It never ceases to amaze me just how powerful video on the Web is becoming. Whether it is silly parodies of GTA Vice City or even goofball mini-flicks like The Repair Guy, the sheer interest that I have seen in this media has my full attention.

While the numbers at Changing Media continue to grow, I must say that they don’t even hold a candle to the server hits I have seen with my ‘just for the heck of it’ video that I completed only a day or so ago. So what could this mean to all of us Podcasters out there? Are we wasting our time? Will video eventually overtake the overall popularity that we have seen with Podcasting? And, more important, could video yield a higher quality level of entertainment to those who are into such things?

Well according to my Magic Eight Ball, all signs point to ‘no’ at this time. While video can oftentimes be more engaging, many people feel that it can also be more restrictive as it means just that many more limitations that are put into place. Bandwidth, time commitments for filming, and the cost in general are just a fraction of the obstacles that have to be met to make video or videocasting rather; a reasonable endeavor to tackle.

All right, now that I have beaten all of the reasons why we can’t or shouldn’t against a rock, let’s start looking at how we can.

First of all, we need to think outside of the box. Creating video or becoming really popular from this sort of media creation does not require a fancy studio to produce cinematic masterpieces. Oh, sure, it could be helpful. But if you are smart enough, you will find a way around this. If you have your editing skills down pat, creating the environment that you are looking for can become a reality a lot faster than you might expect.

As for the costs of bandwidth, there are a number of amazing options here to choose from. First and foremost, consider distributing your video content in a zipped file. The main reason being that you are a lot less likely to see your server being brought down to its knees as people are hot-linking to it from all corners of the Internet.

BitTorrent, my friends, is another distribution method not to lose sight of. Granted, as a standalone method of sharing your content, it may not quite be there yet. But services like Popcast and others are working to change this. We just have to be patient and give it time.

One other likely possibility that is quickly approaching something that I would give very serious consideration to is Audioblog’s new videoblog service. Included with all Audioblog accounts, I just found out that it is now offering video uploading in addition to the Webcam recording option. This means that you can upload an AVI file and share it on your blog. In my opinion, this is going to put Weblogs on their ear almost overnight as this really begins to catch on.

The point is, cost and ability are not the huge problems that they were just a few years ago. With more people than ever before seeing the obvious value of having access to a broadband Internet connection and bandwidth costs becoming less of a burden thanks to BitTorrent and Flash, I think that video is definitely on the up-stream.

OK, now you might be thinking that this is all fine and good. But can any of this have any practical application for those of us in the IT field? Well folks, the answer to that is a definite yes!

For one thing, you can be a real lifesaver to your existing repair clients who, more often than not, don’t want to spend their every waking hour calling you to walk them through making a shortcut on their desktop. See, you can make simple how-to videos as a free service to existing clientele. It may seem like something that you ought to charge for, but trust me… this is much better in the long haul to just give it away.

If providing a video tutorial service is not to your fancy, then just do it for the fun of doing it! Like Eric Rice says, make media! There does not have to be a reason for it other than expressing your own creativity. Besides, making media can lead to other things that could, in turn, generate revenue for you. Hey, you never know what fate has in store for you just around that corner…

Let’s get digital!