The single best presentation I did in library school was on the evolution of streaming video online and how it’s biggest benefit was how online video eliminates constraints of both time and distance that all previous dominant mass communications mediums – radio, television – suffered from.
Like most 70s kids, I was pretty obsessed with TV. Then, in the 90s, I even ended up with a job selling cable TV subscriptions door-to-door. This was around the time I discovered the Internet too and I still remember obsessively downloading short, grainy clips of hockey highlights and music videos and Simpsons scenes, even before YouTube existed.
I don’t regret much about how my life is gone but admit I often wonder how my life might’ve been different if I’d pursued this area of interest more actively – instead of being a librarian, I might be working for a traditional or new media company.
At any rate, I’m still interested in developments in streaming media but every time I come across a clip like this one, I still think of that original library school presentation I did *fifteen* years ago.