It's hard to believe that just 20 years ago the internet was the realm of uber-geeks and academia. In less than two decades not only has it become mainstream, it's ubiquitousness means that it's integrated into our lives such that it would be hard to do without it.
Over the next few months I'll be looking at various aspects of the internet, starting with a look at online purchasing next week, but this week I want to look at the rise of video over the internet.
Not long ago You Tube was the hub for watching videos on the internet. For some it still is. But there are so many options out there now that you can access 30 second videos of babies farting or full episodes of your favourite television shows until the cows come home (although accessing US programmes in New Zealand can still be a problem due to the television companies geo-restricting their videos).
However it's not the fact you can access these types of clips that's the most important aspect.
The great thing is that the internet has provided an opportunity for talented people to distribute their work freely. This means fantastic works which would never have seen light of day in a traditional media setting can (and have) flourished.
There are two great examples of this. The first is 'The Guild' created and written by the geektastic Felicia Day. It's the story of a group of gamers and their lives, culminating towards the end of the first season in them meeting in real life.
For anyone who's ever played World of Warcraft, or any other online role-playing game, it will both ring true and make you laugh out loud. And without the internet to distribute we wouldn't have the opportunity to see it.
The online success of 'The Guild' allowed the cast to earn money through DVD sales, and over 1 million views on their You Tube channel meant the talented Day could get sponsorship and funding for the second season - which is available to watch through your X-Box 360 or from MSN Video.
The second was 'Dr Horrible's Sing-along Blog' from Joss Whedon, the man behind 'Buffy The Vampire Slayer' and 'Angel'.
The three-part evil superhero musical (yes, you read that right) was not only the best internet serial of last year, it put traditional television to shame by creating something more original than anything seen on the small screen in years.
But this is where the internet is such a spectacular success - we could watch it for free, but if we wanted to watch it again and again we could buy it on DVD. And not just any DVD - a region free DVD with spectacular extras and all for much less than the cost of a movie.
It cost me less than $20 to get it sent directy from the US to Aotearoa, enabling me to see it in high quality while sitting back with a smug self-satisfying grin knowing that I directly rewarded the people who created the work, not some multi-billion dollar company.
And, with a delicious swipe of irony given the way the internet has been demonised for distributing copyrighted works, it seems television companies are now taking into consideration those watching their product on the internet when deciding whether to renew their television shows.
Prime example is 'Dollhouse' created by the afore-mentioned Joss Whedon. The viewing figures for the series weren't great. In fact, they were pretty appalling. But the number of people time-shifting (i.e recording it to watch later) and viewing it legitimately via the internet meant a surprise decision to renew 'Dollhouse' for a second season.
It's also likely (although I suspect it will never be admitted) that the popularity of 'Dollhouse' on bittorrent sites (where people can download it 'illegally' (we'll have that debate another day)) allowed Fox to make a judgement on their ability to sell the show overseas.
So the barrier between online video and traditional methods of watching television are blurring even as I type and I can't wait to see where it's going next.
What is your favorite internet series? Have you seen 'The Guild' or 'Dr Horrible's Sing-along Blog'? And have you ever been tempted to download something before it was shown on television in New Zealand? And will our traditional idea of watching television completely disappear?
I appreciate all your commments.
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