I spent a few minutes playing with the Mac version of Joost this evening and came away feeling ambivalent. The interface is beautiful, almost like a blend of Apple’s Front Row and Dashboard, and the speed and quality of the video is impressive. However, in terms of content, the “future of television” looks a lot like it’s present; lots of channels with nothing particularly interesting on. For me, the exciting thing about iptv is the access it gives to independent media creators and, at the moment, Joost’s channels resemble the boring end of cable tv, not the wide open content stream of Democracy or iTunes’ podcast offerings.

In the end, I think back on Steve Jobs’ comments about the passivity of listening/viewing versus the engaged mindset of computing. The two might intersect in lots of useful and interesting ways, but they’re entirely different activities. The key is creating an interface where each activity is given it’s due. Joost may bring us closer, but unless it moves to a set-top box and gains a remote, I doubt it will be the revolution everyone’s waiting for. Besides, the fundamental truth of tv is that people don’t like the medium for itself, they appreciate the stories the medium is so good at telling. Until I see a Firefly or a Sopranos on Joost, I can’t say if it will really change the way I watch television.