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Published On: Dec 18, 2007 06:04 PM
Total entries in this category:
Published On: Dec 18, 2007 06:04 PM
New travel video site features home-made videos especially for iPods: a real boon for travellers
New developments in personal media
(think iPods with video) may help fearful flyers become regular
travellers.
Unless you've been hiding under a rock lately,
you will have noticed how many websites are springing up helping to freely host
videos uploaded, stored and streamed by
consumers.
No, not arty types with expensive Araflex cameras, but regular Sony and JVC and Panasonic DV cameras you can buy for $500 or so. Connect them to your laptop (I use an Apple Powerbook G4), bring the video into your favourite software (I use the iMovie 6 application, free with new Macs), edit and add titles, music, transitions, then export it into a compressed file, either as Quicktime or Windows Media Player or whatever you like.
The saved file is then uploaded to one of these new sites, like YouTube or GoogleVideo, and anyone in the world can see them. Newer sites, like Revver.com are even finding business models where you can be paid per download. Some even suggest that young people especially are turning away from commercial TV and getting their entertainment and even news from these kind of free sites.
With the introduction of the latest iPod, with a screen that can handle video (and with exceptional clarity), the download sites are modifying their files to download as iPod-ready video files.
Think what this might mean if you're a traveller. Someone can video the route from Rome Airport to downtown hotels and you can check to see you're not being taken for a ride.
Driving down the Pacific Coast Highway between San Francisco and Los Angeles? The have a look at some of the spots along the way you shouldn't miss, like Nepenthe and the Bixby Bridge (can't miss that one!)
Perhaps there are some interesting towns just off the highway that you'd miss of you didn't know about them - then, a video of the trip could show you what to expect including video of hotels nearby and even interviews with locals who can pass on some parochial information. Neat, huh?
Well, a new site has popped into the blogosphere especially for travellers to help suss. out what's good and not so good aorund the world, with files especially created for viewing on your iPod (and laptop too of course).
It's Zoomandgo.com, and if you click on that link it will take you to a page of many of the most popular videos so far uploaded by people like you and me.
When I visited in mid-August, I was able to see videos of hotels in Nassau and London, getting a massage from an elephant in Bangkok, info on pubs in Ireland, high tech restrooms in Japan, and the changing of the Guard at Buckingham Palace.
In other words, something for everyone.
The site's motto is: Better Trips Start with Better Information™ and it also links to travel booking sites. I am not suggesting you use them, as I know nothing about that service, but you can just the usefulness of the videos yourself.
These kinds of videos would be especially useful for those travelling to destinations who local language is not your own, and where street signs might be difficult to decifer. So the authors can show them and translate what they say in your own language.
Many possibilities here!
Now, why mention this on a fear of flying weblog? Because I always aim to make travelling a better experience than it is currently. Overcoming primary fears is a great and important start, but beyond that is a whole world of fun, and new experiences, and I'm happy to recommend ways to make the travelling experience less fraught with difficulties and unnecessary challenges. After that, it's a matter of leaving home with an adventurous spirit, knowing you have the needed tools to manage your predictable anxieties, and being prepared to utilise the same tools to deal with the unexpected.
No, not arty types with expensive Araflex cameras, but regular Sony and JVC and Panasonic DV cameras you can buy for $500 or so. Connect them to your laptop (I use an Apple Powerbook G4), bring the video into your favourite software (I use the iMovie 6 application, free with new Macs), edit and add titles, music, transitions, then export it into a compressed file, either as Quicktime or Windows Media Player or whatever you like.
The saved file is then uploaded to one of these new sites, like YouTube or GoogleVideo, and anyone in the world can see them. Newer sites, like Revver.com are even finding business models where you can be paid per download. Some even suggest that young people especially are turning away from commercial TV and getting their entertainment and even news from these kind of free sites.
With the introduction of the latest iPod, with a screen that can handle video (and with exceptional clarity), the download sites are modifying their files to download as iPod-ready video files.
Think what this might mean if you're a traveller. Someone can video the route from Rome Airport to downtown hotels and you can check to see you're not being taken for a ride.
Driving down the Pacific Coast Highway between San Francisco and Los Angeles? The have a look at some of the spots along the way you shouldn't miss, like Nepenthe and the Bixby Bridge (can't miss that one!)
Perhaps there are some interesting towns just off the highway that you'd miss of you didn't know about them - then, a video of the trip could show you what to expect including video of hotels nearby and even interviews with locals who can pass on some parochial information. Neat, huh?
Well, a new site has popped into the blogosphere especially for travellers to help suss. out what's good and not so good aorund the world, with files especially created for viewing on your iPod (and laptop too of course).
It's Zoomandgo.com, and if you click on that link it will take you to a page of many of the most popular videos so far uploaded by people like you and me.
When I visited in mid-August, I was able to see videos of hotels in Nassau and London, getting a massage from an elephant in Bangkok, info on pubs in Ireland, high tech restrooms in Japan, and the changing of the Guard at Buckingham Palace.
In other words, something for everyone.
The site's motto is: Better Trips Start with Better Information™ and it also links to travel booking sites. I am not suggesting you use them, as I know nothing about that service, but you can just the usefulness of the videos yourself.
These kinds of videos would be especially useful for those travelling to destinations who local language is not your own, and where street signs might be difficult to decifer. So the authors can show them and translate what they say in your own language.
Many possibilities here!
Now, why mention this on a fear of flying weblog? Because I always aim to make travelling a better experience than it is currently. Overcoming primary fears is a great and important start, but beyond that is a whole world of fun, and new experiences, and I'm happy to recommend ways to make the travelling experience less fraught with difficulties and unnecessary challenges. After that, it's a matter of leaving home with an adventurous spirit, knowing you have the needed tools to manage your predictable anxieties, and being prepared to utilise the same tools to deal with the unexpected.
Posted: Wed - August 9, 2006 at 03:33 PM |