Internet Mission

Imagine--you could become a cyber-filmmaker, a digital author or an online artist. You can reach people across the planet—sans plane ticket. With the Internet, it is possible for one person to deliver almost any media to the eyes and ears of the world. It's not as hard as it appears. The cost is even relatively small.

OK--you can’t be Bill Gates in half an hour. But with some tinkering on your computer and instruction, you can pull off a decent home page much better than Doodie.com (an entire site dedicated to defecating online cartoons).

The major difference in web media is its accessibility to the common person. The average TV station requires a production crew, producers, directors, reporters, meteorologists, a sales department, management, engineers, etc. A motion picture takes hundreds of workers. Even broadcast radio takes a production crew, management and sales representatives. The average web site only requires one well-trained web designer and a computer.

Sure, it can take much more than that, especially for the big sites. However, consider Monika Keapproth, a student and author from Wisconsin. With no formal training, she created her own site: http://monikak.homestead.com—impressive for a bit of surfing and learning online. She commented, "I think it was pretty easy. Web sites are great relievers of boredom and an easy way to find out information.”

Monika designed her site to share her writing, photos and news with friends and family. She even went on to make sites for several friends. Monika's not the only one. Everyone from scientists to school-kids are doing e-books (downloadable literature), blogs (web logs--like online diaries or news pages), home pages, message boards, chat rooms, instant messages and other online writing.

So writing and photography are not a problem for the web--no surprise. But, beyond normal web content (HTML) there are streaming media technologies like QuickTime, Real Media, MPEG (Shoutcast), Flash and Windows Media. They deliver music, speech, video and animations throughout the Net. These smart new technologies "stream" content on and off the user's computer without requiring full downloads. With Internet connections accelerating, the Net is becoming the ultimate cable-TV experience.

It is beginning already with streaming and peer-to-peer (P2P) programs like Kazaa, Gnutella and others. These P2P programs allow people to share compressed music, software, TV programs and movies. Although P2P is largely used for pirating, it could be used instead for distributing your video, music and other digital information online. It's like having a free radio or TV broadcast tower.

Film critic, Roger Ebert, stated in Yahoo Internet Life magazine that, "Hollywood and the Internet are on a collision course. The Internet will survive, and so will those in Hollywood who understand it." The technology is already here. According to this premier Hollywood figure, it's only a matter of time before it goes mainstream.

Music is already pumping online. Rolling Stone magazine reported that back in 2002 "burnable" CDs began outselling official releases from labels. Major artists like Eminem have been forced to rush their CD releases to get them out before the MP3 audio files are downloaded from the Net and burned to these homemade CDs. Now with iTunes.com and its imitators, the digital music revolution is complete.

Soon the words we read, the music we hear and the images we see will all be delivered online. So, why not construct your site or broadcast online? Why leave the Net to digital pirates and spam mongers? It is a new frontier that isn't owned by corporate executives. Connect online with a global audience. Share with them your chapters. Show them your masterpiece. Sing to them your melody. Illumine cyberspace with a message from your heart.

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posted by Jeff @ 9:15 PM