OK, we’ve been reading and blogging and watching this whole video revolution. Why is it happening? Is it the cheap digital devices for capturing video or the simple video sharing sites of "Web 2.0"? Sure, but that’s just part of it.
Here’s what I think: We trust what we see in video. Most of us were raised on the tube and we absorb images on screen. It’s how we check out our world. What’s more, people believe what they learn online. There’s been a ton of research to support this. I think this willingness to accept online information, coupled with our comfort with the tube, is driving this incredible transformation in media.
I met with William Randolph Hearst III, grandson of the founder of one of the world’s great media empires, earlier this month. "Will" as he is called, is a veteran newspaper man, longtime partner in powerhouse VC firm Kleiner Perkins and now a private investor. He explains eloquently why video is so much a part of us and shares an old Woody Allen joke to drive the point home.
Here’s William Randolph Hearst who founded the San Francisco Examiner way back in 1887.
William Randolph Hearst III
Online Video
Woody Allen
