I’ve been on the look out for what form the next really popular medium for digital storytelling will be. My guess is the sweet spot lies somewhere between video, photos, and infographics.
Infographics can tell a story in a single glance, allow the viewer to control the pace of the story being told, and the good ones have an aesthetic that is conducive to sharing. Video, on the other hand, can go viral, but to get the same amount of information that is conveyed in a really rich infographic you risk losing it’s “share-ability”.
This solution from Microsoft seems to have all the positive aspects of both worlds: it allows a person to consume information at their own pace while adding an element of dynamism to enrich the experience. Essentially focusing an audience on a single piece of a story and simultaneously eliminating all the background noise that is usually present with video is really interesting. I can’t wait to see some creatives get their hands on this and create something really interesting.
My/Spective by Nick Martin 
Nick, how are these different from animated .gifs? You know that’s what critics are going to ask.
I have seen .gifs with a similar effect, but the biggest difference might just be how easy these ones are to create. The straightforward .gifs that look like a video clip aren’t too tricky, but creating that effect where one element shows movement where the rest is motionless is more challenging from what I understand.
Just playing devil’s advocate. I actually wrote a rather un-biased post myself here: http://socialrazzi.com/2012/03/15/microsoft-cliplets-are-they-any-different-from-animated-gifs/
My summary: I’m of the mindset that we’ve already moved beyond the Flash/Animated GIF/MySpace era and onto one where ‘less is more’ on the internet. To this day, Facebook still doesn’t allow the use of animated gifs. What does that tell you?
I would agree with the statement “less is more” on the internet. I think that’s part of the appeal with this program because it cuts out all the clutter and focuses the narrative. Who knows if cliplets will ever catch on, but it’s fun to think about applications. Thanks for the comments, Eric!