In the past, television, radio and books have kept the masses in a state of entertainment. They are mediums which still survive today; they have evolved over time, however slowly. But with a new generation, comes a new concept of media; the Internet. On a world wide web which connects billions of individuals around the world, the free exchange of information has given rise to a new, ever-changing network by which individuals share their opinion and ideas. It is truly a fascinating concept; the possibilities are limitless. When the Internet was in it's infancy, and connections were sparse and speeds were horrible, something like YouTube could have never been imagined. YouTube now accumulates around 100 million videos played each day; that's five times the population of Australia. People are tapping into the wealth of exciting new-age media available all for free, all direct to your browser. The Internet is constantly shaped and influenced; all by the whim of the user. Chat rooms used to be the thing, now it's Podcasting. We've moved from sending text, to sending audio and video. To those who don't know what a podcast is, it can be defined simply (or at least this is my attempt): media which is posted episodically and is publically available and subscibable via RSS. A Podcast is the new age of radio, and more recently, the new age of video as well. Amateurs have paved the way for the mainstream media to take notice; podcasts are big business. Some video Podcasts even have an audience present during the recording, attesting to their rising popularity. But while on T.V there is complete control (or at least almost complete control) over the content, on the Internet, it's a battleground of perspective. With every man, wife and dog having a blog or a MySpace, the Internet is becoming exponentially bloated with content. So the question is: how do you find the gold? This is where pioneering heroes have to step in and pave the way: www.digg.com has a voting system so that only the best articles are on the front page. Readers "digg" pieces that they like or enjoy, and the more they do, the more popular that article becomes. It is technology like this that will help Internet users of tomorrow sift through the garbage and find the greatness.
