That time of the week again.....
Thursday, April 2, 2009 at 8:36AM So it's 9:04am on a Thursday morning and I've just been through all the overnight emails after getting back from my morning swim.
So it's that time of the week where I need to knuckle down and produce this weeks show.
Actually, it's a bit later than normal, as I usually like to start the show prep on the Wednesday, but I've only just finished another commissioned of series of screencasts for a customer.
So here I sit, in the knowledge that I need to have a 30 minute tutorial conceived, recorded, edited and distributed in the next 48 hours, starting from scratch. Now this may appear a bit daunting at first, but it's a place I've been in many times before. At least this time, I know what the subject is (Numbers 09 update) and it's a package I love using. I also have a previous Numbers show to build on, so that always helps.
One of the things I love about doing ScreenCastsOnline each week (in addition to being my own boss and freeing me from the shackles of "The Man") is the fact that I start each show with nothing and end up creating something.
Just some software, some ideas and some empty space on my hard drive to begin with.
Over the course of a couple of days, I formulate and crystallise my ideas, transferring the ideas into digital form as just bits and bytes on my hard drive.
Once these bits and bytes exist, I then move and shape them into a more polished form finally creating a coherent (I hope) tutorial which is sent down copper wires across the Atlantic to reside in a datacenter on the other side of the world, finally being pushed out to tens of thousands of computers across all four continents ready and waiting to be consumed by tens of thousands of viewers.
A scary thought!
But I absolutely love the concept of starting with nothing and creating something from just bits and bytes. Not just something, but something which other people consider of value. All the tutorials are designed to help people with their day to day computing life and based on the feedback I receive daily, the bulk of the tutorials hit the mark.
Some of the tutorials are free, but the members shows I do, some people consider of sufficient value to actually pay for, thereby enabling me to support myself and my family (and an unhealthy obsession with the Mac) but ultimately, enabling me to continue being creative and productive.
My only regret is not being able to do this years ago, but realistically, this would not have been possible years ago. It's only the past few years when the infrastructure has been available to distribute the content, for computers to be powerful enough to play HD, for the ecommerce systems to be reliable and affordable, for the tools and technology to be available to create and produce the content at a price the average person can afford... the list goes on.
So in the meantime, I'm grateful to be at the place I am but I have to wonder what sort of jobs will be available to my kids as time marches on and technology keeps improving in such leaps and bounds.
But enough of that, time to start producing this weeks show....
Reader Comments (6)
Don,
I'm sure ScreenCastsOnline has been an inspiration to many. I certainly don't know of anyone else out there who consistently produces such high quality but affordable work on the Mac and Apple products; I look forward to the show every week. Good luck and keep it up.
Matt
I think the true testament to Don's abilities is that I will continuously watch shows even though there are some shows where I will never have a need for the software. The production of the show is of such quality that I am intrigued by something I have no use for, but my creative juices always start flowing.
Great insight about "creative" process ( which can be very rewarding for whom is involved in creation to share with others )... Thanks for sharing your thoughts like that...
It's an in interesting point you make about probably not being able to do what you do a few years ago because the infrastructure wasn't there to support such a "distribution system". Just over three years ago I would have still been using dial-up at home. I dread to think how long it would have taken to download one of your HD shows!
Also, it sounds like you don't really have a "forward features" list for what you will cover in each show. But I wonder, do you have any ideas listed down somewhere just in case something else doesn't spring to mind?
I consciously try not to look too far ahead with the show, ay least publicly. I like the ability to be reactive when needs be and to be fresh and enthusiastic with the material each week. However, I've got a long, long list of requests from the viewers so it's extremely unlikely I'll ever run out of topics or applications to cover!
Don,
Hey there. I am glad you do what you do. I wish I could. Actually, I considered doing some similar stuff but for Windows newbees.
Anyway, one little nit pick, your bits probably go via a fiber optic cable when they cross the Atlantic rather than copper.
BOb