Streaming video changed the internet forever

It’s 1995, and I’m trying to watch a video on the internet. I entered the longest, most complex URL I’d ever seen into AOL’s web browser to view a trailer for Paul W.S. Anderson’s long-awaited film adaptation of Mortal Kombat. I found it in an issue of Electronic Gaming Monthly, tucked away in the bottom of a full-page ad for the film. Online marketing at the time was such an afterthought, studios didn’t even bother grabbing short and memorable web addresses for their major releases, let alone dedicated websites. (Star Trek Generations and Stargate were among the few early exceptions.) After the interminable process of transcribing the URL from print, I gathered my family around our Packard Bell PC (powered by an Intel 486 DX and, let’s say, 8MB of RAM), hit return and waited as the video slowly came down our 33.6kbps dial-up connection. And waited. It took 25 minutes for it to fully load. After corralling my family once again, I hit play and was treated to an horrendously compressed, low-resolution version of the trailer I’d been dreaming about for months. It was unwatchable. The audio was shit. But that was the moment I became obsessed with online video. I imagined a futuristic world beyond my boxy CRT set and limited cable TV subscription. A time after VHS tapes when I could just type in a URL and enjoy a show or movie while eating one of those rehydrated Pizza Hut pies from Back to the Future 2. The internet would make it so. Looking back now, almost 30 years later,... Continue reading at 'Engadget'

[ Engadget | 2024-03-01 17:00:14 UTC ]
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The Changing Online Mix

According to the newest figures from Bowker Market Research, online retailers accounted for 39% of all book sales in 2011, up from 30% in 2010. The increase gave the online channel, led by Amazon and BN.com, a commanding lead over bookstore chains as the largest outlet for sales. The chains,... Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2012-05-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Pottermore gives users a sneak peek (+ video)

A new video offers Harry Potter fans a glimpse of the books and activities – the chance to be "Sorted" into a house or to duel with other users – that will be enjoyed on official Harry Potter website "Pottemore." Continue reading at The Christian Science Monitor

[ The Christian Science Monitor | 2012-04-04 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Publishing In Russia 2012: Publishers in a Changing Industry

Despite the economic gloom, the number of titles produced annually in Russia continues to grow. The country is now #3 in terms of book production (approximately 125,000 new titles per year), after the U.S. and China. It also saw more than 20 million ebook downloads and some one million reading... Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2012-03-30 00:00:00 UTC ]
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"Major change" predicted for French ebook market

An advisory body to the French prime minister has predicted that ebooks are about to shake up... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2012-03-22 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Will Kindle's Free Samples Change the Structures of Plots?

Search-engine optimization reshaped the craft of a good headline. Will Amazon's book promotions have a similar effect on novels? Continue reading at The Atlantic

[ The Atlantic | 2012-03-21 00:00:00 UTC ]
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How would you change the Nook Tablet?

It's hard not to make a series of reductive comparisons between the Nook Tablet and the Kindle Fire. After all, it's the conflict between Barnes & Noble and Amazon that frames these two 7-inch tablet / e-reader hybrids. This one is $50 more expensive, but is technically more impressive: you... Continue reading at Engadget

[ Engadget | 2012-03-19 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Des Moines Register Publisher Laura Hollingsworth Embraces Changes

One way to deal with change is to get comfortable with the uncomfortable. Laura Hollingsworth knows. As president and publisher of the Des Moines Register and a group president for Gannett Co. Inc.'s U.S. Community Publishing Division, Hollingsw ... Continue reading at Editor & Publisher

[ Editor & Publisher | 2012-03-14 00:00:00 UTC ]
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E-book firms need to make changes to settle probe

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[ Crains New York | 2012-03-12 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Katherine Boo goes 'Behind the Beautiful Forevers' in Mumbai

Pulitzer-winning journalist Katherine Boo shows the butterfly effect of global economic distress as felt in a Mumbai slum in 'Behind the Beautiful Forevers.'When a big bank goes bust in Manhattan, forcing a thriving construction site in Mumbai to shut down and the price of recyclable scrap to... Continue reading at Los Angeles Times

[ Los Angeles Times | 2012-02-15 00:00:00 UTC ]
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VIDEO: International festival of comic books

Comic book fans gather in the French city of Angouleme to celebrate the 39th international festival of comic books. Continue reading at BBC News

[ BBC News | 2012-02-01 00:00:00 UTC ]
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VIDEO: Amazon expects low growth for late 2011

Amazon has been pushing into new markets with products like the Kindle ebook, but investors are worried that the expansion is coming at the expense of profits. Continue reading at BBC News

[ BBC News | 2012-01-31 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Media reacts to Waterstones' logo change

The chairman of the Apostrophe Society has called Waterstones' dropping of its apostrophe... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2012-01-12 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Changes to Daggers announced as Martin wins Ellis Peters

Andrew Martin’s First World War novel The Somme Stations (Faber) has won this year’s... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-12-01 00:00:00 UTC ]
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VIDEO: Kerouac's 'lost' book published

American author Jack Kerouac's first ever novel, which was thought to be lost, has been published 40 years after his death. Continue reading at BBC News

[ BBC News | 2011-11-25 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Chopra book to Amazon in "game-changing" deal

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[ The Bookseller | 2011-11-07 00:00:00 UTC ]
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VIDEO: Terry Jones on online publishing

A new website aimed at helping authors to publish their work has been praised by author and Monty Python star, Terry Jones. Continue reading at BBC News

[ BBC News | 2011-11-04 00:00:00 UTC ]
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[ The Bookseller | 2011-11-02 00:00:00 UTC ]
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[ The Bookseller | 2011-10-27 00:00:00 UTC ]
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[ Folio Magazine | 2011-10-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Foyles to close One New Change store

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[ The Bookseller | 2011-10-05 00:00:00 UTC ]
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