Tape it off the internet...Or just use Zudeo!

TV shows on the internet. This is what I'm always talking about, right? Especially considering that I don't have a TV. So I was surfing through some articles provided by the good people over at TorrentFreak, and I found a rather interesting one on social broadcatching. The author literally gushed over a new beta website called............wait for it.........Tape It Off The Internet. Yes, that's the name of the site. Very Gen-X, right? I was instantly attracted. I bounced over only to find that it was an invite-only website. I requested an invite and proceeded to wait. For three months. Then, last week, I got a little email asking me to come visit. So, I did. What did I find?



Not what I was looking for. It's a clunky, clumsy attempt to turn the bittorrent experience into Youtube or Last.fm. The difference is that when you want to get the goods, it literally bounces you out of their site and into somewhere else like the Piratebay or Mininova. Their premise is that early adopters and TV fans like myself will sign up, post cutesy group messages about our favorite TV shows, and be really happy that the powers-that-be at TIOTI have conveniently linked the torrent for the show to their website. And on top of that, the torrents aren't even accurate! Four future episodes of Smallville are linked to Spanish-dubbed versions of Season 1 of the show! Give me a flippin' break.

I know. I know. It's still beta. I'm being hard on them. And you're right. It is, and I am. But I submit to TIOTI that they are trying to fix the wrong flippin problem. The PROCESS of getting bittorrents is still too geeky, and it represents a significant barrier for average people to actually use the internet for watching TV. I thought they were trying to make the PROCESS easier, and that the social aspect was the icing. In reality, the social part is the only thing that they're focusing on. Users still have to download and install Azureus, forward a port, tweak their firewall, and yadda yadda. And geeks will remain the only people watching TV from the internet.

Or perhaps an average user will stumble upon something pretty cool when they try to figure out how to download Azureus. They'll discover Zudeo!



THIS is what TIOTI should have been. And I didn't have to wait three months for it! Basically Azureus took it's client, gave it a pretty makeover, tied it to your web browser, and put up a social site not unlike TIOTI's. But they make it EASY to get the content! That's the trick. And the site's a LOT less clunky. And they support linux. 'Nuff said.

Actually, one last rant. The thing about TIOTI that really sticks in my craw is all their shouting about how EASY everything is. I actually had trouble figuring out how to even navigate the site, much less download a torrent. And then, I'm constantly being bombarded by their flash animation and AJAX bullsh*t. Guys, clean up the site, make it easy to navigate, and accurately link to the content without ejecting the user into the hostile waters of the Pirate Bay. Maybe you'll make some money. Maybe.