Test-Driving Joost: Beyond Slick, and Not Really a YouTube Competitor

Joost was kind enough to make me a beta tester, so I spent a half-hour last Friday checking out the service.  Key observations:

• In its current form, Joost is more like TV than online video.  As a result, it is not yet a direct competitor to YouTube.

• The interface is super-slick: Full screen, floating translucent menu bar, high-quality sound and video.  Even if it were possible to watch amateur videos on Joost, you would not want to--because they would look horrible.

• Joost will be awesome for watching music videos, movie trailers, and sports highlights.  These categories constitute a meaningful percentage of YouTube views, so there will be some overlap (although I still can't understand why music and movie companies would not want these videos available everywhere).

• The user-experience is definitely more video-on-demand than Internet, and this will likely create tension for those who like to consume their online video at work: Watching a few short clips on YouTube while checking online news and email is one thing.  Ginning up the "Soccer Channel" and watching the "100 top acrobatic goals" for a half-hour is another.

• Unlike YouTube, which is all about video storage and delivery and user choice, Joost appears to be at least half about programming.  This will certainly appeal to traditional media companies, who love programming.  Whether it will appeal to impatient, busy Internet users who hate being programmed, however, is another question.

• Joost's advertising currently takes the form of "brought to you by" full screen ads with logos that precede the launching of your "channel" selection.  These are unobtrusive, tolerable, and vastly preferable to pre-rolls, which make you loathe both advertiser and content provider.  They also presumably don't generate anywhere near as much revenue.

• Bottom line: Joost is a full-on entertainment tool that will compete with traditional television as much as it competes with YouTube.  The risk for the company is that the service will end up being neither fish nor fowl: Not as good as TV (the "100 top acrobatic goals" are good on a 17-inch PC screen, but amazing on a 42-inch TV), and not as simple, convenient, and user-driven as YouTube.  It should be a hit with those who live on music videos, though. 

Comments

[Stefan]

From what you say I will stay on YouTube, at least for watching music videos. I prefer to run them in the background or in a corner of the screen while doing other stuff. Full screen viewing is NOT an option.

/Stefan

[Jeff Shattuck]

Henry, Interesting post about Joost. After reading it, I headed over to joost.com, but found that in order to beta it, I need to be invited. Any chance you would do that for me? I know you don't know me from Adam, but I figured it was worth a shot.

For what it's worth, my thought on Google is that the stock price will head back down from here. Not sure how low it will go, maybe into the mid $300s or high $200s, but I just don't see the company as 'perfect' and that's how the stock prices it. But then I have brain damage, so what do I know?

[Ryan]

Henry,

Not sure how many invites you had available for Joost, but like the other poster; I thought I would put in a shameless ask for one to try the service out.

Thanks either way,

[Ryan]

Henry,

Not sure how many invites you had available for Joost, but like the other poster; I thought I would put in a shameless ask for one to try the service out.

Thanks either way,

[Henry Blodget]

Unfortunately, I think you have to sign up on the Joost site and then wait for approval. Took a few weeks for me. You need their "player" software, and you can't download it until they approve you.

[Loki]

Henry, you really should look at ReelTime.com (RLTR.PK). Full fledged IP Movie website, DVD player quality with over 1000 movies up there, on the way to 100,000.. Has announced Lionsgate, CHUM (Canadian TV), Vanguard, Indie Films (ala Joost), Documentaries from TVF in London, American X (U.S.), and soon a few blockbuster studios that will blow the competition away... check it out.. Cost is $20/six months or $.11/day.. Higher quality player and soon, high quality films...

[rkor]

loki, i checked it out http://www.reeltime.com/ : impressive and more to my taste than joost- no commercials and more full length stuff- liked all the documenataries- and looks like they're getting more content providers. surprised more peeps don't know about them. i'll pay 11 cents a day for it. thanks for the tip!

[Victor]

WOW!!! Thank you Henry! ReelTime (http://www.reeltime.com) is the best video stream I have seen yet! I watched a movie last night and cannot believe the quality! I didn't know they could stream movies full screen over the net yet. The movie started in just 30 seconds and looked like it was at least 720p, good enough to play on my 60" Sony Wega!

[jayjay]

I am also playing with Joost and noticed that it is not working behind the company firewall. As Joost is coming from the Skype developers I had assumed that this is not a problem.

[Gonzalo Leon]

Why bother with JOOST when there is REELTIME.COM?

[Melvin Barnes]

I checked out ReelTime.com and Joost. They both could use a lot more content. But that Reeltime has much better resolution, and much more movies and stuff than Joost. Is there a conspiracy to stop us from getting good quality video on the Web? I never heard of either one of these companies!

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[Martin]

Henry:

Could you also send an invitation for me?

Thanks !!!

[brood]

I too have tried both Reeltime and Joost and it will be interesting to see how this all pans out. I lean more towards Reeltime though because of the full screen quality. Joost though is free. However if I were going to watch movies I would go with the better quality.

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