Research

Evolution of Video Streaming

There was a time when watching a video on the internet was impossible, and one would have had to wait up to 28 hours for the file to finish downloading. This was before the evolution of phones, and then smartphones had not yet been invented. The only sites that existed were peer-to-peer sharing sites such as “Kazaa,” where people could share and download music on their desktops, and by then, companies such as Netflix were in the movie rental business, mailing DVDs to subscribers. The evolution of internet video streaming has been gradual (West, 2014). Like all many internet success stories, the history of video streaming started in a Silicon Valley garage. It all started with a rock band known as Severe Tire Damage; this was the first-ever live internet band with both bide and audio. They achieved video streaming using a technology known as MBone. According to the band members broadcasting their content used up about half of the available bandwidth for the internet at the time.

This was followed the next year by the Rolling stones, who joined Severe Tire Damage as live streaming pioneers. This development had a snowball effect in the world of internet video streaming because the next year, ESPN streamed a live audio fir the Seattle Mariners vs. New York Yankees game. Within this period, there were other significant technologies that entered the picture, such as Macromedia, which later changed to adobe and Flashplayer. Compression technologies and bandwidth grew and advanced, and so did video streaming (Arshad et al., 2019). In 2005 YouTube was founded and allowed people to connect through videos. Sunday Night Live posted its first shirt video on YouTube the same night the platform was founded. YouTube TED followed from its in-person conferences and moved the conferences online, Netflix followed in 2007 when they launched an online streaming service known as the on-demand site, and they became a prominent company as people could now tach without waiting for their mail. Amazon rolled out prime video in 2011; google launched the first generation Chromecast in 2013, and companies continue in the same order improving and making changes to their online video streaming.

Challenges

Video streaming has evolved within a span of two decades. The video internet streaming that was available ten years ago is not the same. This means that the changes that have been happening are so many that there are chances of some consumers being overwhelmed by the many changes. One of the major challenges experienced in the evolution of video streaming is bandwidth limitations (West, 2014). This means several factors affect the quality of a live broadcast, such as location, network speed, and type of connection. There are many technological advancements that have happened, especially in the video streaming sector, such as the development of platforms where people can attend the meeting remotely. Challenges with bandwidth are one of the main problems as it hinders flawless connection.

Another challenge with video streaming is latency issues. This is a time delay in the amount of time it takes for data to be communicated between the sender and the receiver. Network latency is a network connectivity issue caused by many things at it can impact one’s experience. For example, if one is experiencing latency issues, it is impossible for them to attend a live video meeting. Another problem is compatibility with devices. Some devices are incompatible with the changes in video streaming and thus the need to upgrade.

References

Arshad, Q. K. U. D., Kashif, A. U., & Quershi, I. M. (2019, January). A review on the evolution of cellular technologies. In 2019 16th International Bhurban Conference on Applied Sciences and Technology (IBCAST) (pp. 989-993). IEEE.

West, D. M. (2014). The Evolution of Video Streaming and Digital Content Delivery. online], http://www. Brookings. edu/~/media/research/files/papers/2014/05/02-video-streaming/west evolution-ofvideostreaming-and digital-content delivery final. pdf.