Joost beta is finally open to everyone now. So, I thought I’d check it out.
Joost a highly disruptive site is a creation of Niklas Zennstrom and Janus Friis who were also behind Kazaa and Skype. To use it you download the player, create a user name and password, log in and you’re ready to go. Old media companies are looking at making deals with Joost to distribute their shows, some say they are using it as an answer to YouTube. Companies like Reuters, Warner Brothers, BET, Comedy Central, MTV and more have made programs available. I expect as popularity increases so will the number of companies and programs we’ll find on Joost.
I’m viewing with a 19″ flat screen monitor on a cable connection, and so far the quality is very good. When there is a lot of motion you do get a bit of fuzziness, but nothing that is unbearable. There are advertisements but they are very short less then 30 seconds at a time. Every so often a small image will appear on top of the picture in the lower right hand corner advertising products. Nothing more than what you would see when watching a soccer match.
Along with watching TV shows and movies, you can chat with viewers and rate shows. Over all I would say it’s pretty impressive. They actually have a couple of episodes from Max Headroom.
Check out this demonstration from the site What’s Joost?
Microsoft, Apple and other companies are still trying to bring the PC and internet to the living room. Joost may give them more incentive. Could this be the future of TV?