Curious to see how many others are affected by this:

As an example, ...the recently posted interview re. the Epson 3800 is presented as a video.

For those of us with phone modems (we still exist ;-) the download time required for videos is often such that the idea is abandoned, whereas previously we could enjoy LL's informative text offerings.

In five minutes of waiting, only 24 seconds of this 13+ minute video was downloaded.

Result, in my case at least, is a lowered expectation of full participation/benefit from LL "attendance", ...with decreased clicking on the site. (High speed not available in my area).

In a best-of-all-worlds, I would like the video content to be also offered in (possibly abridged) text, ...but of course, that's easy for me to say.

I imagine that the high-speed modem crowd will have little sympathy for we stragglers, ...but would like to hear the host attitude stated if there is one.

Thanks!

Apology for overstatement:

Upon reviewing the "What's New" content page, I find little to support my use of the terms "abandoning" and "drift".

Michael has done his usual outstanding job of in-depth writing (Leica M8 article is fine example).

I cannot explain how I got an exaggerated opinion of the percentage of video content on this site.

I have not been highly active here lately, and visit many sites, so it is possible I have confused LL with another(or several) site-visits where I was frustrated by video content.

With this apology made, ...my observations about the printer article stand.

For slow-mo users such as myself, the interview might as well not exist.

Wonder what the 3800 is like?

Will have to look elsewhere.

I have no data, so this pure opinion.

Those who develop new technologies are too far ahead of users, and the market. The developers may be hitting a market of their peers and so think everyone is doing it.

I suspect the developers are wrong. Not nearly everyone wants the latest thing (faster and more info).

This may be age related. Software developers are typically youngsters. In the US, baby boomers are coming (nearing 60 years old). Retired people in the US have a lot of spending power (much more than the 20-somethings), but don't seem to be attracting much attention.

I for one skip the videos on line. I don't have to see talking heads. "In five minutes of waiting, only 24 seconds of this 13+ minute video was downloaded." Any idea how much the average person can read in 5 minutes? Way more than someone can say in 24 seconds.

Have you considered using satellite download so that you can get high speed internet access? In Europe you can get an Astranet service which has upstream connection using a dial-up modem and satellite connection for downloading video and bulky data files. This works quite well and, whilst not quite as convenient and good as wireline broadband, does offer the opportunity to enjoy streaming audio and video as per other people in areas with broadband connectivity.

Whilst the 15-24 and 24-35 age groups are currently the fastest growing consumer group for internet services, this is mainly due to the fact that the content is aimed at this age range. I applaud Michaels use of technology to add more content that will appeal to a broader age range and justify peoples investment in higher bandwidth communication.

As a final comment, the people that often make the investment decisions for these services are in the 40-60 year old age range. Apart from during the .com boom when things went a little crazy, most decisions being taken today are rational and roll-out of new technology is agonised over to make sure that there will be customers who are willing to use it once it is deployed.

We looked at satellite a couple of years ago before BT got its act together and enabled our exchange for ADSL. It was stonkingly expensive - both to install and per month. Has that changed?

I was also rather put off by reports from an existing user that latency was a problem, and also bad weather can interfere with the signal :-(

Wolfy, I feel your pain. The Internet is ever more dependent on broadband connections. They just don't care.

I, too was limited to dial-up until a year ago and when I finally got connected (a local whiz hooked me up with 802.11 technology) I immediately had an epiphany:

"Dial-up is NOT the Internet"

The suggestion that you get satellite Internet is a good one. It works. It's not perfect, but it's light years ahead of dial-up.

Again, my sympathies.

Peter

It's about 15Euros a month for the eat as much as you like dial up connection and 25Euros a month for the satellite. Performance is Ok, much better than pure dial up, but it will not do internet telephony or any two way communication if you need it to do that.

I am well aware that for some streaming video content is not an option.

But for the vast majority it is, and so there's no reason not to provide contemporary technology to visitors simply because some people can't avail themselves of it.

I will have a print version review of the Epson 3800 online soon. In the meantime a video / audio interview with a company rep at a trade show is an interesting adjunct which many people might enjoy.

Michael

Thanks Michael,...will look forward to your written report.
Yes, video interview an interesting adjunct, no doubt.

I think the videos are very useful for what they are. In the case of the 3800 I can get a good idea what this product is about.
Of course a write up/test would have to follow with all its details.
The Photokina videos were also very useful as you can see the camera being held, flipped around etc.

Yes, I do have broadband, and no, I dont subsribe to any photography tech magazines any more. (other than Lenswork and BW us and uk)

And hey guys who are we to complain, this is (so far) free. I dont always agree with Michaels comments or opinion, but that is no problem, as I have quite a clear picture where he is coming from.

I did subsribe to the VDO journal but have not renewed. Not sure when my subsripction expired and did not get a renewal notice (thats a hint Michael :->)

One thing I know for sure, I would not like to be the owner of an photo tech magazine

Keep it up
Peter

Perhaps one option might be to offer a lower quality level of video for dial-up. Granted, it wouldn't look good at all, but it could load in less than say 25% of the time, and with the Epson 3800 interview at least, it seemed the audio was more important than the video. Yes, I watched it via dial-up...1.5 hours+

I think one problem in this country is high-speed is still too expensive. (As an aside, look at how many companies out there have us trained to accept $50-$100/month bills for optional items like high-speed, cell phone, cable, etc. (yes, they aren't necessary to live ) No wonder we're all going broke!) Of course, I'd much rather spend just a tiny fraction on dial-up, and then spend what I would've spent on high speed for more photo stuff...like the LL video journal and the 3800.

I hate to say this, but it's all relative.

The first version posted was 140MB and was hitting the server hard on bandwidth, so I reduced it as much as possible for YouTube, which made it "only" 15MB.

These days a 15BM file online is regarded as trivial. I know that it isn't though for people on dialup.

If it's any consolation, I used dial-up for 4 months of the year, each year until this one, when working from my summer cottage. I ran this site, posted new material and so forth all on dial-up. So, as the saying goes – I understand your pain.

Michael