Coming soon: Joost on your TV
The word is out: Joost is not just for your computer any more (Of course, let’s realize that Joost is still in pre-beta, even if it has 500,000 beta testers).
It’s remarkable how quickly things are moving. Let’s review: Joost, put together by Skype co-fonders with a chunk of their own money, outside investors and academic algorithms, is in the process of creating a major Internet TV network. Right now, most of the content is pretty lame - either it’s reruns or old shows or programs that never should leave their hometowns. Let’s put it this way, there ain’t no damn Sopranos on Joost.
Nevertheless, Joost (and fast-rising competitor Babelgum) are getting a tremendous amount of play. Why? Cable TV in the US can cost people more than $200/month. That’s insane. People hate cable TV; they just don’t have alternatives.
So, now that there is news of Joost being embedded into set-top boxes without getting a computer in the way, there is tremendous excitement about gadget-less convergence - the same way there is buzz about Vudu - which is mostly vaporware at the moment, despite the Hollywood buzz for that product.
So, in this scenario, PC-TV or download/streaming to TV, may come without a computer or a device. Our friends at TechCrunch have already tossed AppleTV on the dustbin of history after one month of sales.
The continuing talk suggests just how much excitement and interest there is in this developing market space. Imagine quality TV on your TV, where you really want to watch TV for free (except for a few commercials, and even those can be fun because they are interactive). Gee, it sounds just like the old days.
(Cross-posted at Juiced on Joost.)
