Webcasting – Finally, The Arrival of Video on the Web
Monday, June 4th, 2007 by Luke Kempski
Webcasting – Finally, The Arrival of Video on the Web
In 1998, JPL produced one of the first ever live video webcasts. The webcast featured the 100 year anniversary celebration of the Pa Medical Society held at the State Capitol building in Harrisburg. We had less than 200 viewers.
JPL also developed and launched the GreenWorks Channel video website in 1999 featuring environmental, educational video clips designed to teach the public how to adapt their lifestyles to be more environmentally friendly.
In subsequent months and years, JPL was at the center of live webcasts for governor inaugurations, budget addresses, awards events and the PA Department of Environmental Protection’s popular Falcon cam. Looking back on those early experiences, I certainly wouldn’t call them the good old days. Users and clients were frustrated by the quality and lack of reliability of dial up web connections. Even our creative teams were frustrated by what happened to their video creations when they were compressed and shrunk to fit into a tiny video window. 
Well times are finally changing. Even the most vocal critics of video on the web are impressed by some of our latest creations like Chocolate TV. The screen size, the Flash interface and the almost universal compatibility have changed everything.
And, it’s only just begun. Last year, YouTube changed everyone’s view of web based video. Its popularity exploded as the trends of widely available broadband connections, Flash video compatibility and user generated media converged on an entertaining media platform that revolutionized the web and video.
While deploying video on the web still has its challenges, it is a lot more fun and motivating today because our clients and their customers are asking for it. For us, the world has caught up and now we can show what we can do.