I finally got an invitation to Joost today (I’m sure I’d have been much happier not even knowing about this whole thing instead of knowing about it, signing up to get an invitation to the beta and then having to sit and wait imagining the fun I was missing out on) and installed it on my Mac this afternoon. (Hooray for there being a version for the Mac!)

For anyone who hasn’t heard about Joost, it’s essentially a way to watch television shows on your computer, but it’s more interesting than that because it’s providing content from various different sources, and while you’re watching shows you can also IM people which increases the interactivity of it all. It’s another step towards internet video content becoming more widely seen, I think.

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I don’t think I’ve quite got the hang of the interface just yet. I’m instinctively clicking on things when it seems I don’t need to so I’m going to have to spend some quality time going through it and figuring everything out. The picture quality on some channels isn’t really as good as I’d like, but I’m sure that will improve with time, and it does seem to be a channel-specific thing, rather than a symptom of Joost as a whole.

There’s a really interesting range of channels available (though I suspect those in the United States and Canada may have more to see than those of us in Europe). I like that the mainstream UK channels aren’t on there because it gives me a chance to see other content. I stumbled on The Recipe Channel and found a recipe for walnut brownies, so I’m already fairly pleased.

The music-related content seems pretty cool, between Much Music, Rehearsals.com and others providing interviews and live performances, and I’m sure Joost will be home to all kinds of original content. Though the Soccer Channel seems a little Italy-centric right now. A few goals from English teams would be nice. :)

I’m sure I’ve only just scratched the surface in terms of understanding how the whole thing works. Since it’s still in Beta, there’ll probably be all kinds of features in the works for the future. I’ll look forward to seeing how it all develops.