Online Video and TV

From Senior Planet Resource Exchange

[edit] Overview

Videos have become a common feature on many websites. Some websites have videos to supplement other material and information on their website, for other websites their whole purpose is to store millions of videos.

Becoming familiar with online videos can allow you to gain access to yet another form of information. While some of the videos online are educational or informative, some are just there for fun or humor.

Finally, the Internet can also be used to view TV program. So if you missed your favorite show last week and want to catch up or you are interested in watching something you've never seen before, you can now easily do so on your computer.

[edit] Videos

YouTube
YouTube is the popular website for videos. It has over a million videos all added by individuals. Some of the videos are amateur while others are professional. Some are good, some are bad. Some are appropriate and some are inappropriate. Anyone can create a video and add it to YouTube so many of them are made with a video camera and computer. In addition to these individually created videos, you can also find music videos, musical performances, movie trailers, and instructional videos.

You do not need to sign up for an account to watch the videos but if you would like to add your own videos, save a list of your favorite videos, or rate videos, you need to sign up for a free YouTube account.

The website is quick and easy to use. Using the search bar you search for the key words that you want. From the search results you choose which video you want to view by clicking on it. From there it will enlarge the video and it will automatically start to play. From there you can adjust the volume and choose to view the video full screen.

To sign up for an account click here.
To start watching videos click here.

New York Times Video
New York Times Video is unlike YouTube as it does not let you upload your videos to its website. Instead, the New York Times creates and uploads its own videos for you to view. You can search for a video to watch or you can click on one of the many they have listed on their homepage. Also unlike YouTube, the videos on the New York Times website are meant to be informative and educational, many of them correspond to the news stories featured on their website.

To watch a video on the New York Times click here.

[edit] Online TV Shows

No longer do you have to be bound by the TV schedule! The Internet now makes it possible for you to watch recently aired television shows whenever you want from your computer.

Hulu has the most comprehensive collection of television shows available online for free. The shows are very good quality so no need to worry about grainy or choppy images. You can search for a specific show, you can choose to look at the most popular shows, or you can browse by genre.

Once you have found an episode that you want to watch you click on it and you will be taken to a page that will automatically start playing the video. This page also allows you to adjust the size of the video, the lighting, and the volume. This page also provides user reviews and a full listing of all the episodes from that particular season of the show.

To start watching TV through Hulu on your computer click here.

Also keep in mind that most television stations allow you to watch recently aired shows through their websites (such as NBC, CBS, or Fox).