TVSquad

This summer the BBC launched its innovative iPlayer software. The service lets UK television viewers watch any program that aired on a BBC channel over the last seven days. Missed the latest episode of Last of the Summer Wine? No problem, just fire up the iPlayer and watch it a few days after its original air date. No PVR required.

But the service drew a few groans for its inclusion of digital rights management technology, and for the fact that Linux and Mac users were left out in the cold. Well, while the BBC isn't lifting the DRM restrictions on downloaded episodes, it looks like Mac and Linux users will soon have a way to watch iPlayer content.

The BBC has partnered with Adobe to create a browser-based version of the iPlayer which will stream video using Adobe's Flash player. Adobe plans to add H.264 support to its Flash player soon. So while we don't know what video quality the BBC videos will stream at, the interface could theoretically support HD video.

Joost and YouTube are hardly the only games in town when it comes to online video. But TechCrunch's Eirck Schonfeld poses an interesting question: is Joost's time already up?

The online video platform has barely entered public beta, but Adobe is about to change the game somewhat by incorporating the h.264 codec in the next version of its Flash player software. That means all the videos you watch on YouTube, DailyMotion, Metacafe, or pretty much any other online video site will suddenly look an awful lot sharper without using up any more bandwidth.

Schonfeld argues that could spell the beginning of the end for Joost, which has yet to develop a YouTube-sized user base. If people can get high quality streaming video of full-length TV episodes from network sites, video sharing sites, and other websites, they will, he says.

But that kind of misses the point. Joost, VeohTV, and other standalone video platforms aim to take the entire online video experience out of the web browser. Why would you want to use the same program to read a newspaper as you do to watch a movie? Joost's success or failure will depend on its ability to create a compelling user experience. It takes a combination of of high quality video, uninterrupted streaming, and a novel but useful user interface to do that.

Joost has most of those things down pat. The thing they don't have right now is full-length episodes of most current prime time television programs. And until they hammer out details with the networks to provide those shows, I think Joost will always appeal to a niche audience at best.