A Benchmark Idea For Streaming Video ... The Future Of Consumer Usage Could Be iClips.com

There's no other way to say it. iClips.com is really cool. This New York company has seized upon the future of Streaming video on the Internet and brought it immediately to both consumers and Web companies. The premise is simple. Anyone who has a PC camera staring at them from atop their monitor can easily record and add video clips to send in e-mail, post to personal homepages, or add to any Web-based community site. Could this possibly be any cooler? Yeah. It's free!

The company provides the tools to help produce the clip and stores the Streaming video on its own servers. All a user has to do is cut and paste the html code and the video is up and working.

iClips.com is a perfect gizmo for use on online auction sites or classifieds. Let's say that Brandy wants to sell a handcrafted, Austrian music box on e-bay. She would simply fire up her PC camera, start recording and describe the box. The Streaming video would allow potential bidders to see that the music box was actually in working order, watch the moving parts and listen to the music. The applications for this easy-to-use service are endless.

"This is a tool that allows the average consumer to utilize Streaming video," says Michael Diamant, iClips.com president and CEO. "Communication is changing and we're moving it toward e-mails with links to video messages as well as giving consumers the ability to publish video clips to other Websites. Perhaps someone is about to post a message to a bulletin board. We give them the option of adding video to that communication, which, in many cases, can be a more valuable way of communicating than text."

From a business development standpoint, iClips.com is focusing on developing partnerships with high traffic portals and other online entities that are interested in offering this type of service to their users. "We really define ourselves as a B to B to C (business to business to consumer)," says Diamant. "Registered users will always be consumers but our customers are our partners." He knows he has two masters to answer to. "We have to get partners interested in offering our service to their customers and we must get those customers interested and involved in using video."
The process is pretty simple even for novice computer users. Most systems these days come complete with PC cams already attached and installed. "Users sign up and download the iClips producer," he says. "They record the clip, plug in the address they want to send to, and the file is automatically sent to our servers. It stays in the users' personal accounts for them to reach and utilize however they want."

There's no doubt that applications and services like that offered by iClips.com are about to become the norm. It just makes too much sense. Your grandmother, aunt, uncle, brother, colleagues and competitors will all be utilizing Streaming video in this manner within the next couple of years. This idea is about to be incorporated in all areas of everyday life. Have fun with it and use it well.