Open API for Joost, the Peer to Peer Internet TV
Not only has Joost come out of closed beta testing on Oct 1 2007, but it has also opened its API door for third party widgets, which has become and is still becoming the default (see mashable.com for some examples) - a sensitive point in MySpace’s history, and a triumph in FaceBook’s. As Liz Gannes writes on NewTeeVee “It is seeding the open API with widgets of its own, including synchronized watching and video markup tools.” Joost is still Beta software though (see the developers of Skype in charge of Joost), so if you see a bug, contact the exhausted, family-stripped Joost team to iron it out.
Here’s a Wallstrip interview with Mike Volpi, the CEO of Joost:
The technology of Joost is truly truly great. It deserves the hype it has gotten so far: fantastic picture quality and server-friendly solutions. As one of the beta testers I did not want to repeat the general reaction that it could be a lot better though. My first reaction was: yes, and where are films that are worth testing with? Great quality? Yes. Good films? None.
Now Joost is open to anyone, the interface has become more intuitive, but the real question, I think, is the content. If you look at YouTube, it is obvious that the real value for millions of users has been the content, however crappy quality the uploaded videos may have, they are there: vintage cartoons, silent films, tricky how-tos, a slew of music clips, trailers, commercials, even the whole Twin Peaks! Joost has first rate quality. But it is not the quality of the movie or the ingenious and environmentally friendly idea of peer to peer streaming that makes the pivotal leap into our common technologically uniformized daily web experiences (YouTube, among others, knocks on the door every day). It is the content. Craigs List is not much to look at, but the content is there.So if Joost comes up with a whole array of great films, only then will I be lured away from other video sharing sites. For soem of you, the great films might be the Post-season Baseball matches
NEW YORK - Sept. 27, 2007 - Joost™ announced an exclusive partnership with MLB Advanced Media (MLBAM), the interactive media and Internet company of Major League Baseball, today. The agreement grants Joost the rights to make on-demand game broadcasts and highlight clips from the 2007 MLB postseason, including the World Series, and Daily Rewind, an MLB.com produced daily highlight program, available on its streaming video distribution platform to a global viewing audience.
But I have not grown up with baseball in Europe, so I need something else. Dave Clark from Joost says: “Everyone can enjoy a ballooning selection of comedy, music videos, documentaries, movies and the latest hits from some of your favorite media brands, including CBS, Major League Baseball, MTV, Turner, Comedy Central and more — over 15,000 shows to date.”
PS: two more interviews with Mike Volpi: here and here.