These days it's all so easy. If you want to know what a machine does, or how to piece of software performs, there's every chance you'll find the answers you need by heading straight to YouTube. It's here that you can discover far more than poor recordings of an embarrassing karaoke session or bits of film depicting happy people posing at a family gathering. The marketing potential of YouTube is now fast gaining momentum as an important port of call for information on printers and processes, and quite rightly so; and, of course, Output has its own stream filled with goodies ranging from interviews to discussions about different platforms and services.

Overall, video has become greatly simplified during recent times, to the point where anyone can use a smartphone to catch action and speech. The professional steams we search out on YouTube for information are often interspersed with informal chunks of activity and it's easy to get sidetracked. But it is now increasingly commonplace to find out detailed information about new technologies and, as such, video now plays an increasingly strong role.

It's almost as good as being there – a YouTube Q&A session on the HP Scitex FB7600

I don't know much about video but what I do know is that, although it can be edited easily, what you see on YouTube is pretty much what you get. Looking at a recently uploaded session in HP's familiar demo centre in San Cugat, there was a room full of folk asking questions about the Scitex FB7600, its speeds and other options, including the multi-load facility. It was, through circumstance of being an open day, an informal stream but it proved to be a highly valuable way of finding out more about the machine and its capabilities without having to move from the comfort of my office chair.

Yet I still speak to people who are reticent about displaying their machines and technologies via YouTube, and I can't really understand why this should be. Most of these concerns seem to relate to the fact that, by so doing, they can't control who watches which video; yet, surely, that is one of the key benefits of social media. Yes, it's viral and yes, it goes beyond a standard marketing remit. But what it does so well is link in with other areas, such as e-shots, Twitter and Facebook, to make it easy for anyone and everyone to view.

YouTube's power of interaction takes everything several steps further than merely downloading and reading a PDF on a product, or working out from an image on a website how it might work. These days, when a new machine is launched, YouTube is the first place I go for more information. And I usually find what I'm looking for.