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Google and CBS release embarrassment of a video store (Review)
theregister.co.uk — "I know Apple, and you're no Apple... "This is a truly historical meeting of the established and new media," said Les Moonves, the head of CBS, about his network's new video partnership with Google. Um, no, Les. So far, it's just a really crap web site," Ashlee Vance writes in her review for The Register.
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- diggbrian, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1I guess I agree with what that article is saying but it is brand new and will get better. But I wouldn't put my money on it being Apple Store's red headed step child ever.
- SupaDawg, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2I actually prefer the Google Video store. it would be great if it started carrying more stuff of course... but at least it's not locked down to the effing iPod. PSP pre-mormatted videos is a godsend.
- ashdigg, on 10/12/2007, -2/+2Apple is a premium brand for a reason
- FullMetalMonkey, on 10/12/2007, -1/+0Three Words!
Google Video BETA!!!!! - jnorris441, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0Lost and Battlestar Galactica vs. MacGyver and Star Trek: Voyager....
hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm - vermin, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2I have to agree... Google, please hire a freakin designer. This video store is a joke.
- Akram, on 10/12/2007, -2/+1Beta shmeta, google alway does this, they are sticking their fingers in too many pies, keeping the EXACT same look for everything, and adding features which if you think about, aren't revolutionary. Why they entered this market who knows, but they should stay out of it, they can't make everything the google way.
- isewise, on 10/12/2007, -4/+0Everything Google does is BETA. The BETA is just to make people believe that "oh wow its only BETA its bound to get better..." Nope. Not at all. I bet that Google's whole search engine is BETA. And that article 7074||y pwn3d h4rd(0r3
- inkswamp, on 10/12/2007, -1/+0But it's not even a beta yet. A beta is a fully functioning system/software with minor or hard-to-notice shortcomings. It'll probably get better. Google seems smarter than this, but already there are some moronic decisions that make you wonder why they've released something that clearly isn't even a beta yet. Go to the drop down menu and select I Love Lucy. A screen comes up with preview images of each episode and they're all basically the same shot of the opening titles. Um... duh. Why bother with the preview image if it's not actually doing any kind of preview?
Seems really rushed and poorly thought out so far. - logosmonkey, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0Really it does seem rushed. I see the beta tag, but really I just can't get on board a paid beta. I realize that "Hey its the content your paying for!" but it doesn't change the fact that they really, really should have put some more spit and polish on it. They could have just announced it at CES and said it would be out in a few months, it is not their primary business anyway so I don't see how it could have hurt them to hold it back until they could have had a full line-up with a decent interface.
- webhead74, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0Don't blame the interface on "beta" status. Google has always been known for it's minimalistic interface & it would appear the video store will be no different. Fine. I'm glad they don't have a bunch of bling & assorted ***** on the site, but it does leave a little to be desired IMO.
- datagod, on 10/12/2007, -2/+2It blows...
I found a video of some nerd looking at dinosaur footprints in Australia...3 minutes 24 seconds long...with the option to pay 99 cents to watch it...too funny - ArthurSucks, on 10/12/2007, -1/+0The industry needs to learn that people will not buy *****-loads of shows in blurry 320 X 240 videos when they can get almost DVD quality for free on torrent. Sometimes as soon as a few hours after it airs. If you want people to buy, you have to have the content up and
A: Easily excessable
B: Posted the same time or quickly after the air date
C: In great quality. (At least better than VCR!)
The only people I know who are buying shows off of iTunes are people with the new iPods. (Most of them also use a lot of torrents) People with PCs and $20 CD players are not going to buy.
Come on GOOGLE, give me xvids, and I'll give you $1.99! - jnorris441, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0Yeah ArthurSucks. I would definitely pay for xvid downloads if I didn't have to wait as long as a torrent takes.
- Rjx_, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1I've been a big fan of google, and my reaction to this was:
DDD:
I wonder who dropped the ball - slack0re, on 10/12/2007, -3/+0The site hasn't even been officially launched yet.
BETA BETA BETA BETA BETA
THIS ARTICLE IS CRAP
NO DIGG - startleman, on 10/12/2007, -1/+6OMG did anyone click on the popular video link: "interpretation of Fall out boy" F-ing hilarious . . .this needs to be submitted 'cuz I'd give the video a digg for sure!!!
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-4435593179243241083 - jnorris441, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2yeah and how long has gmail been a beta??
