Dan Gillmor nails it when he says:
The post-broadcast culture is a democratization of media, and it comes at things from the opposite stance. It says that anyone also can be a creator, not just a consumer. There’s a world of difference.
This evolution hit the print world in the mid-1980s, when desktop publishing spurred an array of new magazines, newsletters and other print publications. Then the Web arrived, spurring even more variety in what remained essentially a modern version of printed news and information.
Also in the 1980s, musicians started using technology to create and record music, augmenting and ultimately bypassing some of the most expensive parts of the process. In the 1990s, as computers grew yet more powerful and the software added features, digital music appliances, such as stand-alone hard disk recorders, hit the market to the delight of professionals and motivated hobbyists alike.
Video has taken longer to hit the sweet spot financially and technologically. But now, in the early 21st century, it’s arriving for real.
The post, which is also his Sunday column, has started a great back and forth in the comments section as well.