Baumgartner’s Space Jump Legitimizes Web Broadcasting
Felix Baumgartner’s recent space jump was a milestone in more than one regard. The Austrian set the record for the highest skydive, and also for the number of people who tuned in to watch in real-time. Here to discuss how the space jump has impacted the web broadcasting sector is SiliconAngle founder John Furrier (full video below).
YouTube reported that as much as eight million users watched Baumgartner’s live stream at one point, a huge number considering that this feature is still in very early stages. The online Olympics coverage peaked at about half a million, Furrier points out, and even though no official numbers were published for the recent Presidential Debate, it’s pretty clear that Red Bull Stratus space jump blew it out of the water.
Furrier says that this is all legitimatizing web broadcasting. The space jump would have qualified as niche programming up until a few years ago, but sheer amount of users with easy access to content changed that. People are veering away from traditional broadcasting.
A second topic Furrier addresses is the direction angel investing is headed. Institutional venture capitalists with portfolios valued in the billions are raking in the big bucks today, but things are slowly changing.
Angel investors are individuals who gamble their money on early stage startups: they provide seed funding to materialize ideas and POCs, rather than funneling millions into already established firms. This risky part of the investment world has seen somewhat of a downward trend in recent years, but Furrier says that this will turn around thanks to the next generation venture – the small app shops and developers that won’t require late stage funding; only an initial capital boost to get their vision off the ground.
Lastly, Furrier looks into Amazon’s commitment to manufacturing. The company is reportedly in advanced negotiations to acquire Texas Instruments’ mobile processor business, and he believes that this is a very good move on behalf of Amazon as it solidifies its goals around this market.
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