Maybe I'm old, but I don't always want to receive information via video. I didn't grow up during the information age. Anything I learned I obtained from good, old-fashioned reading.
And that may be why I find the practice of delivering information in video format just plain irksome at times.
From a user perspective video has some obvious downsides. For one thing, it's slow. I can read an article and glean the key facts in a tiny fraction of the time it takes for video to deliver the same information. I don't need for some talking head to tell me about something I can find all on my own. I can read several short articles in the time it takes to suffer through a single video.
That probably wouldn't always be the case if not for advertisements. Even the ones you can skip force you to be a captive audience for at least several seconds—precious time that could have been spent receiving useful information. There's nothing in this world I hate more than marketing and advertising, especially now that they've learned how to use the internet as a weapon against unsuspecting consumers.
Even if you remove the ads or make them optional, that still doesn't make video an efficient delivery method. Each video has its own story structure and, more often than not, the key fact you hope to glean is usually deferred to the end to ensure you remain that captive audience.
That, my friends, irks me.
I just want information. I don't care how pretty your little reporter is or how shiny her smile. It doesn't change the information I'm trying to get to; it's an obstacle.
Worst of all are the instructional videos. Don't get me wrong. When it comes to teaching a lesson on a subject, video is highly effective. But it's a decidedly cumbersome tool when it comes to presenting step-by-step instructions for completing specific procedures. Again, it's slow. And when you're following along, you inevitably have to rewind and playback any portions you don't understand. The pace of the video is also a consideration. If the subject is new to you, you're going find yourself pausing and rewinding frequently. In written instructions, that's not a problem. The information you need remains right there in front of you to scan as needed.
Then there's the issue of context. The creator of the video invariably must explain the context of the operation being described. How many times have you found yourself snarling at the screen "Just get to the point!"? What you're really looking for is often buried in the middle of some insufferably boring monologue.
Video seems like a good idea for instructions. What better way to tell someone how to do something than to actually show them, right? The problem is, it's just never that simple. And the video is only as good as the person recording and narrating it. I'll take a good technical writer over a video recording any day.
So, no, I'm not hopping on this "everything ought to be video" bandwagon. I can see why the advertisers like it. It's the best way they can lasso impressionable victims.
I just want information. The internet used to be a good source of it until it got crowded with obstacles, rhetoric and outright bullshit.
Even if you remove the ads or make them optional, that still doesn't make video an efficient delivery method. Each video has its own story structure and, more often than not, the key fact you hope to glean is usually deferred to the end to ensure you remain that captive audience.
That, my friends, irks me.
I just want information. I don't care how pretty your little reporter is or how shiny her smile. It doesn't change the information I'm trying to get to; it's an obstacle.
Worst of all are the instructional videos. Don't get me wrong. When it comes to teaching a lesson on a subject, video is highly effective. But it's a decidedly cumbersome tool when it comes to presenting step-by-step instructions for completing specific procedures. Again, it's slow. And when you're following along, you inevitably have to rewind and playback any portions you don't understand. The pace of the video is also a consideration. If the subject is new to you, you're going find yourself pausing and rewinding frequently. In written instructions, that's not a problem. The information you need remains right there in front of you to scan as needed.
Then there's the issue of context. The creator of the video invariably must explain the context of the operation being described. How many times have you found yourself snarling at the screen "Just get to the point!"? What you're really looking for is often buried in the middle of some insufferably boring monologue.
Video seems like a good idea for instructions. What better way to tell someone how to do something than to actually show them, right? The problem is, it's just never that simple. And the video is only as good as the person recording and narrating it. I'll take a good technical writer over a video recording any day.
So, no, I'm not hopping on this "everything ought to be video" bandwagon. I can see why the advertisers like it. It's the best way they can lasso impressionable victims.
I just want information. The internet used to be a good source of it until it got crowded with obstacles, rhetoric and outright bullshit.
