Dylan Schiemann

While attending Evan Williams’s BayChi talk, an audience member asked why Odeo is focusing on audio and not video. I started thinking about this, and came up with some thoughts about content that I doubt are original or profound, but worth mentioning.

Video content is most useful for something that is best seen with real animated footage. For example, news is really only useful as video if you have footage to show. Audio content is useful for when you have to watch something else, but want to listen to something to keep your mind engaged, or to learn something different than what you are watching. For example, in the car, in a waiting room, on an airplane, while working, etc. The web is best for when you want the fastest way to digest text, or customize an interface, or find a bit of information about something.

So I guess my thought is, that while video blogging will probably become popular, the video medium itself is inherently bad for digesting lots of text information quickly, and is better as a supplement for things that are hard to visualize, whether that be the structure of a large biochemical enzyme, or video footage of a baby’s first steps. And of course it is also very useful for people with short attention spans.