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11 Cameras: Canadian TV is more than Johnny Canuck Cinema

I received an IM today with details on a new Canadian television series…


Now, stick with me for a moment before clicking away. As I said, Canadian TV is much more than Bob & Doug McKenzie and Johnny Canuck Cinema.


11 Cameras” is a half-hour series on Canada’s CBC TV which imitates life via webcam. I was interested in the teaser on the program’s website which also has links to the first few episodes (‘though they are blocked for viewing outside Canada). The show offers a voyeuristic look at the one on one conversations between the actors as they connect via webcam. Our local provider includes CBC so we’re recording the program.


I was thinking as I watched the first episode how difficult it was a few years ago when webcams and ISDN videoconferencing for consumers first came out. I remember working in Europe for weeks on end and trying to keep in touch with my family via a POTS and then via dual channel ISDN using an all-in-one video teleconferencing camera and a PC with a slow web cam. I was lucky if I could make out family members from pieces of furniture on the poor quality video displayed at a whopping 1 or 2 frames per second… or worse.


Now with broadband connections and products like the LifeCam, these types of  high frame rate, rich picture personal communications are possible.


Not that anything I was communicating about was nearly as interesting as some of the plot lines on this show.


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