How HTTP internet streaming went from Internet Draft to Request For Comments (RFC) to Internet Standard.

HTTP Live Streaming (also known as HLS) is an HTTP-based media streaming communications protocol implemented by Apple Inc. Live Streaming and will change the world in regards to overall communications.

In short time HLS will become one of the most widely used internet protocols since HTTP.  HLS will change communications allowing for a larger reach of people worldwide to communicate in ways not utilized yet. Virtually any device capable of HTTP will be able to send or receive live media. Pretty incredible when you really think about it.

In the past, streaming live media was very expensive therefore not widely used. Many on-setters were aware of the value that live streaming could yield but didn’t have the opportunity to explore further due to the limitations in bandwidth.

Think about it, when HLS becomes Internet Standard, smaller companies will be sprouting up all over the place because they will be able to stream media on their own service and not others. Take a look at Periscope API.
In use at VSNPro soon.

We can see how the move to HLS is being implemented with the new app Periscope by Twitter. Periscope is a great example of how to utilize HLS.  I get excited writing this because HLS is going to open so many doors!  If you are an entrepreneur like myself you should be excited at the opportunities to come in the near future and how you can glean from them before anyone else.  Kind of like being the first at a harvest, like real early! You can start by implementing Periscopes API into your projects.

If you are a developer or looking to create a streaming app it will be so much easier and cheaper now, basically, you can turn your phone into your very own studio without the use of another service aside from HTTP.

I just realized, if you do not have a technical background this may not be so exciting, interesting or downright boring, but you need to listen deeper to your inner Entrepreneur. You should be able to see the opportunities to come.  A person has to think into the future to really get a big idea of how HLS will change communications.

“Currently in time, we are still at the stage of getting used to experiencing live remote media, in the near future live streaming will be the same as talking to someone on the phone. Interacting with a remote person will take on a new meaning, I call it “Remote Experience” because apps will be developed that will use more than sight and sound senses.”

Imagine slipping on a glove that allows you to have a Remote Experience, feel or smell, etc. what another person is experiencing a thousand miles away in real time. We are talking Virtual Reality on steroids! And the average person will have access to the technology to make such experiences easily by use of the HLS protocol.

A little story:

Cisco had this idea back in the early 2000’s.  At the time I worked as the Web Admin for Goodwill Industries located in Santa Cruz.  My boss sent me to Cisco to listen in on their announcement of their new IP Phone. I remember the unit being extremely expensive due to the cost of bandwidth. (Learn more about IP Phones)   The Phone sat on your desktop and had a little screen on it so you could see the person you were talking to.  Similar to the one in the photo:

With HLS there is no bandwidth load and data is passed directly from end client.  This means there is no central server used to parse or store data.  The stream you receive or deliver is free from other services. You could have potentially millions of participants without the cost of gaining them or the worry of bandwidth loss or a middleman.

I am interested in your ideas of what you think can be accomplished with HLS. Please leave your comments.

About me:
Currently, I am working on the VSN Project VSNPro.com and VirtualSalesNetwork.com. I purchased the domain VirtualSalesNetwork.com  with the idea to create a global marketplace for entrepreneurs. In 2015 I decided to start developing an application to deliver the service. With so many ideas that I have, the project expands to unlimited possibilities for liked minded people like you and me to deliver our products to improve the lives of others and ourselves.

Thanks for reading!