Soon a Web site without moving pictures will be old hat, so what
should we expect?
The number of Net users is increasing daily, and surfers are
becoming ever more worldly in their tastes. Where once the mere
existence of a Web site you could call up via a telephone line was
enough to amaze and astound, now sites have to be far more
tempting.
And one of the most obvious ways to tempt the capricious surfer
is by supplying not just pictures, but moving pictures.
But how close is video streaming to becoming the standard of the
Internet experience?
We are on the threshold, says Martin Wrigley, chief technical
officer of TV production company, the Two Four Group. His company
already has a subsidiary, twofourtv.com, which specialises in
producing Web videos.
Wrigley sees three obstacles at the heart of universal
acceptance of video streaming off the Web, and all three are
eroding fast.
The first is technical. While the country waits for broadband
and ADSL to arrive, the current 56Kbyte bandwidth is, he says,
perfectly capable of delivering video streaming.
Already, dedicated content delivery networks exist to carry
streaming media direct to the ISP. Aided and abetted by the intense
competition between the likes of Microsoft and Real Networks, the
technical provision for video streaming takes a significant step
forward every six months, says Wrigley.
As subscribers to digital TV know, you can have all the data
pipes in the world but if they don't play a good tune customers
won't want to know. Which is where video streaming hit a second
barrier - content.
"You must have properly produced, compelling content," says
Wrigley. "It is all about production values."
Amateur work will soon look as embarrassing as a l950s TV
advert, and do the host Web site no marketing good at all.
But, just as movie makers adapted to the arrival of the TV,
changing the way they directed and edited programmes for this new
medium, so will the industry adapt to the new constraints and
opportunities of the Web.
However, argues Wrigley, just having the technical capability
and the programme production capability does not mean that there
are no more barriers. The final barrier, he says, is belief.
"We need to show people that quality is achievable, get them to
understand and see what can be done today," says Wrigley. "It will
not be very long before a video streamless Web site will look old
hat and boring."
And with video streaming, some of the barriers to e-commerce
will be broken down. Research suggests that Webcast viewers spend,
on average, 80% more time online and sites with streaming media
show a 34% increase in sales.
Statistics like those should help ease the dotcom burn rate -
they might even tip you into profitability.