I’ve had the pleasure of testing out a new product (previously named “The Venice Project”) that will, perhaps, revolutionize the way we experience “television” in the coming years. From the creators of Skype (free online calls) comes Joost (free online TV). Is it awesome? Yes. Is it in a closed beta? Yes. But will I tell you all the neat things about it? Sure I will…
Awesome Content
Joost has content for everyone. Luckily I have eclectic tastes and can enjoy nearly everything. This week I’ve passively learned about the hyphy movement, sharks, and urban design. Additionally I’ve watched numerous music videos (and how they were made), extreme sports clips, and a lot of sports car reviews. Fascinating stuff, amazing content, and this is just the beta. I can’t wait until more providers sign on. This is much better than cable television because I can truly pick and choose what I want to watch and when. Definitely the best feature of IPTV.
Commercials
The commercials are odd. Obviously the project is in beta so there are some issues. Occasionally the commercials will appear and then the video will remain black (even once the clip resumes). They also occur very suddenly and randomly catching me unaware. Somewhat annoying and disruptive but everyone else does it this way. Though, I think ABC’s video player has done the best job of incorporating commercials and they should try to mimic the “appropriate time for a break” model. With that said, free videos for short commercial clips? I have no problem with that.
Interface
The menus seem simple enough but are sometimes too simple. I may be ignorant or just a bad interface user but I find it hard to get around with my mouse. With my keyboard it’s more or less simple but sometimes I don’t want to type. I also watch Joost in “windowed mode” (as opposed to full-screen) and thats where there are a few issues. There is no “always on top” (yet), menus will close if you resize the window, etc. Lots of little things that I’m sure will get worked out in future iterations.
Put simply..
I’m on day five at work with Joost. It’s always on in the background and I’ve still got plenty of new, original content to get through. The commercials sometimes startle me and a few bugs are annoying but hey, it’s beta. I definitely see myself using this every day at work (and perhaps at home).
interesting. i cant wait to try it out.
It sounds really promising.
Mind sending a token my way?
Very interesting. Being one of those poor fellas who doesn’t own a tv, I almost can’t wait to lay my hands upon it. I saw something about invites somewhere … Is there any chance?
I signed up yesterday wooo hooo!
Sorry, I don’t have any invites available. Joost says they plan to open up to a lot more people real soon. Go here to apply if you haven’t already.
I’ve been reading about The Venice Project/Joost and it’s been really interesting. I’m probably not going to try it until it’s into final stages, but its got the potential to be something big in the future.
Sounds cool! Can anyone spare an invite? [email protected]
wow, sounds iike you have an interesting job where you can watch tv so much.
just kidding. i’m excited that the mac alpha is out and that beta testing will being soon.
I cannot wait for the day that I can do real a-la-carte tv. I will pay for watch too.
Hey…any chance you have an extra invite…I really want to try it.
Nope, no invites right now–sorry.
Hey if you guys need invites, head over to http://www.joostswap.com and offer something. If you have invites, head over and see what you can get.
I’ve been with Joost since its conception as The Venice Project. I have to disagree with the content issue; I fully understand it is merely at the Beta stage (albeit much more advanced than previous releases), but there’s very little variety or true quality in the programming available to users.
Once it it becomes a free service similar to 4OD, Channel 4’s pay-per-view service, I won’t be reinstalling.
I’ve been trying the Joost Beta out and I really like it. The videos look great and it loads really quickly.