Would Joost still matter if it were on your cable box?
Right now, most people want to watch TV on the TV. And as we've described before, getting Joost to work with your TV set involves several (kind of) complicated steps, like making sure you have a video card with TV-out, a computer close to your television, and the time and energy to figure out how to program a computer remote control to flip channels on Joost without a keyboard and mouse.So it's good to hear that Joost is in talks with hardware makers to embed Joost in devices like cable boxes and HD-DVD and Blu-ray players. No more fighting to connect your PC to your TV. Turn on your cable box, and Joost is right there.
But at that point, isn't Joost just a new interface for video on demand, with less programming than you'd get from Comcast? Part of the whole selling point of Joost was that it made the experience of watching internet video a bit more like watching TV. If you're actually, you know, watching TV on it, does Joost actually bring anything to the table?
Sure, you'll be getting your video from the internet instead of directly from your cable provider, but to date, that's actually meant lower quality and occasional buffering issues. And while there might be a wider selection of obscure content from independent producers, we're not sure that's actually a selling point.
What do you think would you be more or less likely to use Joost if it came with your cable box?
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
k said 10:59PM on 6-16-2007
i have an macbook and joost and can control joost using my apple remote. i suppose that if i had a tv out cable for my computer, i can watch joost the way you'd like to, no keyboard or mouse involved
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Mason said 11:01PM on 6-16-2007
Can anyone send me an invite to Joost? I would really like to try it out. you can email it to me at mobims@gmail.com
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Rob said 11:01PM on 6-16-2007
I was wondering this myself earlier today. Considering that Joost's compelling choices of programming consist of mostly, for me, MTV/Comedy Central/Cartoon Network clips, if this existed on my TV, what's the point? It is exactly VOD, in that case. Joost will need original programming or its own compelling networks outside the traditional cable networks in order to make this work. The upside I see is broader distribution for non-traditional programming.
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pmow said 11:01PM on 6-16-2007
Joost is a 100% coupon off your monthly cable TV bill.
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TempusFugit said 11:01PM on 6-16-2007
I think Joost had the potential to be a lot more. By being on the internet, content accross the world could have been opened up. Instead, thanks to restricting content to different countries instead of pursuing that vision, they've created a service which simply and with inferiority imitates normal television and VOD anyway.
General user content and creating your own channel for an average user is near impossible, content accross the world is limited to their respective regions and the content is mainly only allowed and only is provided by big content providers which provide the same content to normal broadcasters anyway.
Thus, thanks to the use of DRM, the location and content restrictions, to me the appeal of Joost has faded. It had a lot of potential, but in the end, in my opinion, it failed to live up to it.
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Shoaib said 11:02PM on 6-16-2007
Joost support for PS3 wouldn't just make my day, it would probably make my life
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Saint said 8:15AM on 6-17-2007
If anyone out there is feeling that they have a bunch of Joost invites that they're needing to give away, they could always send one to dementedpixel [[at]] gmail [[dot]] com... Perhaps? :D
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Sam said 8:16AM on 6-17-2007
Hi,
Could any one please e-mail an invite to joost i would be very greatful!
My e-mail address is sam_theman@btopenworld.com
Thank you
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Saint said 11:43AM on 6-17-2007
Kev In, wherever you are, you made my day. You sir, have became my hero. :D
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mj said 6:53PM on 6-17-2007
markj27 @ gmail . com
Would really appreciate an invite so I can see what all the fuss is about! Please? ;)
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k said 8:11PM on 6-17-2007
you're very welcome saint. i still have a bunch of invites and if anyone needs one, or know someone that needs one, let me know!
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Dean McKenzie said 10:35PM on 6-17-2007
I'd love an invite as well!
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k said 10:36PM on 6-17-2007
email addresses are needed for invites...
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azum5 said 7:57AM on 6-18-2007
Can I have an invite, please?
azum5 @ yahoo.com...thanks a lot
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bluedenim64 said 7:58AM on 6-18-2007
this joost sounds interesting , I work in tech support for a cable co. can anyone send me an invite, k?( bluedenim64@aol.com)
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Dean McKenzie said 8:34AM on 6-18-2007
I figured it'd attach my email address to the comment. dean_mck@gmail.com
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Gutts said 12:09PM on 6-18-2007
Can I please also get a invite. I would love to try this out. They still need the Tennis channel!!
rawgutts
at
yahoo.com
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Edge said 1:28PM on 6-18-2007
I would really love to try Joost out, it looks like a winner. could someone invite me? Please? ejfarrin@gmail.com
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azum5 said 3:42PM on 6-18-2007
Kev In, thanks for the invite!!!!
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1 said 3:57PM on 6-18-2007
joost is not a winner. say that since day 1.
its a flop. and its only kept alive by stupid invite system.
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