Mobile Video

Being an iPhone user puts you into a strange place -- on one hand it is one of the more advanced devices available here in the States, but lacks some of the core features found on other devices that have been available here for quite some time. The feature I am referring to is the ability to record video. I just played with Brad Kozlek's 3GS and was so impressed with the camera and the video options that is causing me to get really itchy for one. The video quality sort of blows my mind in general, but the ability to instantly post it to YouTube or email it is a real game changer. Posting of video to YouTube has been on a tear lately, but the 3GS adoption will just blow that up. Here's a quote from a post at the YouTube Blog that lays it out ...

In the last six months, we've seen uploads from mobile phones to YouTube jump 1700%; just since last Friday, when the iPhone 3GS came out, uploads increased by 400% a day.

I'll add a little link to something else YouTube is going to kill at -- citizen journalism. If you take a look at this post, Helping You Report the News, you'll see they are clearly going after the "in the moment" style reporting that Twitter is dominating. The combination of mass adoption of devices, services, and the emergent ease of interoperability is a game changer. I find it really amazing to watch as hyper-connected social networks are fueling personalized text accounts of events and will now promote easy video as a basis for mass communication. To me it is stunning.

What I am struck by is how unprepared a site like Vimeo looks to me given all these recent moves ... clearly video recording and editing was not much of a surprise to developers and while Apple chose to directly integrate posting to YouTube there doesn't seem to be much of an excuse not to have a native video app ready to go. A quick search of the App Store reveals nothing. All I'm saying is that lots of people are buying these new devices and a properly designed application can provide huge opportunities to extend your brand and participation.

More and more this is what I am seeing with the whole iPhone ecosystem -- apps drive traffic and can really make or break an existing service. There are a dozen or so Twitter clients all vying for our love, Apple has helped YouTube extend its reach, WordPress is making it happen with a native app, as are so many others. Being prepared to pounce in the mobile space seems more and more critical even if it is to drive traffic to existing services. Now, can I wait until October when AT&T will let me update for a reduced price? Perhaps.

Comments

[Jeff Swain]

I think you touched on why mobile is the next big thing--its ability to drive traffic. This makes everything else it provides that much more valuable.

Just think of how it will change Teaching and Learning.

[Alan Levine]

iPhone 3GS = Flip Killer ?

[Cole Camplese]

@Jeff ... I completely agree. In the last week or so I've become totally absorbed into the mobile space. I love where all this going!

@Alan ... I think you nailed it. I played with the video today and the quality is sick.

[Robin2go]

@Alan, @Cole... Good to know I don't have to choose between one or the other. Perhaps this is the tipping point I've been waiting for to make the iPhone plunge.

[Kyle Dickson]

I've been carrying a Kodak Zi6 for a while--all the fun of Flip without proprietary formats--but I'd agree Standard Def off of a phone makes this the video camera that's always with me.

Though YouTube gets the edge out of the gate, my real hope is that WordPress, Flickr, and others will build audio/video recording (or uploading) into their native apps in the same way they did photos. These are the crucial pieces needed for the iPhone to become an equal opportunity media player and producer.

Thanks for bringing these threads together.

[Bob Calder]

By keeping video off the iPhone, Apple said that content creation is more immportant than a casual cell phone shot. It is something to be thought about and prepared.

They didn't consider that their users want to use their phones in ways Apple didn't think about. No surprise. They have a paternalistic streak a mile wide.

Howwever, the run toward putting everything on one device *is* a bit headlong and unthinking. Cell phones provide great video considering how small they are. AND people want them. But it stops there. It is after all is said and done the equivalent of a Kodak Brownie.

I think what we need is instant access more than convenience because most digital devices are just too slow. That's what cell pones give you - speed.