Low content creation cost

The cost of creating and publishing content on the Internet or an intranet or extranet has fallen dramatically.

As electronic, storage and communication technology have improved, we have seen an evolution of content data type on the Internet:

The early content was text documents, computer programs.
Connection technology improved, and we began publishing images in the mid 1990s.
By the end of the 1990s, audio data -- voice telephony and then music -- became common.
By the mid 2000s, video data became increasingly common.

In each case, we had some content production tools that had been developed for stand alone personal computers:

Text and programs: word processors and programming language compilers
Images: image processing programs developed for scientific and desktop publishing applications
Audio: audio editing for music production and voice over IP software for Internet telephony
Video: video editors that had been used for presentations and home movies

As technology has progressed, these tools have improved in speed and capability. Their cost has fallen as the market expanded.

The low cost of content creation has fallen dramatically. An author with an image processing program and a text editor or simple HTML editing tool can create pages that are very expensive for a magazine or newspaper to produce. An individual can produce audio content that rivals the quality of that produced by a radio station or record company with a large staff and "professional" equipment.

The most dramatic cost drop may be in video. For example, compare the cost of creating these video examples dealing with news events to the cost of professional television or movie production: .

1. The capture of Saddam Hussein, was shot with a home video camera. The footage of the capture was shot by a soldier at the scene. It was edited on a PC, and immediately posted on the Internet. It was widely broadcast on television the same day.

2. A fictional dramatic clip inspired by Hurricane Katrina. Again, this content was produced using a low-cost video camera and a program like Visual Communicator from Serious Magic.

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