- RiddickRom, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0I've really enjoyed using the Google video service over the last few days that I've discovered it. It is minimal and I certainly would not touch it for buying anything. The ability to upload your own video though and quickly search through the growing mass of great free stuff makes it a killer app IMO.
The article was very harsh and completely ignored the "good bits" about the service so far.
Heres a neat URL in case anyone wasn't aware you could do this
http://video.google.com/videopopularpage?num=99
see 99 of the most popular videos at the moment on one page, instead of the 15 Google wanted you to see.
Some of the things I love it about it so far. Huge thumbnails, big meaty previews, the video takes up most of the browser real estate, as it should! There are tonnes of videos building up that are free to watch and having all that in one place is awesome. Being able to play a whole page at once is really cool too. There is a lot to like right now and unlike google talk, the video service is important to Google and there is no doubt it will be honed until it doing what it should in the most uncluttered way. - lordsandwich, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3Am I the only one who thinks it's unethical of Google to charge money for a "BETA BETA BETA BETA BETA" store?
- ashdigg, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1paid content on beta ????? that's a stretch. I agree with logosmonkey
- logosmonkey, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1"Don't blame the interface on "beta" status. Google has always been known for it's minimalistic interface"
No doubt, and I for one am a big fan of minimalism in web design. The design fits many things very, very well, however I don't believe that a video service with "high end" commercial content really fits the style they have shown so far. I'm not saying their needs to be blingy flash animations everywhere and ads but the design does need to be reworked, keep the color scheme and stick with a minimalist ideology but make an interface that is a bit more functional and presentable. - sabarsky, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0you know google has tons of money. they should be able to hire an interface design team to clean that site up. even in beta form it should look better than it does now.
- stealthboy, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0ArthurSucks: "The industry needs to learn that people will not buy *****-loads of shows in blurry 320 X 240 videos when they can get almost DVD quality for free on torrent."
I see... is that the same industry that is making MILLIONS on the iTunes store selling videos right now? You mean *that* industry? Maybe you should send them a note and let them know the millions of dollars they have made so far must just be imaginary, since as you say, "people will not buy"... - morisy, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Not that it matters, or anyone cares about accuracy here, but Vance (the author) is a man.
- sk1d, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0until someone offers video in 480p, that's the minimum, in mpeg4 or h.264, maybe even divx or xvid i'm not buying.
why do they still offer these ridiculously small video, most people have systems that can play 480p and if they say it's to keep the file sizes down, i say to hell with anyone still on dialup, get with the times - ender52, on 10/12/2007, -2/+2google - "As long as we leave the word 'Beta' on the title, people can't complain that it sucks"
- sc123, on 10/12/2007, -1/+0Ashlee Vance is a -man-. Just wanted it to be known, for -his- sake!
- Spencerocks, on 10/12/2007, -2/+1Everyone put their hand up who has their own video download service infastructure scalable to service a mass market with a series of big deals in the works?
Anyone?
No?
Then shut the ***** up, this is a beta.. and the article is *****, it will improve in the future and if you didn't notice Google have a lot of other projects in the works, and staff only spend 10% of their day working on these alternate projects. - Spencerocks, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0I sounded arrogant above, and I'm not one of the people who believes everything that falls out of Google's ass is gold.
But people have been waiting for Google to slip up for a while, and some jerk ass reporter straight out of University probably thought I know how to get myself a name.. I'll slate the world's biggest internet search giant.
But this is a beta, and it has a lot of work, just look how far GMail has evolved since it was released..? Just get your eyes in focus and put it into perspective.. Google make some great products, and they wouldn't put a venture out unless it was going to be a success and get their full support.
TBH, while charging for a beta is a bit harsh, at the end of the day bandwidth is pretty intensive, and you are still getting a raw video file, it's not like you're using a service.. you're just getting a file. So it is reasonable of them to charge. - Siriuskr, on 10/12/2007, -3/+0WHO THE HELLL POSTED THIS, IT SAYS BETA YOU NEWBS !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
WHO THE HELLL POSTED THIS, IT SAYS BETA YOU NEWBS !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
WHO THE HELLL POSTED THIS, IT SAYS BETA YOU NEWBS !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! - guymc, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0I love Google overall... but they can do LOTS better than this. Crappy interface, poor selection, and WINDOWS ONLY for purchases? I'd have liked to have bought the Star Trek episodes, CSI, and a few others... but not this way. Back to iTunes.
