October 2, 2007

Will Joost Succeed?

Joost, the peer-to-peer internet TV network, has opened in beta to the public today after being in private beta for over a year. Starting today, you can head over to Joost.com, download their software and watch content from partners such as Warner Brothers, Sony, CNN, PBS, Major League Baseball and the NHL. Some questions must be asked though. Will Joost succeed in developing a successful online television network when the web has become saturated with video content? What about the formidable competition from YouTube and TiVo? Would you rather watch movies and television shows on your regular TV or on the web? These are all tough questions that Joost must look at.

Mike Volpi, Joost CEO, says that Joost has excellent video quality, much improved over the past 6 months of beta testing, as well as an ever-increasing library of content and these are the keys to its future success. Personally, I think this network will fail. The content is not diverse enough at the moment for the site to really take off, and if it doesn't take off now, it won't. Great idea in theory, but not the right timing. The company is just a little to far ahead of its time.

In fact, check out the comments in today's New York Times article about the launch. Pretty negative, eh?

Via The New York Times