Updated Software today. Lots of New Content!

Bandwidth with Joost can be a problem. I blogged about this.

Please remove the space between the words "blog" and "some" to get the full URL above, beause Blogcritics.org erroneously blocks any comments with the full word together. Admin, if you read this, please remove the word "blog some" from the spam list, it is a legitimate blogger site.

BTW, Joost uses h.264 which is a good way to save bandwidth, however, it seems that ABC is way ahead of Joost in the quality department. Just 2 days ago they rolled out their HD-like online content (when using the "fullscreen" option on their Flash-based player) and quality is amazing.

[I made your link active and have asked the higher powers to remove that word from the stoplist. Comments Editor]

I agree. The content needs some improvements, but over all it has a lot of potential.

just my words, I signed up yesterday. but after having spend an hour playing with Joost I tuned it off, there was noting I wanted to see, the content is worse than shit.

Well.... back to "The Pirate Bay" !!!

if you are on joost, could you fire me an invite? [Personal contact info deleted] ty!

honestly, i don't know if joost will end up making it, as there is so much competition sprouting up. reeltime.com and netflix.com both offer similar streaming services and they seem to have a better selection of content. i believe netflix is still in closed beta testing, but reeltime is open beta.

ya actually I'm interested in finding out more about this too (even if the content is crap) so shoot me an invite too if you don't mind [Personal contact info deleted]

Your statement:

"I've heard so much about Joost. Some of it can only be described as hyperbolic crap, some of it is intriguing opinion. I'm a little late to the party, but with the release of Joost 0.9 I thought I'd give it a try.

To sum it up, it's a great application, with a slick interface and some nice social features, but it's badly let down by its content. But I'm getting ahead of myself."

Considering it is still in beta form and to get access to this data you need to be invited. Since you failed to mention that, one can only assume you are using someone else's beta or got a cracked altered copy off a torrent.

Either way, both whether cracked beta or normal beta, it is all still beta. The things you compare it to are absurd. Your problem is you only have Media Center as your main online tv reference. Ever heard of MLB.tv ? If that is doing as well as it is, I believe so will Joost. You should give the product more research in comparison to online-only competition before you start comparing it to just finalized desktop software already available.

If anyone could send me an invite, I would highly appreciate it :) I am trying to get in there for month now... Thank you [Personal contact info deleted]

Wow - ChooseAndWatch.com has over 300 channels - including XXX channels
Thanks mate :)

Yo, they're just getting started.
in version 0.8 beta, they had even less content.
obviously, they're adding content.

Instead of evaluation one version, you should be evaluating progress.

I have 5 invites to give out. [Personal contact info deleted]

The National Geographic content is pretty good, and Viacom will provide a lot of excellent content. I think Joost has a lot of potential.

Nice review. I'd love to try it myself, would love you to pop me an invite if you get round to it. [Personal contact info deleted]

I agree the content is weak right now, but it will get better. Joost is very promising

I've been using Joost for a few versions now, and while I agree with you that its content is poor, the quantity and quality of content has increased tenfold.

Compared to last version, Joost picked up Comedy Central (including the entire season of the now defunct, but always funny "Stella"), MTV, VH1, among others. And keep in mind these are all just 'betas' of the content you are going to see on these channels.

Give it a chance. Even Apple had problems convincing movie studios to offer downloads. And look at all the content they have now.

Everyone wants a jump on YouTube, and Joost offers great design, decent quality, and an interesting business model. And I doubt they're done pulling ideas out of their sleeve.

Let me get this straight though - and I'm having a lot of the same hangups as well with Joost - it's all about the content: but you're essentially saying the huge problem with Joost is that you don't find the content interesting or stimulating enough?

I agree, wholeheartedly, but I hardly think that the service has a significant problem when I MYSELF don't happen to like what's on. I wish Joost's offerings would branch out a bit as well, but there's already a great deal of content, and if it just doesn't suit me, then well...that's more MY problem than a critical flaw with the service, isn't it? I mean yes - Joost needs to expand their offerings to more programs and more channels, and more DIFFERENT channels instead of a lot of repeating channels, but in the end, it sounds more like you have a personal problem with none of the content entertaining YOU than a problem with Joost, the idea, or the service at all.

I am still waiting on my invite.

I would really like a company like Joost to make it. The whole invitation part reminds me of Google, so maybe they are the guys behind this new site (whoknows).
The reason I am writing is for an invitation. [Personal contact info deleted]

Quit whining. A little birdie told me deals with several major networks are in the works. The thing isn't even public yet, expect big things then.

Has anyone else seen the Comedy Central content on Joost? Talk about lame... it seems like they're using shows that didn't make the cut for the real cable channel.

I hope it gets better. The app IS very slick.

Just be glad that they got rid of the Paris Hilton channel

Thanks for the comments everyone.

@Intelligent - that's an interesting assumption to make. I was fortunate enough to get an invite a while back, but didn't bother installing Joost thanks to poor Vista support. And I guess you'll assume I'm pirating Vista because I don't explicitly state how to purchase it.

