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It's all Scoble's fault. Instead of holing up to write O'Reilly books, software developers are now wasting their time filming themselves talking — awkwardly, unclearly, and usually too fast — about their latest world-changing innovation. How convenient that keeping it real means putting yourself on camera. The result: Dull videos hogged by rambling "geek rock star" narrators waving at blurry whiteboards. Sure it's cheap, easy, and most of all ego-gratifying for the (cough) star. But what about the viewers?

Software developers need an authoring tool geared to making effective Web-video explanations of their abstract IT concepts. It should do two things: (A) Replace the scrawled-on-whiteboard genre with legible computer-generated graphics. (B) Encourage narrators to spend less time onscreen and instead do voiceover accompaniment to visual illustrations that replace the talking head. There's this program called PowerPoint you might try. More honestly, self-appointed geek rock stars should admit the glut of developer videos are driven not by customer demand, but by their own egos.