The BBC gets it. Or someone does.searching for a fruitcake recipe there was this;  h2g2. 

"h2g2 is an unconventional guide to life, the universe, and everything, an encyclopedic project where entries are written by people from all over the world. h2g2 was launched in April 1999, and the BBC took over the running of the site in February 2001 as part of our drive to develop new and innovative on-line services."

What has innovative on-line services got to do with broadcasting in England? Nothing. But it takes the idea of the BBC and turns it into a on-line brand, a source spanning media, and something available globally everywhere all the time. Clever.

I am indebted to Seth Godin for the link to this piece of video on YouTube.


Of course the question that is begged by this is why, if the concept is so powerful, it needs video to communicate it....And the answer is that the whole world of media is moving rapidly to video... and everything you could do with text we will all be doing with video...

I recently upgraded my Foxtel subscription to include the Comedy Channel.

I have been watching snippets of John Stewart's "The Daily Show" for a while.... and thought it would be good to see it on TV live rather than just pick up bits and pieces a week or so later as they are posted to YouTube.

Turns out I prefer to watch on YouTube.

The TV broadcast version requires a continuing discipline to deal with the old model "appointment to view". It means that I have to watch for a half hour to see the good bits. The good news is that I get it fresh.

Whereas on YouTube I get to watch just the hi-lites - already pre qualified by others as being worthy of posting. Takes up less of my time and I get to watch when I want...

Sure there is room in my life for broadcast TV and appointments to view, but frankly having the market pre-qualify the best bits is a superior value proposition....