Joost is Toast.

I got to play around with Joost last week, and while the interface was very nice, I think Joost is going to have a serious problem breaking into the living room as well as the Apple TV will.



I used to work at RealNetworks on their movies team. We'd approach a network and ask permission to stream their best shows, and the answer would usually go something like this: "We'll give you I Love Lucy reruns, with commercials before, during, and after, and each episode will cost $5. Oh, and we get to keep all the money."

And frankly, it was hard for RealNetworks to fight back too much. After all, if HBO doesn't want to let you stream Six Feet Under, nothing you can say will change their mind. Which explains why the free content on Joost is so dismal.

I clicked over to Comedy Central (classically stubborn with their media) in Joost and was presented with episodes of Stella. I've heard good things about Stella, but I've heard better things about The Daily Show and The Colbert Report, neither of which were available.

I clicked to MTV: Laguna Beach. Some low budget sports network had old soccer matches. I think I saw Beauty and the Geek. It was cool to see all these shows for free, but then I realized I had no interest in watching them even if I was being paid to watch them.

Joost is in a tough spot to compete with Apple. If they stay free, the content won't even justify bandwidth costs. If they start charging money, they'll be wading into stiff competition from NetFlix, TiVo, and the cable channels, not to mention Apple itself.

Apple is smart to lead with premium content at $2 per episode and a physical box. Joost is hoping you're willing to watch classic cricket matches on your computer, whereas Apple is betting you'd rather watch all your favorite shows on your television. It won't even be a fair fight.