Wired 2011: Where's the Video?

So there I was at the Wired 2011 event in London, representing "us" (the readers of Streaming Media), confident that the work we have collectively put in to "changing the game," thinking that we have democratised communication, thinking we...WE are the creators of the new society... that video is surely the most influential social and technological phenomenon of our still-young century...

...but no. On day one of the conference, there was barely a mention of video. An amazing amount of video was brought into presentations live as streams from YouTube and elsewhere. But of the complexity of meeting the demands of delivering video to thousands of viewers...nothing.

At its highest level, the day was focused first on social networking, and then in the second half on 3D printing.

Yep. A bit of biotech, and some other human experience stuff thrown in as well. But the main focii of the morning and afternoon sessions hinged on these two aspects.

Don't get me wrong. Broadly it has been one of the most stimulating, topical, and though-provoking events I have been to. Yet its attempt to predict the future (or assert the future is unpredictable) without a mention of the change that online video has effected left me concerned that streaming's effects have been so sublime that the sector is in danger of passing unnoticed right past those it is influencing.

Afterwards, when I spoke of my passion for streaming, or the challenges of meeting the demands of tens—if not hundreds—of thousands with a live webcast, these amazing and inspirational thinkers were enthralled. My sector...The real-world story of the role that our sector plays is often awe-inspiring.

So in the networking session, among the "glitterati" of our generation, I have to admit that the skills I described as representative of the streaming media
community caused some amazement. The immediacy with which the concept of delivering a live event—such as coverage of the conference to a potential audience larger than they could conceive—convincingly fed these luminaries' egos.

And for all the hype I felt somehow both humbled by their ideas and at the same time inflated by the fact that, frankly if that many people wanted to hear their ideologies and opinions, the streaming media industry would, in real-world terms, be the people they would turn to to deliver their messages.

And that left me feeling extremely wired.

Free

for qualified subscribers

Subscribe Now Current Issue Past Issues

Wired 2011: The Next Generation of Facial Recognition

Face.com's facial recognition technology is at once amazing and scary. Are you ready for your close-up?

14 Oct 2011