Like I said in the article: with more content, Joost could be great. It's nice to know that many people share that view, because hopefully Joost's developers will hear that message loud and clear: we like the product, but please just give us better content!

its a beta. you present it as if its a done deal. I've been a beta tester since the very early days. it has improved out of sight.
its the platform thats cool and the opportunities it brings. if you do a bit of research, you'll find Joost has signed a number of content deals including Viacom. in the backlash against YouTube in the media community I think you'll find joost does quite well.

I agree but with the huge backing that Joost has, I doubt they will have issues getting more and diversified content - it is still beta and they would be checking the application and their servers function properly before loading it up with lots of content.

I hope they have an option for a not-so-slick interface as well. The interface now is slow to respond while it is buffering and such. I would like to have a choice between both interfaces.

I am sure this will develop into something interesting. The developers seem to just get the public pulse as with their earlier products.

Right now, there are only a couple of channels that I like. I actually don't mind old content just so long as there is enough to choose from. But at the same time, I would rather that there isn't a channel explosion, with each channel containing only a small amount of content. I prefer the channels to be more substantial.

It would also be nice if Joost develops a more clear distinction between amateur content and traditional content. I am in mood for both but at different times.

Right now the ads are minimal. As they get more advertisers, I hope they have some diversity in the ads. I don't mind ads. Just don't like watching the same ad a 100 times. Part of the reason I don't watch TV. I would even be willing to tell Joost on what I would like my ads on. Targeted ads for them.

I hope they don't get too smart for their own good and try semi-ethical stuff. For example ...
I was a paying Skype user. Skype tries to force me to include it in startup by conveniently forgetting my password and makes me type it again if I tell it not to startup automatically (I checked the forums). This came off as rude and moved me away to Gizmo.

Would also be nice if it supports some offline capabilities or be able to export to a portable media player including advertisements. For me, Podcasts have completely replaced radio and TV. Perhaps, Joost can provide an interface for popular podcasts as channels. On the other hand, I am fine with iTunes but it would be nice to have reasonably ad-supported free regular TV shows on the media player.

Dumb review. Of course Joost hardly has any content: it's a new network, stupid!

WTF? whats the point of this article? Joost is still in CLOSED BETA. It's not open to the public, they aren't even looking at stress testing. they're looking at network/client issues. why would they go out of the way and secure quality content to beta test with?

You sir, are doing them a disservice by whining about joost's lack of beta programing.

Whoever said that this was a good review was wrong. The title is 'The Problem with Joost' and yet the only mention of a problem is that it can't be replaced by WMC and he doesn't like the content?!

In the first paragraph he says "To sum it up, it's a great application, with a slick interface..." then in the very next paragraph he says "The interface is slick too." Too? TOO?! in addition to what?! What else was slick?!

Do you even read this crap before you "publish" it? And you're supposed to be a Critic?! Maybe you should read some actual reviews and try harder. Check places like Amazon, Cnet, etc. for some good starting points. Sheesh. I'm not attacking the person, I'm attacking the writing.

A-HA! I'm *not* the only one who thought the icon looked like various colours of kryptonite!

How to get invites to Joost seek for "joost invites" choose "Sort by date" the bloggers have lots of invites to give out

Before crapping down on the content one should maybe think about what state they're in: BETA! This means there is only testing going on having material avalible for ppl to watch to test the application.
If you check joost.com you'll see what channels will be avalible on launch (whish is not to far away). There is 100s of channels by various pressty known producers (also they have Viacom signed)

You are a very half baked blogger, most of us had noticed this some time ago. It doesn't merit an entire article. Joost is nice, but the content is rubbish would have done.

Don't you think they're working on the content end? That's the one thing that they don't/can't have total control over. When the media industry finally come around to the web taking over it will all come together. Quit bitching and give it time!

You guys think Joost is going to magically have more content while you all talk about how great it is? Um, no. If Joost manages to expand content offerings, it will be *because* of articles like this, offering hope but lamenting the lack of content.

Or, you know, you could just continue with the adulation of half-baked Joost and personal insults for all who point out the emperor is naked.

Yes, I agree that the content is crap. So after playing with Joost for a few minutes, I just never launched it again.

Now, I installed the last beta after receiving an email from Joost bragging about the new version with so many new improvements. Although the interface looks slightly better than the 1st beta, I did not notice any big changes. On the contents side, nothing interesting on the horizon.

I suggested in their forum to set-up a RSS feed with updates on new content added. But they replied some bs. that it was technically not easy and stuff like that.

Now their home page has a list of contents, but it is not very useful because it does not show clearly what is the new content.

Eventually, I stopped using Joost, just a waste of time...
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I just heard about Zattoo. European contents looks much better than Joost. I could install the software, but cannot watch channels because I do not live in Switzerland (the program seems to check the IP address).
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I'm beta testing Joost right now. The problem I have with it is it's glitchy and jerky, and sometimes it's unwatchable. I've talked with them about it but there's no other info forthcoming.

good to hear the other side of the story...