The History of Video Delivery
Today, we’re looking back at the history of video delivery from 35mm to 4k casting!
I asked my 6th grade nephew what he knew about the history of video and film, and if he knew anything about how we used to watch videos in the late 90s and early 2000s.
To be fair, he had a rough idea. “Didn’t you guys use special blue DVDs?”
The thought that Blu-ray is now considered dated technology gave me some much needed perspective, so pardon me while I send my orange copy of "The Rugrats Movie" on VHS to the Smithsonian, and let’s look back at the history of video delivery!
1888
The First Motion Picture / Film Reels
Roundhay Garden Scene, directed by Louis Le Prince, was the first ever motion picture lasting a whopping 2 seconds. Originally, film was designed to hold only 1,000 feet of 35mm film which comes out to only 10 minutes. Most producers felt this was more than long enough because the average person couldn't appreciate a longer runtime!
1897
The Newsreel
Even before television, current events and news stories were jumping off the presses and onto the big screen with newsreels. Newsreels were shown first in music halls, then eventually between featured films in theaters.
1948
The Rise of TV
By 1948, nearly one million homes had a television set with just a little over 100 TV stations. Heading into the '50s, TV rapidly replaced radio and even took a bite out of cinemas and sporting events. Some of the biggest shows at the time were Your Show of Shows with Sid Caesar and Toast of the Town with Ed Sullivan.
1969
U-Matic & Videocassettes
In the Fall of 1969, Sony released a prototype of the U-Matic, an analogue recording videocassette. This eventually replaced reel-to-reel and open-reel formats. However, the U-Matic was only a success for commercial users who could afford the technology.
1977
VHS Knocks Out Betamax & U-Matic
Sony followed the U-Matic with Betamax, a smaller tape alternative, but the massive price tag of over $2,000 shadowed its innovation. By 1977, the VHS tape and player debuted providing an even easier, more affordable option. While still costly, the VHS began making its rounds in suburbia!
1985
Blockbuster Brings Rentals
The Blockbuster video-rental chain opened its doors in Fall 1985. Dozens of competitors followed suit such as Civic Video in Australia, Rogers Video in Canada and Hollywood Video in the U.S.. The phrase "Be Kind, Rewind" joined the 80s lexicon with the likes of “Where’s The Beef” and “I Pity The Fool." At its peak, Blockbuster had 9,094 locations.
1993
Dot-com Revolutionizes Video Delivery
On June 24, 1993, Severe Tire Damage became the first ever band to play a live gig over the internet. Nearly 30 years later, bands are still performing live concerts over stream!
1996
DVD Liberates VHS Users
The first ever DVD, a single-layer disc of 1.46 gigabytes, debuted in Japan one year before the United States. Twister, starring Helen Hunt and Bill Paxton, became the first commercial movie release on DVD.
1999
Napster Popularizes P2P Video Sharing
Notorious for its woes of copyright chaos, Napster was a set of online services that enabled users to share audio and video files. It wasn't long before college dorm networks were being flooded by file transfers leading to an eventual block of Napster and similar sites. Needless to say, Metallica was not a huge fan of this innovation in video delivery history...
2000s
Email Chains & Social Media
As more and more of the world gained broadband internet access, places like email and social media planted their stake in video sharing. Remember those goofy email chains you'd get and roll your eyes while you shared them anyway because you didn't want 10 years of bad luck? Yeah, those were also the emails that brought videos like The Dancing Baby and Peanut Butter Jelly Time to fame. Oh yeah, chatrooms and Myspace also became big.
2005
YouTube
By the mid 2000s, over 70 percent of adults used online video sharing sites. How To videos were momentous in driving this traffic with viral successes like "How To Kiss.” The greatest hits include "Baby" by Justin Bieber, the Lonelygirl15 series and “Evolution of Dance.”
2011
Rise of Twitch & Streaming
Twitch, the livestream giant, launched its beta in June 2011 and now amasses over 35 million unique visitors monthly. Since then, nearly 80 percent of all internet traffic has been videos and/or live streams.
Today
MediaZilla, A Cross-Platform Roar
As we wave farewell to our VHS tapes and Blu-ray DVDs, we can take solace in knowing what the present & future hold: premium video delivery platforms designed specifically to send and watch videos of any size easily, securely and cinematically.
No more “Be Kind, Rewind” or broken YouTube links, just a straightforward platform that not only saves you time, but also makes video delivery feel state-of-the-art again with crisp 4K and cross-platform playability.