Online Video Not Quite Mainstream

youtubesampleSensis released its 2009 e-Business Report today, and amongst the welter of statistics about how Australian businesses and consumers use technology, the one that stuck out for us concerned how much (or how little) we use the Internet for video content.

Regular Lifehacker readers are undoubtedly at the front of the curve when it comes to watching and sharing video online. According to Sensis, 36% of Australians now download video or watch streamed video online. That’s up 4% since last year, but still means that the majority of Australians aren’t into watching video online. There was a similar rise in uploading video to sites like YouTube, an activity which 14% of Australians have tried in the last year.

There’s some relatively obvious reasons why uptake isn’t higher. Relatively slow Internet connections and limited download caps mean that online video can’t really compete with a large-screen TV. That might change with the National Broadband Network, but that isn’t happening in a hurry. At the same time, restrictions on accessing online video from overseas also reduce the appeal of the concept. Indeed, if it wasn’t for the ABC’s ever-expanding iView, I suspect those figures would be even lower.

2009 Sensis e-Business Report


The Cheapest NBN 50 Plans

Here are the cheapest plans available for Australia’s most popular NBN speed tier.

At Lifehacker, we independently select and write about stuff we love and think you'll like too. We have affiliate and advertising partnerships, which means we may collect a share of sales or other compensation from the links on this page. BTW – prices are accurate and items in stock at the time of posting.

Comments


6 responses to “Online Video Not Quite Mainstream”

Leave a Reply