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+As I mentioned in the [Morning Reboot][3] the video site [Joost][2] unveiled their Mac client over the weekend. With Joost set to announce a deal with Viacom today, we thought it was time to take a look at the new Mac beta test client. 
+
+Before Mac users get to excited, bear in mind that the Mac client is not a universal binary and works only on new Intel-based Macs. It's also worth noting that there were some problems with the initial OS X program and Joost [pulled it from the site yesterday][4]. There's a new version available now and if you downloaded the Mac client over the weekend, you should update your copy.
+
+For those of you who've been living under a rock, Joost is a peer-to-peer video service that streams rather than downloads videos. Joost's somewhat lofty goal is to replace television as you know it. According to the founders in this [Wired Mag interview][1], user-generated content isn't part of the goal, but the Joost website says it may be an option in the future.
+
+Joost's whole interface paradigm mirrors that of television. There are video stream by channel, such as offering from National Geographic or very limited MTV content. Channels the way joost thinks of them are actually closer to playlists of videos at this point, though with the addition of Viacom content that may change to something more like television.
+
+The interface in the Mac client defaults to full screen mode with is slightly annoying if you happen to doing something else when open Joost, but it's possible to change this behavior in the preferences. The navigation menus are translucent overlays that make it easy to move from one program to the next even while the current one is still playing. For the mouse-o-phobes there's the option to navigate through channels and videos using the arrow keys.
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+For those that were wondering, yes Joost is free and no extra points for guessing how it supports itself. Yup, in-stream ads. And you can't skip the ads, but thankfully there are a lot less of them than on TV. 
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+So far Joost's biggest downfall is that there isn't much content available, but the Viacom deal expected later today will change that (at the moment none of those channels are available yet). 
+
+Overall Joost is provides a nice experience, the interface is intuitive and well thought out, though there are some quirks and bugs in the new Mac client (see screenshot). Video streams are smooth with little or no stuttering or playback problems. 
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+Regrettably video quality is not good enough at the moment to replace TV. Playback in fullscreen mode on my Macbook was somewhat fuzzy and would likely look horrible on a big plasma screen TV. In other words, Joost has incredible potential, but TiVo probably isn't too concerned yet. However, none of the telecom companies were concerned with Skype in the beginning either.
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+Joost is currently in private beta trials and hopefully these issues will be worked out by the time it hits the mainstream. I'm not a big television watcher myself and in some ways I think Joost is aimed at people like myself, those of us that have dreamed of a la carte cable or the like. I would love for Joost to get to the point that I could login, watch The Daily Show or catch a rerun of Anthony Bourdain's No Reservations, without having to deal with an entire monthly cable package, but at the moment Joost doesn't have much in the way of compelling content.
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+One thing to keep in mind with Joost is that downstream traffic is arriving as UDP packets, which may be blocked by default by some firewalls and occasionally even ISPs so if you're having problems getting Joost to work, check your settings or call your ISP.
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+Unfortunately I have no invite tokens left, but if I ever get anymore, I'll be sure to give them away to loyal Monkeybites readers so stay tuned.
+
+[1]: http://www.wired.com/news/wiredmag/0,72506-0.html?tw=rss.index "Why Joost Is Good for TV"
+[2]: https://www.joost.com/ "Joost"
+[3]: http://blog.wired.com/monkeybites/2007/02/the_morning_reb_12.html "The morning Reboot"
+[4]: https://www.joost.com/blog/2007/02/mac-build-pulled.html "Joost: Mac build pulled"
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