In this month’s Wired, Clive Thompson discusses how the shift to cheap production has changed the way people use and interact with video online. “In a sense,” he says, “you could argue that even after 100 years of moving pictures, we still don’t know what video is for. The sheer cost of creating it meant we used it for a stiflingly narrow set of purposes: news, documentaries, instructional presentations.”

And now? “The lid is blowing off.” The lesson? Don’t treat online video as just another form of TV. If you are going to do it, get creative and think of what the format can really do.