Jom Udell writes about software to capture live video and screen video in one place, combining observation and usage information that sheds light on how people try to use computers.

"This story grew out of my ongoing experimentation with capturing both live video and screen video. These technologies motivated two columns and a series of related blog entries (1, 2, 3). When I got interested in this stuff, months ago, I figured there ought to be a market developing around it. As it turns out, that's happening. One of the products featured in this story -- TechSmith's Morae -- shipped in March. The other, UsersFirst's VisualMark, is just entering beta. Both are harbingers of what I expect will be an emerging trend: the pervasive use of live video and screen video, in combination, to observe and analyze how people really use (or fail to use) software."