People have always chunked programmes into segments, perhaps favourite bits or funny scenes or lines. These have been manually segmented and uploaded since the day YouTube launched. Here's an example and excuse to watch the famous McGyver coffin jet ski escape scene:
With more long form content, the ability to segment online or on the fly is key. Clips are easier to consume because of their brevity, they're usually the most memorable bits and they're more likely to have some kind of viral impact.
Hulu (of course) have a great system where if I email or embed a video then I can select an in and out point, allowing me to choose a specific segment. It's simple and easy and it passes the Mrs Robertson test, could my mum do it?
Youtube have announced two measures to allow similar sub-clipping. The first is not very user friendly, it involves adding a timecode to the end of the URL to create a deep link. It does work, although my mum wouldn't like it, and it's a little clunky when the page loads. Here's the moment the coffin turns into a jet ski (1 minute and 1 second into the clip): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LTWEh2mcdsg#t=1m01s
The second method is far more interesting. In the comments field of YouTube (where you'll find the the swearing and hatred,) if you enter a timecode in the right format, a link is automatically created to that moment in the video.
See it in action on the Mcyver clip and try it yourself.
This allows users to discuss the content in context - this is not a feature I've seen elsewhere. With the amount of commenting on YouTube this could be quite a strong feature and one I think we'll see becoming available on other sites.
Meanwhile in other news, speculation on Hulu making an appearance in the UK and a funny and clever revisiting of the original Wassup TV advert.
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