I was reading an article in Wired magazine about this new file sharing program called Joost. It is from the creators of Kazaa and Skype. Joost claims to be the new replacement for television via the internet. I know, everyone makes this claim, but Joost will be using the same file sharing peer to peer system that Kazaa and Skype have used to take the distribution load off of large centralized servers. And the developers have learned their lesson from Kazaa that they need to play legally. So it has high level encryption.
The basic idea is that content is originally stored on a central server along with the advertising to support the system. As people load Joost onto their computer, then they become a mirror site for content. Therefore the central server does not get all of the load of supplying content. This is the key breakthrough. For such a large system to work it needs to be distributed, otherwise the cost of these large central servers would kill you.
Advertisers are very excited about Joost because it allows them to target very specific markets with direct advertising. Not everyone who watches the same show will have the same advertising. The developers of Joost claim that because of this very targeted advertising, there will only need to be one small commercial for a 1/2 hr show.
I personally believe that this is a much more logical system than the central server, no commercial, pay $3 per show model that Apple is using.
At this time content providers are few and far between right now for Joost but there does seem to be an interest. The encryption of content goes a long way. The interesting thing is that Joost is built from a collection of free open source software combined into a fully integrated system. I hope Apple takes notice. This is the TV of the future.
Joost
3 comments:
But you know, Stitch, I never believe it when advertising is supposed to be contained to just a little bit. It seems that one commercial would bring in some bucks, but if we add another commercial, it brings in more bucks! The reasoning works the same even if it is targeted advertising. I prefer the no commercial model! It always comes down to greed when advertising is put in, and there's never enough! (Sorry, I'm in a pessimistic mood right now!)
I agree that advertising will always expand until people stop watching. This is why we have full hour infomercials. But as for TV shows, personally I would rather watch a few commercials to get free content because frankly there is very little on TV which I would want to pay for. So I trade my time watching an ad for free content. This is the way television has always worked in the US at least. Even with cable TV where you pay to have it. There are still just as many commercials as on over the air TV.
Oh, by the way, did you hear that over the air broadcast of non HDTV will end completely on Feb 2009. This was passed by Congress. They figured they could sell the bandwith to companies for HDTV from the FCC. Now you will need a converter box to change HDTV down to regular resolution TV. They will cost about $60 per TV.
You know, Stitch, you have a point about buying TV shows. I never have, but I don't have an iPod with video. But I do think I would be interested in buying content like National Geographic specials and NOVA. I don't think I'm the kind of person they're aiming for!
I didn't hear about the HD thing. It's probably for the better. Why watch regular TV when we have so much better available. Prices will come down for everyone, and our world will be just a little bit better!
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