Hype surrounding the promise that technology has for education began with Thomas Edison in 1913, when he predicted that the motion picture would end the need for textbooks and revolutionize schools. Years later a phase of development was fueled by government funding, and the educational film industry reached a heyday following World War II, which only began to dissipate in the 1980s and 90s. This article concludes from a brief review of this history that educational video is potentially on the cusp of significant development. Noting the dearth of studies in the area of video development, however, it also explains the need for proponents of the technology to learn from history and research as they seek improvements in how video is produced and implemented in education. The question is not whether it should be used but how it should be designed and implemented.