Livestream shrinks the broadcast truck
by alec on September 25, 2009
The democratization of the news took another step forward yesterday when Livestream announced Livepack. A backpack sized turnkey hardware solution that marries HD video to six load-balanced 3G modems with encoding hardware and 30 hours of uplink time per month, this solution promises to replace the ubiquitous broadcast truck with something a single person can carry.
The price? $2500 per month, or $1500 per month on a 12 month commitment. When compared to a $50,000 per day satellite truck, however, that’s nothing.
Perhaps more interesting to me, however, is the way in which this technology might disrupt the broadcast industry. Think of how tiny form factor hard disks changed the computer industry, and then imagine the potential of being able to broadcast HD video from anywhere, without a crew, and without masses of equipment. The paparazzi will have a field day, no doubt, but what will this do to political reporting, the enterprise (portable telepresence anyone?), and sports? What new venues will we see video journalists reporting from? And how will the citizen journalism movement adopt these technologies?
Alec Saunders is the Vice President of Developer Relations for BlackBerry make Research in Motion. This is his personal blog, with his personal viewpoints. Prior to this Alec was the CEO and co-founder of Calliflower — the easiest way to hold a meeting, online, on a conference call, or on the go. A double-decade veteran of product management and marketing, he spent nine years at Microsoft where he helped launch Windows 95, the first two versions of Internet Explorer, the Universal Plug and Play initiative, the push into home markets, opt-in email marketing and what might well go down in history as the very first direct email list ever.
Tagged as:
journalism,
livestream
Livestream shrinks the broadcast truck
by alec on September 25, 2009
The democratization of the news took another step forward yesterday when Livestream announced Livepack. A backpack sized turnkey hardware solution that marries HD video to six load-balanced 3G modems with encoding hardware and 30 hours of uplink time per month, this solution promises to replace the ubiquitous broadcast truck with something a single person can carry.
The price? $2500 per month, or $1500 per month on a 12 month commitment. When compared to a $50,000 per day satellite truck, however, that’s nothing.
Perhaps more interesting to me, however, is the way in which this technology might disrupt the broadcast industry. Think of how tiny form factor hard disks changed the computer industry, and then imagine the potential of being able to broadcast HD video from anywhere, without a crew, and without masses of equipment. The paparazzi will have a field day, no doubt, but what will this do to political reporting, the enterprise (portable telepresence anyone?), and sports? What new venues will we see video journalists reporting from? And how will the citizen journalism movement adopt these technologies?
Alec Saunders is the Vice President of Developer Relations for BlackBerry make Research in Motion. This is his personal blog, with his personal viewpoints. Prior to this Alec was the CEO and co-founder of Calliflower — the easiest way to hold a meeting, online, on a conference call, or on the go. A double-decade veteran of product management and marketing, he spent nine years at Microsoft where he helped launch Windows 95, the first two versions of Internet Explorer, the Universal Plug and Play initiative, the push into home markets, opt-in email marketing and what might well go down in history as the very first direct email list ever.
Tagged as:
journalism,
livestream
{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
I think citizen journalism will accept these changes pretty well. But right now, I think it's still a bit expensive for ordinary consumers.
I think trucks will still be needed for the high level of quality they deliver. Same for the crews. Yes, probably smaller.
Over a decade ago all boutique video shops were to be gone because everyone would be able to do it themselves. They do, but in many cases, so poorly a professional gets the call eventually. hamburger and steak both come from a cow. It is in the prep and presentation!
Some webcasts I have seen are abysmal. The better ones are always launched with decent gear and produced by an experienced crew.