Vernacular Video
Tom Sherman describes the state of the art:
As video technology spun off from television, the mission was clearly one of complete decentralization. Forty years later, video technology is everywhere. Video is now a medium unto itself, a completely decentralized digital, electronic audio-visual technology of tremendous utility and power. Video gear is portable, increasingly impressive in its performance, and it still packs the wallop of instant replay….
Video in 2007 is not the exclusive medium of technicians or specialists or journalists or artists–it is the peoples' medium. The potential of video as a decentralized communications tool for the masses has been realized, and the twenty-first century will be remembered as the video age.
Whole thing here. It's on Bruce Sterling's blog, and as the essay moves in different directions the host sometimes heckles the author. Usually with good cause.