Our Prediction: Asynchronous Video Will Overtake Live Video for Day-to-Day Communication

Live video for communication is all the rage these days: Skype, Google Hangouts -- people seem intent on scheduling live video calls. But given the rise of Slack and other text messaging services that rely on asynchronous communication, we predict that asynchronous video, e.g. video messages, will soon dominate. Think about it: asynchronous text messages are proving to be an effective and efficient form of communication. It's relatively quick to punch out a response -- and is received almost immediately. But text messages can be problematic. Nuance is easily lost without expressions and tone of voice accompanying words. And the subject of the conversation -- whether it be the person, a scene or experience--cannot be viewed. Photos fall short as they are only a mere snapshot. Although they add a bit more context, they, like text, reveal little of the personality, passion, and intent behind words. Enter: asynchronous video. As bandwidth improves, video will become as easy to record and transmit as text. And as it's asynchronous, like text messages, individuals don't need to schedule such communication in advance. Conversations can quickly be had via video messages, all in the time it takes now to set up a video call. We suspect asynchronous video will not replace live video. But we can easily imagine it being used more casually in day to day conversations, similar to how text messages are used today. This will be particularly true as individuals become more comfortable using video on a day-to-day basis rather than on planned occasions. So yes: that's our prediction: asynchronous video will overtake live video in day-to-day communication. Mark our words.