Streaming - Betty Blogger Task Two

And we thought that Star Trek replicators were nothing but science fiction:

Hah!

Check out this 3D printer developed by a company in the UK and you might not be so sure...

I don't think a day goes by that I don't visit YouTube for something, whether it's to follow a link sent to me in an email or just to catch up on a guest spot one of my favourite personalities made on a late night talk show that I missed. Sure, there are some, "what the heck?" things out there and some, "bet he regretted that once he sobered up" things like this:

But then again, believe it or not, this last clip went almost instantly viral and has now been seen over 28 million times!!!

And streaming makes this so easy. First of all, the technology is fast enough to, as its name suggests, keep media playing with little or no interruption, and is available on just about any Internet connected device out there, heck, including some refrigerators! Seriously... The number of devices such as digital cameras and smartphones that offer built-in software that allows users to upload media immediately after recording it right from the device is growing exponentially. That, in itself, is a pretty good indication of the faith hardware manufactures have its longevity. Second, as there is no need to download an item in its entirety before it can be viewed, there is no need to consume large amounts of local disk space in order to store items downloaded for viewing. This is especially significant in the case of digital video files that can, particularly if they are offered in high definition, take up gigabytes of it in no time!

And then there is the benefit of "instant gratification". No need to wait until the entire item is downloaded, you can begin watching, or enjoying the viewing experience along with friends or family, on the spot. With the prevalence of wireless technologies... any spot!

Enjoy a clip so much you might want to come back to it again later? No problem. Just ask your device to "bookmark" it. Chances are pretty good, it will still be there when you get back to it.

All in all, I would say streaming is a technology that's here to stay. I know I'm hooked!