New Technology TV

As another sign of the ever deepening merger between the Internet and TV technology, the country's largest cable TV provider, Comcast, is allying itself with the social networking website, Facebook, in order to bring user generated video into the public eye. This merger is largely centers around Comcast's new website called Ziddio, which runs contests where users are asked to submit videos that follow certain themes. The idea is that the videos judged to be the best submissions will then be aired on a special TV program called "Facebook" diaries and be available through Comcast's video on demand service.
This is a major advancement for the companies involved in several ways. For one thing, it allows Facebook to be more competitive with its biggest rival, MySpace, which offers its own technology to allow its users to upload videos. This deal is also good for Comcast because it draws attention to Comcast's increasingly prevalent high speed broadband Internet service that's based on the same technology that it uses to deliver its digital cable TV service.

In addition, these online videos should also draw more attention to Comcast's video on demand service. This is especially valuable because in many ways, video on demand will probably be the most efficient way to watch TV in the future. With technology like that, users will be able to watch whatever they want, when ever they want it. Plus, since cable TV operators like Comcast will only have to deliver one channel of video to a home at any one time, video on demand will require less bandwidth than current cable TV technology does.

The contests for best user generated videos to be submitted to Ziddio will follow various themes like "Life During Wartime," "Who Am I," and "Heartbreak." As well as things like "Who has the messiest home?" Ideally, these videos will be made by budding movie makers who are looking for a way to get noticed and ultimately turn their movie making into a career.

Surprisingly, amateur movies are a lot easier to make than less technologically literate people might think. For example, with Macintosh computers outfitted with web cams, it can be just as simple as recording video using the iMovie software that comes with the OS X operating system. Once the video is recorded it can then be edited and uploaded to the Internet. The process with Window's based computers is very similar. Of course, anyone filming actual amateur movies will probably want to have the versatility of using a digital camcorder rather than be limited by filming the movie right in from of their computer or by hauling around a lap top computer with them wherever they go. In that case, it's a simple extra step to export the video from the digital camcorder to the computer.

Regardless of how the video gets onto the computer, once it's there, editing it and making it ready to be posted on the Internet is also a relatively simple matter. Simple video editing software come with most operating systems and additional software is available for purchase at a variety of price level.

In all, current technology makes it easy to make amateur movies, and new business collaborations will help the best movies to get noticed.