The revolution will be televised

Posted by Kristina Rizga at 12:48 PM on August 17, 2005.

The Worcester-based Participatory Culture Foundation just released free, open-source software for video -- DTV -- that allows individuals to create their own alternative TVs on their computers. DTV also allows millions of independent video bloggers and makers to bypass mainstream distributors and reach their viewers for free.

In a world where a new blog is created every three seconds, it’s hard to keep up with and filter such massive amount of information. DTV helps to view our favorite video content or ‘channels’ -- without visiting their website every day -- and learn about the new comers to the open source community.

This type of software might be covered in the “10 Things that Changed the World” specials in the next decade. The distribution barriers have been higher for video than for other mediums. Even short video files, lasting just a few minutes, can be many times larger than an average MP3 music file. With the inclusion of RSS feeds, it is now easy to share and view video content.

DTV turns into a DIY TV hub or aggregator on your computer with easy archiving and viewing tools. It takes no more than five minutes to download the software. DTV has an intuitive interface and flexible folders for ‘channel’ management. And it already comes with a few independent news channels that you can subscribe to, like the Media Matters’ daily updates of the right-wing, well ... nonsense. Like when Jim Dobson compared embryonic stem cell research to Nazi experiments.

Kristina Rizga edits WireTap—AlterNet’s youth-oriented section.