Halloween: Joost vs Veoh
With Halloween coming up, I was planning to run an article comparing the offering from the two competing services. Unfortunately, I am too busy with life to watch more than a few short shows and complete the article. However, since I still found some interesting results, I decided to post what I have instead of cancelling it; I may complete it later on.
In preparation for Halloween, both Joost and Veoh sent out newsletters showcasing their themed content, so I thought to myself: what better opportunity for running them side by side (so to speak) and seeing how they compare?
As you know if you follow my blog regularly, I have been a Joost user for a while, and I’m starting to enjoy watching some content. I have also registered to Veoh a few weeks ago, and I have watched a few shows on it, although so far I have just barely scratched the surface. So, time to go in deeper.
Differently from Joost, Veoh is very much web-centric; although they do have a downloadable client, your registration and initial interaction happens on their website. Additionally, their focus on user-provided content is very visible, as is their intention to create a community around the content: all in all, Veoh will feel immediately familiar to anyone who has participated in any website like Flickr, MySpace and so on. The trouble for me started on downloading the client: some content prompted me to download Flip4Mac (which I already have), and kept prompting me even after I did. They do warn that it’s beta software, but so does Joost; well, Veoh has a loooong way to go.
However, this is not a software review article; I just wanted to watch some content, so I clicked on some links in their newletters. Joost provided the first pleasant surprise: ! If you don’t know Troma (and you have a strong stomach and a twisted sense of humor), you definitely have to check it out; and if you do, I’m sure I don’t have to add much: , and a host of short content are available on the channel for your viewing pleasure, in all the glory of their 1980-ness perfectly rendered in their transposition from lousy VHS (or what have you) to digital. Just make sure you don’t eat your fingers while chewing on the popcorn.
Veoh has some interesting content, too. However, looking for it is such a pain! the downloadable client is just a player, so you are left with a user experience that is pretty much like YouTube’s: searching for content, watching at previews in a tiny box, and having to go through at least 2 clicks to queue them for download in the client; then, finally, you are able to watch them (and if you want to go full screen, that’s an additional click). Well, to me, that is a very big turnoff: if I want to watch “quasi-TV”, I want to sit back and enjoy, only occasionally changing channel, “zapping” or skipping content I don’t care for. From a user experience point of view, Veoh definitely doesn’t cut it for me, it doesn’t even come close to being a competitor to Joost
However, there is a saving grace: exclusive content. While Joost focuses on getting mainstream content (with all the idiosyncrasies I have already mentioned in other articles), Veoh (and Babelgum, and I’m sure others too) is focusing on getting exclusive or at least customized niche content. They do understand that this is a new market, the viewers are interested in more than CBS reruns, and they look like they are going to leverage on that.
So back to Halloween: in collaboration with a small company called Mindsplinters Films, Veoh is running a channel called Day of the Dying Living, a “viral” (sic) series based on an interesting idea: film yourself as a zombie, upload the video to Veoh, and if it’s found to be of high quality, it will be included in the film, and you will be in the credits. As far as I could determine, although this is described as an “Internet series”, the movie will be distributed in the usual channels (well, assuming any theater will want to show it :-) ).
That is a very smart direct marketing idea, and it has a big potential; to begin with, the director and mind behind this has other content on Veoh and is starring in a movie (out in 2008 or 2009), so creating a following of fans can very well drive money. And this “Day of the Dying Living” could not only be a net success in itself (the same as “Shaolin Soccer” was rediscovered and propelled to cult standing thanks to enthusiastic Internet fans), but inspire a number of imitators; after all, the concept of collaborative art is a mainstay in many net communities.
So, final verdict? Joost wins hands down (I only watched the Troma content, but they have more horror), but I’ll keep my eyes on Veoh for interesting ideas.
Comments
One Response to “Halloween: Joost vs Veoh”
Leave a Reply
I agree Joost is just a lot easier to use and get around on. I’m wondering if the writers strike is going to end up helping online video?