concert of you favorite band. Scorpions (I know, old) recently streamed one of their shows in Boston. Aerosmith is streaming live from their dressing rooms before actually going on stage.
Live events, news
It’s hard to imagine news without some video reporting. I remember just few years ago being stuck to my desktop and following every single second what was happening in Kiev, Ukrain during Maidan revolution. Video gives you access to real events happening NOW.
Video gaming
One thing I honestly don’t understand is how can it be interesting to watch somebody watch games? I recently got a call from my best friend who was organizing a gaming conference back in Lithuania. She was telling me “I feel like an outsider, you have no idea what’s happening.”. Apparently, few boys in the audience (most of the people attending the conference where teenager boys) freaked out when they saw a famous gamer (who also streams) and ran to get her autograph.
Even Facebook wants to add an option that instead of a profile picture you could have a profile video.
So yes, I agree with author of the article, I wouldn’t bet against it. We’ve still got some time to go but I believe we’re clearly going that direction.
If I think about myself, I’m pretty sure video will remain big part of my professional life, especially now, when I’m at ITP, but personal… I highly doubt that I would be streaming something anytime soon unless it’s something very important (like catching a big event, being part of the revolution, and so on). Of course, if there was a service allowing to stream with just a click of one button, things might change… But I still believe it’s for new generations to come.
My only question for now is: what we’ll have to do with all that data? I hope there will be a way of how to use it with a purpose (not only streaming what I’m having for breakfast or where I’m going grocery shopping) and common sense will remain.