To me, it’s a solution to a bad memory. If I could wear a camera on my head 24 hours a day, I would never worry about forgetting anything.
The term “lifecasting” was coined by Justin Kan and his three amigos living in the North Beach district of San Francisco.
“This is a new type of live broadcast, it’s not a video blog, it’s not a podcast,” says Kan, who describes himself as the primary evangelist of lifecasting.
Kan has a knack for creativity and ingenuity. The Seattle native worked as a developer for Kiko, a web-based calendar system, after he graduated from Yale with a degree in physics and philosophy.
You and I can tune into his life at any time by just calling up justin.tv in our web browser. Sometimes, the video is choppy and the chat client is hit or miss, but the content is there. You can always make out a screenshot and see what he is generally doing.
Almost any time I check the site, someone is interviewing Justin. They wanna know what the deal is with this camera hat (whose brim always intrudes the top left corner of the screen). You hear the same questions and answers, but a new bit of info is revealed each time you watch.
On fewer occasions, Justin is relaxing. Here he is today enjoying a drink with Karen:
According to Business 2.0, Kan has already been booked for Nightline and Tonight Show with Jay Leno this week. Friday, he was plastered on the front cover of the SF Chronicle.
The foursome who make justin.tv happen are certainly breaking many personal milestones early in their adventure.
The structure of their business is simple: create multiple “channels”, and produce these camera backpacks for other interesting people. Imagine if they got an attractive young lady to wear the camera?
Justin is always meeting with friends, and his schedule always boasts something entertaining. I think the show will succeed because he is a likable guy. He is never rude to anyone, and when he has to postpone plans with someone, he politely keeps them within arm’s reach. This is from last week with the CW:
I think Kan has created a monster. Lifecasting will flourish if the hardware is there to support it. The video quality could easily be optimized, and if more people are involved with production, there is no telling how many dot TVs there will be.
The true test for justin.tv will be its longevity and popularity. The best part is, we can all watch it unfold in real time.
5 Comments
hahaha, that is pretty much the most incriminating screen cap you could possibly get. Just to be clear, I was teaching him a few boy scout tricks so when he survives the apocalypse he can build a shelter out of rope and wood.
Great entry!
…lol, and yes.. I’m not sure if you could have got a better screen cap of Karen haha!
It’s all good. She looks fine!
The term “Lifecast” has been around for several decades. It has nothing to do with film one’s life. It is a process for making very accurate sculptures of living people. I invite you to look it up and see that the terminology has been in existence since before you were born.
Gullwing