Is the Internet becoming a viable medium for the distribution of media?

Some would say that it already has, it's just that most of the world hasn't caught on yet. After all, we can download music, video, spoken and written word in any number of languages any time of the day from nearly any point on the planet. We CAN do these thing, but there's also a huge list of 'IF' associated with it that proponents of the Internet as a media medium tend to overlook or dismiss.

One of the biggest 'IFs' on that list is 'if you can afford it.'

For those of us who live, work, and play on the Internet it seems that the entire world must have access. We virtually shoot, love, transact, and chat with people who, in reality, live in places we might not be able to pronounce, much less know where they are geographically. The Internet has dissolved geo-political boundaries and has fostered a world of virtual citizens who have access to vast libraries of human knowledge, and can communicate with anyone almost anywhere on the planet within seconds of thinking of doing so.

We wield Merlin's Wand in the guise of a three-button mouse and we think nothing of buying a $20,000 car, paying our electric bill, blasting some guy in Brazil to smithereens in Call to Duty, or learning the origin of the origin of the dreaded and debilitating disease, Demeaning Plebny (Don Martin originated the term during his stint at Mad Magazine).

What we forget is that a huge majority of the world does not have access to the Internet. According to 2007 statistics posted by Internet World Stats, about 70% of the 335 million people living in North America (Canada, the U.S. and Mexico) use the Internet.  In Asia, on the other hand, which accounts for 56% of the world's population, only 12% of its nearly 4 billion people use the Internet. Worse statistics are true for Africa (4.7%), Latin America,( 8.5%), and the Middle East (2.9%). Of course, all of the latter areas are considered poor or underdeveloped.

Many of those stats are changing, Internet usage in Africa, Asia, the the Middle East  has exploded over the passed few years as technologies become more accessible, and as more people use the Internet, the more they'll want to use the Internet for multimedia content.

We are not quite there yet, but it's getting better.

This week, I decided to take a look at shows or podcasts available at the iTunes Stores that are leading the way to making multimedia on the Internet something anybody would use.

My first offering is The Best of YouTube, a podcast that puts some of the most popular YouTube videos in one place for easy access. (Not that accessing these videos directly on YouTube wasn't easy already, but, hey, it's a niche.)

YouTube is arguably the best example of the global use of the Internet for multimedia. Anyone can post a video. It can contain knowledge or some of the silliest stuff anyone has ever seen.

Telling the Time is one of the best videos on YouTube

One of my personal favorite YouTube videos is called  Telling the Time. I had heard the joke before, but watching it adds a new dimension.

The real beauty of YouTube is the concept of viral ideology, where ideas from so many different places around the world can find commonality and camaraderie.

There are tons of Best of YouTube podcasts to pick from, so grab a bunch.

Next I'd like to point you to Videos by NextNYers, These are tech-oriented podcasts where some of the latest Internet and technology oriented ideas are aired weekly. Interviews, and demos are the basis of this podcast, but what I like about it is that the interviewer doesn't get in the way of the people they interview. In episode 2 they interview two guys looking to start an internet based T.V. guide-like Web site that focuses on shows produced expressly for Internet audiences. It's an idea that may be premature, but is interesting nonetheless.

Early guides to Internet media, interviewed on NextNYers

There are only 2 episode of NextNYers -- more are promised. Let's see if that promise will be fulfilled.

That's a wrap for this week. I'm cutting it short because I have family visiting. There won't be a Free on iTunes next week because of Thanksgiving, so I'll see you here in two weeks.