Scott Kirsners’ recent Mercury News article on online video viewing is important to consider in the not so quiet war going on between those who wish to see the web remain the broad media platform available to the everyman, and those for whom the web is the next technology after radio, film, and television to become dominated by strictly commercial players, pushing the neophytes to the side. However, in predicting that viewers’ tastes over time respond more to quality production and branded content, such as happened over time in film over a century ago, Kirsner doesn’t pay nearly as much attention to another key driver which the consumer demands now more than ever, and should help extend the relevance of the individual uploading their own amateur produced clips – the demand for choice.

Kirsner demonstrates how with technology like film, early on many people would pay admission simply to see workers leaving a factory, or a train arriving, or an older man kissing an older woman. As film matured people began to want to see a story with the moving images, and to use film to see other places they had never been to before. All the while production techniques improved. Over a much longer period of time the ability for the consumer amateur to make home movies at a price point many could afford became a reality. However, even though over time movie studio content began flooding the theatres and then cineplexes, moviegoers never quite gave up their taste for smaller independent films, and still actively seek out alternatives to mainstream film. Does a flood of movies from a movie studio mean it will be harder to find the smaller film? Maybe. But even on the viral video web today, the chances of your clip reaching the heights of the Mentos Diet Coke Duo are pretty slim … but not impossible. And the web provides something independent films in days past never had, a community connected together through the Web to spread the word to the world, or to a specific niche community….