Dirst... on the "largest Internet video distribution network ever assembled with the most sought-after content from television and film"... the simply don't get it. And I've come to the realization that they most likely never will.
Here's the thing. What's being fought over right now between youtube and universal is "control" of who gets to host the conversation. But that's the thing it IS a conversation... it's free speach. It's fair use. People are "quoting" video... usually in clips less than two minutes to discuss it and comment on it wildly. Just because people haven't been able to quote video widely and publicly like they have books and newspapers doesn't mean it's NOT fair use. It is fair use... and as such viacom can sue youtube... and NBC can start some b.s. but the bottom line is if you look at the relationship of the blogosphere to newspapers... that is the SAME relationship tradition media companies will have to inevitably deal with. People WILL post clips anywhere they choose... the video needs to come to the conversation... not the conversation to the video... most obviously because it's quite obvious that players like NBC are completely incapable of making social websites... and who can blame them... the social space is still evolving rapidly. The bottom line is NBC and others attempts at creating their own social networks or media networks will obviously server some purpose but 99% of the conversation is going to take place on the blogs, the myspace's, the youtbe's and thousands of bboards and mailing lists... and the rreal distribution will take place on p2p, people emailing and IM'ing urls and otherwise. NBC's interpretation of distribution is sure to be as obtuse as DRM itself... the bottom line is people need to be able to download a video... chop it up with a video editing tool, and re-upload it to whatever site they choose... wherever the conversation is taking place, and this is something NBC will never be able to grasp and it's not just a issue of entertainment... it fundamentally a free speach issue. We need the 100's of thousands of political vlogs to be able to "quote" clips of the new... the daily show... or any program to discuss them... particularly how these big media companies are perverting reality. About the mefeedia issues... Mefeedia started ot as slackerware... which is not a negative at all... it was the effort of several people's spare time, invested for free. It's in transition to be something more. But as such it was not designed from the ground up to be a publicly mass consume-able site. In that it's sort of like craigslist... linux... or the original yahoo or google which all started out this way... but it takes a lot of time and energy to retroactively re-design, polish and improve the usability and we hope you'll be patient with us and continue to provide us with your feedback. More comments below. On 3/23/07, Zenophon Abraham <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Hi, > > Congrats on the site. I'm not sold on it from a > usability perspective. It's way too busy. It reminds > me of Bloglines in its design problems. I think I understand... as opposed to... an itunes... or a google reader. Any examples of workflow's or site you like would be great... specific points are even better. We've recently revamped the homepage and are trying to simplify, and clarify it's purpose. It was a huge improvement, but obviously we have a long way to go. > The three main concerns of your design should be "Can > a person easily find the link button to go to his or > her page?" your page? Your profile page? you're inbox? or your feed page? > "Can a person set up an account with a few > steps?" We'd like to think we've made this as simple as possible. The form is litterally in the homepage, it's extremely short, and we get you signed up with a few suggested subscriptions and watching videos in only a few clicks. > and "Does the site promote vital video > distribution well?" "vital video distribution"? I do think this is maybe the most important point, but I'm not understanding what you mean. Obviously mefeedia exists to promote individual videoblogs / podcasts. Hopefully this is clear from the homepage. Please do elaborate. What's important to you is what's important to use. We think you want some place to find, track, and watch all your favorite videoblogs... but what do you want? Be as specific as you like. > The front page throws a lot at one and doesn't have > that simple "Start Here" button. I'd do a complete > redesign here. We've added a big introduction box to the page that says the following. Find. Collect. Watch. Share. 2,213,849 episodes from 22,811 video feeds across 13,561 websites We don't host videos or podcasts. We just help you find the ones you like. We're independent. We share the love. Yea baby. If you're already logged in of course you won't see it. Are you logged in. I can understand if it's still not clear... there's a lot going on on the page. -Mike > Do a useability study. Check it out. > > Best, > > Zennie > > > --- Steve Watkins <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > > Agree with your observations. Its hard to tell from > > the press release > > but I assume they may well lmit some or all of it to > > US only due to > > the complexities of international media rights, for > > example that many > > of these US series are shown on UK TV much later, > > and the UK companies > > that pay a lot for the broadcast rightss arent > > likely to be chuffed if > > the stuff was already available to watch online > > first. > > > > This international angle is one area where > > forward-thinking new media > > could have the upper hand for ages, if traditional > > media cant escape > > the shackles of the international broadcast rights > > marketplace. > > > > Cheers > > > > Steve Elbows > > > > --- In videoblogging@yahoogroups.com, "Frank Sinton" > > <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > > > > > This will be interesting to watch, of course. > > > > > > A couple of comments: > > > > > > 1) US only? They only mentioned US. As we all > > know, online video is > > > a lot more than just the US. > > > 2) They are calling this a "strategic alliance" > > rather than a "joint > > > venture", probably to try to avoid being labeled > > the next Movielink, > > > but they will have to prove to everyone that they > > can operate > > > differently. > > > 3) "ubiquitous" distribution? - also followed by > > "Post-launch, sites > > > affiliated with founding companies, including > > iVillage and IGN, will > > > also have the opportunity to become distribution > > partners." I'm just > > > not seeing it as "ubiquitous" - will all video > > feeds be available > > > via MediaRSS with enclousures? Will I be able to > > download to my iPod? > > > > > > Just my initial thoughts... still lots of question > > marks, obviously. > > > > > > -Frank > > > > > > Frank Sinton > > > CEO, Mefeedia > > > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > > > > > http://www.mefeedia.com - Find, Watch, and Share > > great videoblogs > > > and podcasts. > > > Our blog: http://mefeedia.com/blog > > > > > > > > > --- In videoblogging@yahoogroups.com, "tony.katz" > > <tony.katz@> > > > wrote: > > > > > > > > http://www.drudgereport.com/flash3.htm > > > > > > > > > > > > I hope you like pre-roll advertising. > > > > > > > > Tony Katz > > > > http://www.talkshowonthego.com > > > > http://www.aweli.com > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > ____________________________________________________________________________________ > The fish are biting. > Get more visitors on your site using Yahoo! Search Marketing. > http://searchmarketing.yahoo.com/arp/sponsoredsearch_v2.php > > > > Yahoo! Groups Links > > > >
