History of Computers - YouTube

Page created by Dara Ladjevardian

Introduction

YouTube is a website that was created in February of 2005 by three former PayPal employees. It serves as a video-sharing website in which users can share, upload, or watch any particular video online.

Overview

Inventors

Youtube's Founders

YouTube was invented in 2005 by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawad Karim. Steve Chen, born in 1978 in Taiwan, attended the University of Illinois and currently serves as the Chief Technology Officer at Youtube. Chad Hurley, born in 1977, attended the University of Pennsylvania, where he became an employee of PayPal and eventually created the PayPal logo. He is currently the Chief Executive Officer at Youtube. He is known as a whiz in interface design. Jawad Karim, also an employee at PayPal, completed an advanced degree at Stanford University and is known for the initial idea of YouTube. The three inventors sold the rights of their website to Google for 1.65 billions dollars. Salar Kamangar, born in 1977 in Tehran, is currently the CEO of YouTube, along with being the Senior Vice President of Video at Google. YouTube makes around 15 millions dollars a month due to advertisements scattered all around the website. It stands as the fifth most popular website online.

Usage

Based in San Bruno, California, the company uses Adobe Flash Video and HTML5 video technology to allow a wider variety of video inputs such as movie trailers, blogs, animation…etc. HTML5 video technology allows for users to watch YouTube videos without having to install Adobe Flash Video. The duration of time it takes to upload a video onto YouTube is measured at an average of fifteen minutes. YouTube videos still have limits. There used to be a 15 minute limit for video length and a 2 GB limit for file size, or 20 GB if up-to-date browser versions are utilized, but now content creators can upload videos up to 12 hours long onto Youtube . YouTube first began with a video display of 320x240 pixels using Sorenson Spark. But by July 2010, YouTube maintained a resolution of 4096x3072 pixels with 1080p HD support added. YouTube also supports 3GP, which allows users to watch and upload videos instantly from mobile phones.

Significance

YouTube is a milestone in the history of computers. Allowing users to share videos, YouTube has made viral videos a part of the modern day global culture. YouTube provides entertainment, drama, laughter, pleasure, and knowledge. Though some may think that these aspects of life are minuscule compared to other daily issues, entertainment and knowledge are what spark innovations and ideas for the future. YouTube has not only culturally impacted the live of teenagers and adults, but also economically affected the global market. Marketing and advertising techniques may be used on YouTube by certain companies, stimulating the growth of the company itself. YouTube has also been implemented as a political weapon to slander others or promote oneself. YouTube has forever changed culture, politics, and economics for human beings, its boundaries still being explored in the present day.

Links

http://bishopbrossart.wordpress.com/2010/09/09/how-youtube-came-to-be/

http://artofcyberdribble.blogspot.com/2009/10/invention-of-youtube.html

http://www.arbitragemagazine.com/topics/culture/viral-impact-youtube-culture-business/

http://www.dvd-photo-slideshow.com/photo_slideshow_movie_YouTube.html

http://www.joyamartin.com/happy-7th-birthday-to-youtube/