Life & Technology

Came as interesting news out of the US that YouTube surpassed one billion video views in a single day on a regular basis. That is huge numbers any way you look at it, but what really surprised me about these figures is that the company that owns the brand is still not making money from it.

YouTube is arguably the most powerful brand in video content delivery and yet, there is still no money being made. There have been ructions in the past about what sort of model needs to be adopted when it comes to payment – either advertising, click throughs, or paying for content from production houses and passing the cost on to consumers.

The thing about YouTube is that it has now become a staple in the cyberworld, but it has hit a few hiccups over the past year or so, with the likes of the English Premier League demanding that videos be taken down of matches that have just been played. If BSkyB and YouTube had any brains, they would come to some sort of content agreement. At the end of the day, BSkyB needs the content to sell its subscriber service, and the immediacy it gives to viewers. So, I can see Rupert Murdoch’s point of view that his company would object at videos going up almost immediately after a game.

But, surely, they can go up a week later and make YouTube pay for the content? Not only would it be another revenue stream, it would give those who don’t have satellite television a way of seeing football. Of course, there are already third parties who pay for the content – ie other television stations, but maybe the pieces could be put up after these third parties have had their say.

This is just one example where it might work. YouTube could then make its money via advertising revenue.

That aside, YouTube is here to stay and it’ll be interesting to see how it develops over the next six months to a year.

Well, it’s taken 10 years, but Australia is finally going to get the Kindle ebook reader. Not that it will really ‘get’ it per se, you’ll still have to buy it off Amazon.

It strikes me as ironic, in a way, that the company that pioneered online selling of books online now sells one of the most popular ebook readers in the US. Will it become as popular in Australia and the rest of the world? Who knows. Sony already has one on the market as does BeBook, and the take up of them has been by early adapters, although as Harold Wiegers from Bebook told me recently “looking at the iPhone e-reader app, which has been downloaded 1m times in the first month, there is a growing demand for e-reading.”

Personally, I can’t see myself buying one – in the near future anyway. I like reading, but am more old school. In saying that, I can see a need for them, and how the current younger generation would embrace the technology. It’s a natural extension of other technologies they have grown up with over the past 10 years.

Also, feedback from the US suggests that once you get a kindle, they are almost addictive with the amount of books people read.

Amazon and some independent writers are also looking into a model that will allow authors to put their books online without having to go through a publisher. This would mean previously unpublished author can have a place whereby they can showcase their work without having to put up with the tedium of dealing with bolshie agents or arrogant publishers. Then again, the public won’t get the benefit of the filters such people put on over some of the drivel that might get through.

What I do know is that the Kindle is here to stay, as are other ebook readers, which isn’t a bad thing.

Steve mentioned the World Cyber Games, which are being held at the Beyond LAN Cafe in Sydney’s CBD. This is like the Olympics of gaming, and the winners of the Samsung World Cyber Games National Finals will be going to China to compete in the World Finals. Hope to see you there, especially if you are a gaming fan.

Also spoke about Pipe International, a little Australian company with big plans to revolutionise the internet by providing cheaper broadband, due to a cable it has laid from Australia to Guam. Already the likes of ISP provider Internode has reduced its prices due to the new cable, which goes live today.
Donna called to say that her sons had saved up enough money to buy their own iPod Touch media devices. Donna was worried that they could access the internet. They can, and I suggested to her that maybe they should spend their money on something else, especially if she is concerned that they might be accessing the internet without her knowledge.

Monica wanted to know how to retrieve an email if it was sent accidentally. This is something that happens from time to time, and can be very embarrassing. However, there is not much you can do about it. Some email programs allow you to issue a recall, but that doesn’t actually stop the email, just lets the person know you don’t want them to read it. However Monica was concerned that the attachment she had put on the email would be too big for her friend to download as he was still on dial up. A solution for her friend is to go into here where he can put in his email address and password, and then delete the attachment. Certainly save a lot of time if he is on dial up.

Eddie was wondering if there was enough space on his Foxtel IQ box to record Bathurst. A Foxtel box holds anywhere between 8-16 hours of storage, so as long as there is that amount available, it should be no problem.

Neil was looking for a portable laptop/notebook/netbook that had GPS capabilities and be capable of sending and receiving emails and not much else. There is the latest Dell Insprison, which might be not as small as he wanted

Finally, Chris was wondering about sound drop out on his new full HD plasma TV. This seems to have been a problem for some time with digital signals falling out. Now, people have been asking me for solutions, and I get the impression they hope it won’t involve anybody else. Living in a remote location, being surrounded by mountains, or living near high rise buildings aside, if you are having problems, then it seems you have get an aerial technician in to help. Most will groan at this, but this is the only solution. They have a meter that will measure the signal strength, but more importantly he or she will have a solution for those annoying dropouts.