I was wondering the other day how a technology like Bittorrent could be used to do more than allow people all over the world transfer software, movies and music illegally. I mean, let’s be frank, what else is it used for at the moment?

Seth Godin is thinking about the same thing (ahh great minds think alike, they say!) saying this:

So, the interesting part of the near future re to BitTorrent is this:

When everyone can watch high resolution DVD quality video on their screen without breaking your server, what will you do about that?

Is Volvo ready with a thirty minute test drive I can watch when I’m ready to buy a new car?

Is Toshiba ready with a how-to manual for their new music server? A fifteen minute well-made video that actually explains what I should do to hook it up?

How about publishers? Are they ready to do a video news release with complete interviews with all their important authors?

This, folks, is the real 500 channel universe. It will probably turn out to be more boring than Seinfeld, but way more specific. A billion infomercials, all the time.

The winners will be people who have the guts to make the interesting ones.

I still don’t see what would motivate people to keep seeding after they’re done downloading clips * like Seth describes, but the overall idea of useful content being delivered using distributed systems like Bittorrent makes sense, especially for those in very high demand.

Would take a gem of imagination to create clips of interest, but as Seth says, those who do create interesting ones will be the winners.

Edited: But then, I never thought people using Bittorrent would leave files seeding when they’re done at all. The popularity of the system has now proved me wrong. I need to give people credit sometimes.