Written in preparation on Thursday, March 15, 2007.
Earlier today I spoke with my friend Peter Csathy at SightSpeed. I posted a video of some of that chat. And hinted there was big news coming. Peter said not to start talking until noon tomorrow, even though I have some of the scoop. Then he cheated and took it live tonight and sent an email out to people everywhere with the Subject: Vlip Beta is Now LIVE at www.vlip.com. The beta is live for some preview peeks for folks, and I'm betting at least one will leak it out early. But I promised Peter not before noon Friday.

Here's the fact sheet. More below.

It’s Time to Vlip It! We want to introduce to you something really hip. It’s Vlip (http://www.vlip.com/), a radically new, easy-to-use, completely unique, and totally active and interactive online video community site that lets anyone be seen and get heard.

Vlip gives young adults a public forum to easily say what they want with video, post it to www.vlip.com or any other Web site, blog or wiki, and give others the chance to easily watch and reply to their Vlips. What’s more, Vlip’s unique “threader” technology links Vlips and their replies together on Vlip.com and across multiple Web sites, blogs and wikis. This means that Vlips are not static – they are dynamic and take on a life of their own with the participation of the Vlip community. The Vlip user (“Vlipper”) can also easily e-mail (v-mail) their Vlips and embed them into other Web sites (for example, on their MySpace page or blog). And best of all, Vlip requires no download or registration of any kind—all you need is a webcam to easily “Vlip it!” (create and share a Vlip). And, of course, no webcam is needed to simply and easily watch these compelling Vlips with a click of your mouse.

What is Vlip?
Vlip is an entirely new, completely unique and totally active and interactive online video community site geared toward adults 18 years and older.

What Vlip isn’t?
Vlip is not like other online video destination sites of which there are literally scores, à la YouTube, Revver, Veoh and others. Vlip is different and completely unique—there is nothing else like it on the Internet.

How is Vlip different?
Vlip makes it radically easy to be an active participant by making it drop-dead simple to make and share videos. Other video destination sites are primarily for passive viewing of videos, because it is cumbersome to upload videos from camcorders. With Vlip, all users need is a webcam to click, create and post their video message. No download or registration is required! Naturally, Vlippers and anyone else can also simply come to easily watch compelling “personal videos.”

Vlip is also truly an interactive community, not simply a video destination site like the others. The Vlip community promotes interaction between Vlip video creators and Vlip watchers, both live and through threaded playback of posted pre-recorded video messages. For example, Vlippers have the power to reach out to one another with the highest quality and easiest-to-use click-to-call live video calling. Now that is a powerful and interactive component that none of the more passive video sites offers! Video with Vlip brings revolutionary new power and emotion to online interaction.

Although Vlippers can also v-mail their Vlips and embed them throughout the Internet, think of Vlip as a video message board. It enables users to create their own personal video messages predominantly through webcam-captured content—that is, “personal videos.” Personal video enables the publishing of individual user perspectives and avoids nagging copyright issues that plague other online video sites. And, these personal videos are uniquely powerful and compelling—hear and see what others have to say about what they have on their minds (music, romance, global warming, politics … any topic, or no topic whatsoever!)

Vlip also enables Vlippers to easily create and post their Vlips throughout the Internet including in other sites, blogs and Wikis. And, Vlips are very viral—Vlip gives Vlippers a separate Vlip player that can be embedded virtually anywhere on the Internet (your MySpace page, Facebook page, blog, etc.). Once posted, Vlip’s full capabilities are there, including extensions of the original Vlip video message thread. In other words, Vlips are not static—they live and breathe with the replies of others. They have a beginning created by the original Vlipper, but they have no end – they are dynamic. How cool is that?

Vlip also offers the best video quality possible because Vlip is powered by the experts at SightSpeed—widely recognized as offering the best-in-class personal video solutions found anywhere. SightSpeed, yet again, has just been awarded PC Magazine’s “Editors’ Choice” award for bringing users the best quality free Internet video services available anywhere. SightSpeed’s technology and overall expertise enhance the complete Vlip experience. Registration on Vlip, though not required, gives Vlippers added power and functionality.

As an advertising-supported business, Vlip ultimately will provide revenue-sharing opportunities that will enable Vlippers to share in the revenues their content creates once they have built a following. This revenue-stream model makes Vlip not just an ad-driven site, but a true user-driven site and experience.

And finally, Vlip will be available anywhere the Vlipper is—at home on their desktop, in the field on their laptop, or anywhere they may be with their mobile device today or phone (real soon). So, be seen. Get heard. Vlip it!

And if you want the real inside skinny and really want to see it in action, click one of the links of graphics. At the moment, Here's what I see front and center - my friend Peter Zotolla, aka The SightSpeed Guy, doing a front page video introducing this new venture.

This is important for a couple of reasons. One, the world is changing. Even our fast paced world running at Internet time (12 times faster than normal earth time) is changing rapidly. And I see SightSpeed as a team of innovators now having a broader impact.

First, the video I posted earlier really heralds an enhancement in blogging interviews. It's another avenue that wasn't available previously without some very expensive gear. The ability to hold a simple video call and record the conversation, then export out to MPEG or Flash video is nothing short of a revolutionary first. It will change blogging. Beyond that, we've seen SightSpeed on MTV, and election tallies and the like. This new change will also ripple into broadcast journalism. A reporter with a broadband enabled laptop or tablet out in the field, can now talk live to an anchor person, and the call can be easily recorded for rebroadcast on demand.

I'm not really a journalist, but I am a writer and have been doing journalistic like writing and reporting for many years. This is a change.

Vlip.com now brings a new aspect to community efforts and blogs in another way. Blogs have been typed journals. People have worked hard to incorporate pictures, music and video to better share themselves with others online. Frankly, that's not always easy. Now we've got a tool that creates a multi-authored never-ending story in video. A video community that collaborates in a new way. This is nothing like YouTube, blip.tv or the other big video sites. Nothing!

What I see down the road is not video blogs, with nothing but video posts. Video comments and feedback. Video has been slow gaining traction, but having worked closely with the team from SightSpeed, I know there are plenty of really exciting things on the horizon from them. You ain't seen nothing yet.

And kudos to SightSpeed for something I see as a real measure of success. I've been involved in startup companies. More than one. But when a company gains momentum as SightSpeed has, and then can spin off another effort using their core competencies in a new way, that's success. That's sustainable business success. Congrats to Peter, Aron, and the whole SightSpeed team for this big news.

Technorati Tags: SightSpeed, Vlip.com, Peter Csathy, Peter Zotollo, video, collaboration, community