David Beisel’s Perspective on Digital Change
Kill TV? Maybe Not, But It Will Chip Away…
Slashdot reports, “Video Distribution Platform Aiming to Kill TV.” The Participatory Culture Foundation (a new funded non-profit organization) is embarking on an open-source project to create a new platform for internet television and video.
While this effort may not kill television as we know it, my summary follows of it a simple equation: Bittorrent + RSS = Next Step in Video Publishing.
Take the power of distributing via Bittorrent technology, which disseminates the file-serving costs throughout the network, as opposed to on the back of the publisher. Then add the power of RSS in syndicating the content through a standard reception channel. The combination of these two creates a solid platform for true many-to-many video publishing. On the consuming end, while it’s not exactly as simple as turning on the TV and watching anything you could ever wish for, this project is taking a step in the right direction.