Video

Whatever Happened to…Wal-Mart’s Video Download Store?

January 1, 2008 by Kassia Krozser

We admit it freely: sometimes we can’t help the snarkiness. It just comes out. For example, let us return to this gem from ”The Daily Loper – February 7”:

Headline: Wal-Mart entry to video downloads a â€˜game changer’
Us: Yeahhhhhh . . . no.

Like most of you, we read the Reuters piece — classic journalism filled with breathless anticipation and so-far-off-base-it’s-funny commentary from media experts — with a dose of skepticism. Despite the fact that Wal-Mart has a strong brand name, we simply could not fathom how the Wal-Mart product could change the game. In fact, our analysis of the service suggested quite the opposite. Still, Memory Lane is a fun place, so let’s look back at a fun comment:
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That’s What I Like: YouTube

October 27, 2006 by Kirk Biglione

It’s hard to imagine a world without YouTube — which is amazing when you consider that the site’s official launch was less than a year ago. In its brief existence YouTube has become an unstoppable force, hosting 65,000 new videos per day and 20 million users per month. YouTube’s mojo is so strong that masters of world domination, Google, finally gave up trying to compete and bought the company outright.

What makes YouTube so great? Videos, of course. By simplifying the process of uploading video content YouTube has become a repository for millions of videos. The site hosts a huge number of obscure video clips you never thought you’d see again, and in many cases clips you never thought you’d see in the first place.

I visit YouTube regularly to get my fix of weird Japanese television shows, rare music videos and live performances, vintage television commercials and movie trailers, and strange public access programming.

Why Steve Jobs Pre-announced Apple’s iTV Product

September 12, 2006 by Kirk Biglione

Of all of the product announcements made during today’s Apple event, the most surprising, by far, was the pre-announcement of a new set-top box. Code named iTV, the box will use standard wireless networking to feed iTunes content to any home entertainment center. The device is scheduled to come out in the first quarter of 2007.

Does anyone remember the last time Apple pre-announced a new product this far in advance? What happened to the legendary Apple secrecy? A huge part of Apple’s mystic is built around the intense reaction the press has to the unveiling of unexpected new products. That coverage usually drives customers to jump on the bandwagon and buy the latest Apple products immediately. By previewing iTV this far in advance Apple risks losing both the buzz and consumer interest during the months leading up to its release. Worse yet, iTV won’t be available for the holiday shopping season.

No Virginia, There Is No lonelygirl15

September 1, 2006 by Kirk Biglione

This summer YouTube users have eagerly followed the story of lonelygirl15, a 16 year old home-schooled girl, and her friend Daniel. Since June the pair have posted a couple dozen short video clips that mix slice of life vignettes with a very thin plot line involving the girl’s eccentric family. It’s sort of like microwave reality TV. Except it’s not on TV. And it’s not real.

While the videos have found a willing audience, some having been viewed nearly a half million times, they’ve also create a mini-backlash among YouTube viewers who fear they’re deceived. I’m not sure which I find more unlikely, the fact that someone would believe the lonelygirl15 videos are actually produced by a 16 year-old with a webcam, or the possibility that viewers feel betrayed because a video they saw on YouTube turned out to be fictional. Hell, these days even television news isn’t alway real. Why should we hold YouTube to a higher standard?

Only Spielberg Can Mess With His Movies, Dammit!

July 11, 2006 by Jim Connelly

In a bit of good news for censorship foes, a Federal judge in Denver has ruled that retailers who were “sanitizing” films by removing all of the good parts prior to selling them to a probably-witting niche were also violating copyright laws.

This case has been in motion since 2002, when CleanFlicks tried to twist the First Amendment by claiming that they had the right to do whatever they wanted to these films prior to sending them out to the public. The judge, however, saw right through that bullshit:

There May Still Be Hope For Google Video

June 7, 2006 by Kirk Biglione

Yesterday Google released a video player for Mac OSX. On the surface that might not seem like big news. Google Video still looks like a picked-over flea market. Meanwhile, iTunes is on a roll – offering over 250 programs for download. Google is clearly playing catch up in the online video market – and not very well.

While Google has failed to make a dent with its video store, it may have better luck with its video DRM system. Yesterday’s release of the OSX video player wasn’t so much about supporting the Mac platform as it was about making the Google Video DRM system available cross-platform.

Television As A Hunter-Gatherer Experience

April 24, 2006 by Kirk Biglione

Now that iTunes and last month’s NCAA tournament have proven that there’s a market for television programming online, the networks are racing to put as much programming as possible (within the limitations of their affiliate agreements) on the web.

Given the fact that television has always been a mass medium you would expect network executives would be lining up get their programming on the big portals like Yahoo. As it turns out, that’s not necessarily the case. In fact, some network executives are starting to have second thoughts about sharing their programming with technology companies.

Television Networks Plagued By Online Usability Issues

April 18, 2006 by Kirk Biglione

It’s no secret that all of us at Medialoper love The Office. The program is brilliant on a consistent basis, and NBC has been innovative in extending the show’s reach to the web with blogs, MySpace profiles, and online video. In many respects, The Office is the embodiment of the type of media convergence that we cover here on a regular basis.

There’s just one annoying problem that keeps The Office from being perfect in every way. I almost always have problems watching the video extras on The Office website. At various points in time I’ve tested just about every combination of operating system and web browser known to mankind, and most of them fail.

Video iPod Delay Not Such A Bad Thing For Apple

April 17, 2006 by Jim Connelly

There have been reports in the last week or so that Apples “true” video iPod — the one where the entire front part of the player was both a viewscreen and a track wheel — has been substantially delayed.

Once rumoured for release as possibly as soon as this month, it looks more like Q4 this year is a more realistic release date. Sure, while product delays are often met with predictions of outright disaster — hello HD-DVD! — in this case, I think it’s actually a case of where a outwardly bad situation will pay off dividends down the road.