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""Video is one of the most inefficient means of communication, suited only for self-important types who overvalue their own thoughts and undervalue the time of those they speak to.""
I have much the some reaction to most audio podcasting. There may be good stuff out there but I just don't have the time or energy to weed through all the crap. If there were better tools to sort it out I might consider spending so time listening (at least audio doesn't require your undivided attention for the whole length of the piece).
On Thu, Feb 14, 2008 at 10:04 AM, Disqus
I think that services that allow more flexibility make more sense. I've been trying out Utterz which allows you to post audio, video, photos and text either via the computer or cell phone. To me the mix of different types of media in commenting is much more interesting than I do a video, you do a video, and on and on. Most people aren't webcam types.
There's also a service/wordpress plugin called Riffly that adds the ability for people to leave audio and video comments directly on a blog. Much more relevant I think because it fits right in with the blog's comments instead of taking you off site.
Loic's company has more competition than they want to admit at this point. If Seesmic wants to be successful they need to expand beyond video and integrate well with blogs and mobile devices.
just don't think there's a lot of those cases, or as many as Loic and
Scoble and others seem to think there are.
On Thu, Feb 14, 2008 at 10:18 AM, Disqus
requires such a substantial investment of time, and so it's hard to
tell whether it's going to actually be worth it or not until it's too
late.
However, I see it as being overkill for blogging. I can't image commenting on a blog using Seesmic UNLESS I absolutely need to show a picture. Plain audio comments might be just as valuable.
And i'm all about video.
Now that it's not beta, we'll get to see if a real crowd will come in and use it on an ongoing basis. I wish them nothing but the best of luck!
Maybe the problem is your still thinking with your OLD MEDIA head and not thinking forward enough .Im 36 and can see the value in these things
Seemsmic is pretty much niche product but it has a crazy amount of European users .Not that I have a need for Seesmic and I think that's the Issue lies is that you have to have a need to see the products vale .Seesmic might be great if you have friends or family overseas that a a video message is more personal than an email.An I can see the value you in that especially across different time zones,
Aren't we supposed to hate appointment based viewing? I thought that only television was the only place for video.
Pesky consumers, who do they think they are?! /smirk
I only think that you can do much more with much less.
But despite the fact that some of us are shy or self-conscious or have self-image issues, I think your point about asynchrony is key. If I'm already chatting with you on IM, I might turn on my camera and make it a video chat. But the critical mass of connections that the Internet enables between people is predicated on asynchronous communication: email, blogging, comments, shared media, etc. Synchronous video comm is a sideshow to all that.
But if someone can make some dough out of it, more power to 'em....
I'm not sure I would ever use it for anything else.
Not getting it = passing a judgement on what people do with any given technology. People who don't 'get' myspace or second life or whatnot, DO actually 'get it' but I believe it's more about making a social prejudice known. You think you're better than them?
Also, where is the video mail thing coming from. Eyejot is video mail (ie., we don't have SOCIAL crammed down our throats). Seesmic would be more akin to forums. Let's at least try to compare apples to slabs of granite once in a while, shall we?
Maybe it's just me, but I would never comment on this if I could only do it in video; text is faster, more convenient, and (for those in offices) quieter.
I'm not "passing judgment" by saying that I don't get it. I don't get particle physics, but that doesn't mean I'm passing judgment on it. I'm sure it's really exciting to those physicists who work in the field, but I'd much rather spend my time doing what I love.
Seesmic is the same thing for me. I'm sure it's really awesome for some people (there are a number of active "seesmers" on there), but for me, I just don't understand the attraction (I don't get it)
Part of what makes the Internet tick is anonymity and seesmic takes that out of the equation.
@ ericrice :
I think plain old forums and print like blogs will always be around because people like to scan. It can be tough to get anything out of video (as a medium in general) unless you watch the whole thing.
Just my opinions!
Matt
Thanks for the post-- I have been trying out these video sites, and, being new to video, am trying to fiugre out how i might apply this and the other services. Still not sure, though like rob I have found Utterz more useful for creating simple multimedia for a blog/ Twitter link.
I understand the appeal of live-streaming for events-- if there is a video element. I also understand even the appeal of asynchronous video chat-- if there is a visual element.
This week I have been trying out ooVoo (a buddy is helping to promote them), and that site offers up to 6 live video participants-- I see a business use -- or even a personal use-- there, frankly.
But like I said, still figuring out when/where video makes sense, and when it's not necessary
I'll pass on almost ALL cooking videos, thanks. And for topics that have interest, I skip through the video via scrubbing.
But see, there's a bigger problem. The 'scanning' culture means that we're short attention span, impatient, and becoming so brief in our consumption, that who knows, we're probably getting dumber.
Combine that with the fact that possibly all of us are just untrained in presenting and getting to the point.
So I'll ask again, is it the tools or is it 'us' that's the problem?
It's a much bigger conversation than this thread, but I did want to point out that I skip, scan, and skim all the time in all media. I'm medium-old. ;)
That said, Loic is a smart guy who will probably figure out how to boost the entertainment value of non-famous people having disjointed conversations with each other. Some folks like Christine Herron of First Round Capital definitely have enough "flavor" to generate a following but television still does a better job of delivering talking heads (i.e. CNN's "best political team in the universe.")
By the way, I'm a former TV exec producer so maybe my standards for passive, slack-jawed media are biased.
the name of that damn app all morning, and couldn't. I guess that's
because I'm old :-)
On Thu, Feb 14, 2008 at 2:15 PM, Disqus
think -- just giving my opinion. I'm not saying it doesn't deserve to
exist, I'm not saying all the people who do "get it" are morons, I'm
just saying it doesn't work for me. But then I wasn't sure that
Twitter was going to work either, and yet I've found it to be
strangely compelling, so maybe I should cut Seesmic some slack.
On Thu, Feb 14, 2008 at 2:22 PM, Disqus
Intersect, brotha! These are important times, we should ALWAYS cut slack. The blogosphere (er, tech blogosphere) is just blanketed with this 'don't get it' or 'don't think, just link!' approach.
I use Seesmic and am kinda annoyed by it actually in comparison to other sites (Seesmic is 1/3 of what Utterz is and Sees is not early at all, it's just a famous product).
That's why I come stomping out all cranky-like, because it's a plea when bloggers I like get all Valleywag-ish.
'I don't personally like it, ergo, it sucks' <-- we gotta knock this off, seriously. We do it so much, sometimes I wonder if we should just go pick up the newspaper. Heh. Not that it's much better, but still. :)
/me cutting some slack.
Especially interesting:
- you can't comment, scan, or make notes on video / hard to easily forward to share (gotta' worry about video formats, players, flash etc etc)
- many people cannot, or will not, watch video at work (!)
- this seems to be ahead of its time - imagine those sci fi movies where the actor sits at his desk and everything is there - big screens, audio, video etc. You can easily turn on/off what you want. Right now it all seems like such a chore and inefficient.
- time savers - difficult to briefly skim a video to see whether worth watching the whole thing like one can quickly do with text
- it's not that interesting watching unattractive people (had to say it!)
- quality takes time to put together - esp on video costs go up (vs. say re-writing and editing text) so the quality vs. speed thing is an issue
nice investment group, although it's still kind of sad to see the same group of people always sticking together for the same types of things....
No matter how you look at it, video is a high-bandwidth application. There are still a large number of people whose connections are not fast enough to handle video. This means that even for those who might otherwise use Seesmic, anyone who has a slow connection cannot use it.