Video (Latin: I see) has evolved in the past five years and has expanded in various directions that were unheard of even a few years ago. The term has had variations of meaning, and the diverse concept of the word video itself is associated with cultural elements and technological developments that have occurred over time. Throughout the history of video, the medium has at intervals meant different things to different people.
Video stages
In thinking of how video has evolved over the last five years and prior to that, it has gone from an innovative kind of medium that moved on to become a technical novelty, to a system for viewing movies at home, to interactive gaming, to something that most anyone could acquire and utilize whether for work or recreational purposes. Finally, it has become a means of recording events in real time throughout the world. In the 21st Century, video has become all of these things in forward and triple motion, particularly in recent history.
Video as a catch-all word
Today, video seems to be a catch-all word used to describe moving images, and the meaning captures the many ways that the word can be used. It is a versatile and adaptable medium that is easily accessed by those interested in pursuing what it offers. Both amateur and professionals at all levels have taken advantage of the video concept that includes:
• YouTube productions
• Personal video creation
• Quality advertisements and commercials
• High-level video gaming
• Replays for sports
• News reports
• Weather conditions and reports
• Simulations
• Informational messages
• Public announcements
• Law enforcement matters
• Live streaming
• Educational materials
• Motion picture and cartoon production
• Artistic endeavors
• Music videos
• Other high-tech creations
The medium of video has been juggled around, shifted and integrated into position in all of these areas of moving expression.
Video and television
Early television of the 1950s introduced the society and culture of the times to the concept of the personalized video and the initiation of many other future video-related technologies. Live television obviously progressed to videotaping, which outgrew it and moved on to become a major force in other areas of influence. So, the impact of “moving images” has been around for over 60 years and before that with experimental television and motion pictures. It is apparent that video has and always will be associated with television and has evolved today from what has arisen from the progression of early television and its video format.
Video games
Believe it or not, the first video games appeared in the 1950s and were basically associated with research and instructional projects for big companies and universities. They evolved in the early 1970’s and have fast-forwarded to today. They have been played on various devices that transmit video images through hardware built with electronic circuitry. Interaction by the game player(s) with the actual game is transmitted to a display for play. Video games have had a profound effect on younger members of society and have become somewhat of a cultural crutch and substitute for more physically active traditional play. Video games are an interactive format for moving images that have become an offshoot of video, and their game structure and more aggressive content has certainly evolved over the last five years.
YouTube
YouTube’s rise since 2005 has resulted in a huge and phenomenal upsurge in amateur and professional video productions; so much so, that Google acquired YouTube in 2006, for even more of a connection to the video market. YouTube has burgeoned and evolved with the sheer availability of its video content, to the whole world. Uploading and viewing videos on YouTube is a simple and enjoyable process, and it even incorporates subtitles and captioning services for those with hearing and language issues. YouTube appears to be the king of video simply in its connection to diverse and endless subject matter. As far as the creation of videos en masse, YouTube is an entity unto itself.
Video’s outgrowth from the early television era has only grown in popularity over the decades and has certainly evolved in the last five years, almost to the point of saturation in every area of life, but technological updates always save it from losing its footing and hold on the current generation of users. It has become a standard form of visual representation. It is an outlet for utilizing technology within a group of varying situations that are transferred in an immediate manner to satisfy its creators and users with varied information, entertainment and recreation. Over the next five years, who is to say what technological advances and commercialization will bring to the ever evolving concept of moving images?