Electronic Media Published: 01-17-94 BLURRING OF COMPUTERS, VIDEO OPENS NEW WORLD Byline: Joe Fedele Computer-based technology is a juggernaut rocketing through the broadcast industry like a comet in space. When that comet finally hits, the impact will send shock waves that will shake the foundation of the communications industry and revolutionize broadcasting as we know it today. Forgive me if I sound a bit prophetic, but I always get this way at births and funerals. Last spring, I discussed the introduction of disk-based library management systems that had been displayed at the National Association of Broadcasters convention. The upcoming NAB convention will feature the debut of disk-based camcorders. Think about it for a second: no videotape from beginning to end. Equipment manufacturers have been working hard to refine disk-based video technology. In order to do this, video compression algorithms had to be improved. It's a simple fact that videotape can store more information in analog form than any comparable form of computer disk. The ability to store video onto computer disks is nothing new. However, a video signal contains an enormous amount of information, so it wasn't until compression came along that the idea of storing video on disks rather than videotape became a viable reality. It is no coincidence that engineers have been perfecting the art of video compression just as the computer world has blossomed. They are, in fact, being linked to one another bit by bit (forgive the pun). The ability to store video in the computer domain will allow us to produce, edit and store our product in new and innovative ways. As computer equipment becomes faster and smaller we will be able to do things thatwere never dreamed of just five years ago. Imagine, for a moment, being able to edit a news story on a computer local area network system along with writers and producers who could be located anywhere in the world. You could literally be airborne and still be able to edit and feed your piece back to the studio. The cost savings potential is incalculable. Eventually there will be no need for edit rooms. Every computer terminal will become an edit system. The need for office space will also decrease because employees will be able to work out of their own home, car or boat, for that matter. And with cellular phones and personal communications systems coming of age, you will be able to do everything you do now, in less time and with better quality, anywhere in the world. But as we blur the lines between video and computers, we develop human problems that never existed before. Union negotiations, for instance will become intense and difficult, since in many of the top markets videotape machines are operated by a union technician. But what happens when the video storage apparatus and editor become a computer that is also used to type letters, send a fax, do spreadsheets and even watch TV? Has the day of the unions come to an end? The quick answer is no, they will have to change. Quality of life issues will become paramount to many. Parents can remain at home with their children and still work full time. The need for formal work clothes will no longer put the pinch on your wallet. And we will be able to live any place in the world without the drudgery of commuting to work. Computers have and will continue to make life both easier and more difficult for us, all at the same time.