My friend Jeff wrote about one of the most interesting products in Israel - BlogTV. BlogTV enables users to stream live shows from their webcam to the internet, and 3G phones. It has advanced features such as multicam support. Does it ring a bell? Did anybody say Ustream? Yes, both companies have similar products technically, though Ustream is a bit behind from feature perspective (see my previous post detailing missing features in Ustream). Ustream is the new kid on the block - while BlogTV exists for years. As Ustream features covering all basic functionality of its predecessor, we see another example of technology being a sidekick to the main show - marketing and strategy.
There is a major difference between the companies - while Ustream enables users to embed their player in their own website, BlogTV requires viewers to login and watch the content in their portal. It is not a technical barrier - embedded players are yesterday’s news. So, again, it is only a business question.
I am not sure that this is the right approach to this segment. For years BlogTV was a place where adults showed their days (and nights) to the public, kids showed their face with music in the background and that’s it. The reason is lack of context.
Ustream enables me as a blogger to add another dimension to my work, and serve as another item in my multimedia toolbox. I am not sure that this is the case for BlogTV. The simplest proof to that is that I know BlogTV for ages, but only when I played with Ustream a bit, I fully understood the potential of Personal Broadband Broadcasting. It was great to see Jeff’s stream from his lecture in Stockholm as part of his post describing the event itself. It is true that I still go to both Ustream and BlogTV sites to watch interesting shows, but it is less compelling for me as a potential broadcaster who is interested to enrich his offering with new content types.
So, my personal conclusion is - if you love your stream, set it free!
He also believed in setting things free…
Technorati Tags: BlogTV, Broadcast, Ustream, Live Broadcasting, Marketing, Strategy, New Media, Personal Broadband Broadcasting Platforms
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Kfir,
Thanks for the nice post on Ustream. We definitely intend to set things free and provide a flexible and modular platform that people can modify to suit their particular needs. But we also intend to add more features and functionality, because that’s what the users want.
As you so insightfully perceived, it’s not about technology, but about what the users can do with it.
–Chris Yeh (Ustream Investor)
Kfir,
Thanks for the post. Expect the unexpected.
Nir.
Nir, I am looking forward, as I love surprises…
Chris - I’d love to see new features to your platform…
Thanks for the quick reply.