Looking at Video on the Web with Ken McCarthy

This isn’t exactly news, but it was news to me, my tech-savvy nephews, and a lot of other knowledgeable folks including a pro video producer I showed it to…

Video cameras are now disposable – or at least one company called Pure Digital is selling them that way…

Sold at CVS (a US drug store chain) for $29.95, the camera can store up
to 20 mintues of full motion sound and video.

Just turn it on, point, and press the record button.

If you don’t like the
last thing you shot, hit the delete button twice and it’s gone.

To get your video "developed" requires a return trip to CVS. For $15 or so, they’ll put your video on a DVD do you can view and/or rip it for editing at home.

Does this product make sense?

It sure does to me.

I was in New Orleans two weeks ago putting on some workshops with my friend David Bullock and had I known this thing existed I would have loved to have one (or two.)

I don’t have a video camera cell phone (and I don’t want one thank you very much.) And even though I do have a bunch of home video cameras, the idea of bringing one on a road trip with all the other sutff I have to lug around and worrry about it out of the question

But the idea of walking into a store and walking out with a cigarette pack sized video camera that’s "good enough" so I could take short clips of the some of the great music I heard while I was in the city, that would have been great.

By the way, if you love live music, New Orleans is rocking and rolling on full throttle right now. Jazz, blues, rhythm and blues, rock and roll, folk, cajun, zydeco – you name it, it’s happening. I went to three or four different clubs per night and everywhere I went the music was top notch…and don’t get me started on the food. Visiting and enjoying New Orleans right now is a great way to help the city and its people get back on their feet.

Anyway, disposable video is here and it makes sense. If it catches on – and I hope it does – the price should come down.

The next step is to cut out the middleman and get the video off the camera yourself – and re-use the camera – without having to take it to CVS for processing or got to the store to buy a new one.

One clever hacker has already figured out how to do this and published the how to:

http://www.maushammer.com/systems/cvscamcorder/

Enjoy!

Ken