- sleepless, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Last time I checked, mininova.org still has a pretty bad ass interface and it has more shows... lol :-D
- h2d2, on 10/12/2007, -2/+0Who the hell posted this? Some gay ass mac-fanboy who just can't accept the fact that people can now download videos for the iPod from something other than Apple's DRM loaded steaming pile of *****: iTunes.
No Google doesn't need a designer. Not everybody is in to eye candy. I like Google video's simplicity.
Oh, and just like every other sane person had said, it's a BETA. It will improve, and a lot more stuff will be added, definitely eclipsing Apple's offerings. Not everyone want's to download extra software just to buy videos, not me. Browser-based is the best solution. Oh, and be reminded that Google recently contracted with DivX Studios so they'll likely move some or all of the service to streaming DivX in the future. - Mysk, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2The folks who are yelling "beta" remind me of the kids on MMORPG game sites immediately before a game launches. You can tell them that the game is terrible, that it's broke, and it's flat out going to suck but they'll yell "beta" 'till they're blue in the fingers and cling to the "miracle patch" idea for as long as they can (and sometimes beyond).
Fact is, Google video sucks, and it doesn't matter that there's a "beta" tag slapped on it. It will require a great deal of hard work, time, and funding to move beyond its present state unless Google does, in fact, have a "miracle patch" waiting to surprise the masses. Do I believe that? No, no more than I believe it to be true for MMORPG betas.
"that's different!", some may yell, and to that I say bull shiat. The only difference is that Google may actually have the funding to pull off a significant change in less than a year (or so). The question is, will they put that much work into it?
At the moment I doubt that they're taking this as seriously as they should, but perhaps their video partners will push them into doing something serious with the video shop. They better, because they have a nasty surprise coming if they expect searches alone to present their videos for purchase.
I could be wrong, of course. Time will tell. - ssaha, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0"WHO THE HELLL POSTED THIS, IT SAYS BETA YOU NEWBS !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
And it's probably going to remain Beta for a looooong time, hence the criticism ;o) - kitejumping, on 10/12/2007, -2/+0http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=5393904704265757054 lol EXTREME OVERCLOCKING!!!! If google video has this, it has to be good...
- logosmonkey, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1I don't doubt that Google will improve the service. I don't really agree with the article either. I just don't think they should have released half-***** like this. I can only assume that it was stipulated in the contracts they signed with CBS to get their content on-line ASAP /shrug/
- funkytaco, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1This is a craptastic beta. Sorry, Google.
- Mudcrutch, on 10/12/2007, -1/+0google is just another mortal company.
- MOGua, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0The "Google approach" to a video store will never work. Period.
When you go to a video store, you see thousands of movies all laid out in categories; you don't see a search box waiting for your input along with some totally random videos thrown in your face.
Give me an UI that shows me what you have, not just a search box.
yup, ***** beta. - crispytown, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0I love hearing about companies that are so highly spoken for fall flat on their faces. Thanks Google!
- theonlybigboss, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0psh MacGyver rules all
no more before i kill you with a sub machine gun made of a toothpick, soda can, and a pair of false teeth. - iceboxqs, on 10/12/2007, -1/+0What part of beta don't you understand? Get a clue.
- sabarsky, on 10/12/2007, -1/+0who knew there were this many rabid google fans on digg.
- MindTrigger, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0
I like google as much as everyone else, but I couldn't help but think some novice web developer created Google Video in MS Frontpage in about 15 minutes. The crappy, pixelated video previews ***** me off too. They have a lot of work to do. - akirakurosawa, on 10/12/2007, -1/+0Google is sucking more and more...with all that money ***** cant they create something better than this crap???
i've been using Yahoo! and MSN almost exclusively now. GOOODBYE Google. - dracula7, on 10/12/2007, -1/+0hes right google sucks
- pongx, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0GMail is still considered BETA, however it's a great piece of software. Google Video is great for the free content. However, while having the vids right in the browser is cool I think it's a shame that CBS fell for it. I think that CBS will lose the war of digital video content. First of all, the paid stuff can't get on the iPod. Second, most shows are 24 hr rentals! $2 for one episode for 24hrs is highway robbery. Google is close to getting it, but I think CBS would be much better off going with Apple. After all the video iPod is what's driving the buying of television shows. If the tv shows aren't on the iPod they won't sell.
- khintzma, on 10/12/2007, -1/+0One word: Bittorrent. You Fools. (okay, 3)
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