I eventually upgraded to later Mavica models, which afforded me the ability to record 60 seconds of MPEG video in less than 15fps at a whopping resolution of 160 x 112. Those recordings were barely watchable, but every one of them was certainly fun to create. I’m sure I’ll soon look back on these days of recording 640 x 480 AVIs at 30fps on my Canon Powershot SD700 IS as “quaint.” Yes, I’ve been recording silly digital videos for years. I used to share them with my relatively limited audience, but today’s array of video upload services truly put the onus on the content producer rather than the content production tools. And if you’re not yet taking advantage of the video features on your digital camera, you’re really missing out.

        Despite its crude array of options and questionable terms of service, YouTube remains the best option for many of us. You simply can’t argue with the numbers. A while back, I made an “airplane safety” instructional video and started my own YouTube account with it. Somehow, months later, it was featured on the front page, and I now have 500 people who subscribe to my videos on the network. That may not sound like much, but I can tell you that those are 500 people who can’t wait to see more of my videos. If you don’t have a YouTube account, get one. Now.

        When Google got serious about video, before the YouTube acquisition, I gave it an equal shot. I haven’t uploaded very many videos yet, but oddly enough, I can tell you that up to this point, Google video hasn’t driven quite as much traffic as YouTube has. Perhaps it’s the type of videos I’m uploading; I don’t know. I’ll continue to share my creations on Google Video, if only because it’s Google—and everybody goes to Google. What I love most about Google’s service is that it’ll transcode any video into MP4, which is compatible with both the iPod and PSP. There’s no software to install—very cool.

      When Google got serious about video, before the YouTube acquisition, I gave it an equal shot. I haven’t uploaded very many videos yet, but oddly enough, I can tell you that up to this point, Google video hasn’t driven quite as much traffic as YouTube has. Perhaps it’s the type of videos I’m uploading; I don’t know. I’ll continue to share my creations on Google Video, if only because it’s Google—and everybody goes to Google. What I love most about Google’s service is that it’ll transcode any video into MP4, which is compatible with both the iPod and PSP. There’s no software to install—very cool.

      There are hundreds (if not thousands) of other video hosting services, from Blip.tv to Vimeo to DropShots to Pixpo to MySpace to . . . whatever. I don’t know if there’s really a “best” video hosting service out there, but I can tell you one thing: If you upload a video to one resource, you might as well seed the same video elsewhere. All those single views start to add up over time, and you never know who’s going to watch you do what next.

      Making videos is fun, and sharing them with others is even more fun. I could keep myself busy for days on end, watching content that you (or anybody else) may have created.