Your points are valid, but video has its place in web-based communications. When done correctly, video can be the most emotional and effective medium for communicating online and it doesn’t need to take a long time. We believe that video is going through an evolution online from a linear, passive, broadcast medium to a non-linear, conversational and personalized one. Check out the Montreal Tourism site and you’ll see just how well video can be used in a web-based context. A quick 2 minute video captures the romance of the city while inviting you to explore in more detail the various neighborhoods as you desire.

I would argue that most online video is the equivalent of the “brochureware” we saw back in the early days of the web. Video producers need to rethink how they produce content to fully take advantage of the interactive story-telling capabilities offered by the web.

Matt Kaplan
Chief Strategy Officer
PermissionTV

I thought you covered the issues quite well.

Australian iconoclastic marketer always says people are on the web to either save time or waste time, and watching videos usually falls into the latter.

Also, as you’ve pointed out, many of us are in a hurry and simply won’t waste time waiting for a video to run.

Jakob Nielson hand others have pointed out that people online are usually on the hunt for information: They scan, click and move quickly down “scent trails’ that ultimately lead them to their desired info.

Video prevents this from happening.

It’s also been pointed out that people assess if they want to stay on a site in less than a second before they go elsewhere, so if video’s are taking more time that to load and watch then sites are losing viewers.

Transcripts are not only the obvious answer, they are essential for any site serious about attracting browsers and converting them.