By Jim Lundy
I often spend time during the day talking about content and how it gets created – what I call Content Authoring . In fact this week, it was a topic of discussion more than once. Let’s cut to the chase. People want to communicate what they are doing in a richer fashion and it goes beyond slide sharing. Next generation content authoring is coming and it will be fast and easy, much easier to create rich content than it is today.
This isn’t about the end of Microsoft Office – far from it. But even with that statement, parts of the Microsoft Office Suite are under siege from lighter weight tools that are tablet or Cloud enabled. Video is the big thing missing from Office and people want to do content authoring with their video files. What we are talking about in this post is the interactive part of content authoring that leads to rich content experiences. Video is front and center.
Next generation content authoring tools will be mobile and they will be easy to use – very easy. We’ve been talking with a few providers that are prepping product launches and for a few, it is pretty interesting to see what they have developed. We aren’t going to steal their launch thunder, but there is a good chance in the Content Authoring space, one or two will be named as HOT VENDORS for 2013.
Content Authoring: Users want Rich, Interactive Content
So the question is this. People yearn for richer content experiences. Twitter Vine is an interesting start, but iMovie on an iPad is a better tool because it does more. The new tools that are coming do represent a threat to parts of the Microsoft Office Suite. People scoff at the thought but consider this. If a 1-3 minute video can convey more than a 20 minute powerpoint presentation or even a Ted Talk, what does that mean? It means that the days of Slide Sharing as the only means of information sharing are numbered. It won’t happen over night but the shift will start to happen in 2013.
Content Authoring: iMovie for Video is the new PowerPoint
If you want a hint of what I’m talking about on next generation content authoring, let’s examine what Apple has done with iMovie. This app which was available on a Mac, can now run on an iPad. It is very easy to use, if you take the time to get to know it. Children can master it in no time at all. Adults can too. I have used iMovie on a Mac since 2008 and I can now create a short or a long video, some with just slides and music, some with integrated video. It took me some time to master iMovie but with the new tools that we see coming, it will take no time at all to produce awesome presentations. To see what you can do with it, watch our short commercial, which was completely edited in iMovie.
Recently, I downloaded iMovie for the iPad and it was very easy to use. In fact, it is much easier to use than the Mac version. This is where content authoring is headed. Capture the video, edit it on your phone or tablet and publish. This won’t work for high-end efforts but increasingly, we see mobile devices and tablets helping people to create and share rich content quickly.
Video Interviewing 0n an iPhone is a new Use Case
Want to hire someone? Video Interviewing is the new Use Case. Get candidates to record an interview (by answering some questions) before you ever meet them in person. Tools that do this are showing up on the iTunes App store every month. Just try to record yourself in a video interview on your iPhone using cool tools from GreenJobInterview, Hirevue, Wowzer and many others. This will tell you more about a candidate in 60 seconds than you will ever know from a resume.
Content Authoring, Video and Knowledge Workers
What are the implications here for knowledge workers? Well for starters, it is still hard, very hard to manage rich media on a Windows Machine. Yes, you can now get Movie Maker, but given graphics cards and the historical DLL issues, Macs, iPads and Android Tablets have more apps available for rich content authoring and they do it far easier than it happens on Windows. The question is, how does that play out in the business world? The primary machine people use in Silicon Valley has shifted to a Mac. It has also shifted at most major Universities. As the need for more rich content grows, what does that mean for Microsoft Windows based Platforms?
Finally, stay tuned for our March Hot Vendors Research Reports. We may have some interesting Hot Vendors in Content Authoring and Video Recruiting that we will be announcing.