UPDATED 10.10.08 - My “exhaustive” research, it seems, wasn’t perfect…if you’ve read this story already, click here to jump to the update.

Okay, Geeks, time to talk video technology.

No, not that kind of technology. We have that sort of thing through PCTV already. Although, something like this for our own uses would be really nice…

No, I’m not excited that we’ve found some new camera technologies. I’m excited because, after some more exhaustive research on my part, I think I’ve found the appropriate replacement for Google Video.

As many of you may or may not know, I have a love-hate relationship with Google Video. On the plus side, Google offers abilities that most other video services do not - they offer the capability to post videos longer than 10 minutes in length. They allow a video a very decent size - I’ve posted episodes of the show that exported in excess of 1 Gigabyte in size. They allow video downloads, so that people can take our programming along with them on their personal media players. And they’re Google, so in many ways, it’s hard to go wrong with them. I trust Google as a company, and while they’ve made mistakes, I’m pleased to say that a lot of their products are important to my everyday life.

One of those aforementioned mistakes that Google has made, unfortunately, is Google Video. Ever since Google purchased YouTube, they don’t care about the site. This means there are large sections of downtime if the server has a glitch, and sometimes video conversions are unreliable. I’ve just about abandoned the Google Video account with the first half of our episodes, and Chris is using an entirely different account to post the second half.

This cannot stand. Google, we love you for many things, but we need reliability. And innovation! The fact that you have innovated with YouTube, and not taken the best parts of Google Video over to that side of your business is quite angering. We need a new solution - something with some punch. Something reliable, and something that can offer us new features.

Enter Viddler.

Viddler is just the kind of player that I have been looking for in regards to Geeks With Issues.

Viddler allows all the things Google Video allows - large videos, long form programs, downloading, easy embedding. But there’s stuff that I can find on Viddler that I can’t find on Google Videos. First of all, since they’re a growing product, they’re very active. The result of this is that any downtime problems will be responded to quickly and efficiently. Further, the level of customization is high - we can brand our GwI videos with our logo, and our colors, and make our player just that - OUR player. Yes, Viddler is making it happen, and will get props for that, but we can have a look that is all our own.

And then there’s the inline comments. Imagine this - I can make a comment, outlining the contents of a specific section of an episode. I can then put that comment on the video timeline itself - and when you as a viewer read it, you can jump to the section of video that I’m talking about.
It’s a little hard to conceptualize. Here - an example. Let’s say I’m working on an on-location episode, like the ones that we recorded at NYAF. Using Viddler’s comment system, I can break up the video timeline with comments. Each comment makes a little dot, sorta like a checkpoint in a game, on the timeline. Let’s now say that one of our interviewees checks the website after the episode is finished, and wants to see the part of the show they’re in. Sure, we’d love if they saw the whole episode, but really, most folks just want a soundbyte. So, they check the comments made by whoever posted the video. They find themselves in the comments, click on the checkpoint, and watch that part of the episode.
How freaking cool is that?! So cool, I’m just about ready to implement the whole damn thing now.

And, to add to the excitement, having our videos on Viddler makes it easier to promote the show in directions that I’m looking at bringing us…for example Revision3 Beta, the proving ground for the online television network Revision3, uses Viddler for all of their submissions. And Revision 3 is one of the possible futures for Geeks With Issues, if we’re lucky.

However, before we go live, and start putting out episodes on Viddler, I want to either heat my efforts or cool my excitement on people’s opinions. Should the Geeks be holding out for another option, or is Viddler the way to go? In order to decide, I’m putting this service to the acid test.
Below is the video that Ryan Cowdrey, fellow PCTV Production Technician, and I created for the PCTV 2008 Annual Meeting. In addition to being a really cool video (it features both myself, and Mollie, so it’s GwI cameo filled!), I’ve loaded it into Viddler, and applied comments to allow a proper demonstration of the capabilities of the player. Watch, poke, prod and marvel:

So…True Believers, Geeks, I await your thoughts.

P.S. - I promise that this will be the last site news related post in the Geek Commentaries section from me for a while. It’s a little hard though…when so much of your life is about creating something, it’s hard not to focus many of your comments on it. I’ll try to do better in the future.

UPDATE: One of our media partners, Ryan Cowdery from ryancowdrey productions, shared with me a fairly new media service called Blip.tv.  Evidentally, they’re still in their beta, and they ran under my radar because of what I was searching for.

When I was looking for a replacement video player software option.  What I wasn’t looking for was an Internet TV option.  I was originally considering working with Revision3, but I’ve been a little disappointed by some of the things that their service is interested in.  That, and their Totally Rad Show, while excellent programming, is very similar in design to Geeks With Issues.  Sure, our shows are extremely different…but I’ve worried for a while that our show would be ignored as a copy program.  Not to say that we’re not going to give Revision3 Beta a try…I’m just holding my hopes up.

Not so with Blip.tv.  Blip.tv seems to be inspired by the thought process that making a video program into good Internet TV is about providing the show makers with support, and allow us with the ability to focus on creation.  Which is something we want.  If Geeks With Issues is going to grow past its boundries, that’s what we need.

So now I’m conflicted.  Viddler, or Blip.tv?  Or the mysterious benefactor option, which is just on the edge of materializing?  Gods, I don’t even know anymore.

I need to stop getting excited about things, and start having meetings.  Because whenever I get excited, I get bit in the bum.
Stay tuned, True Believers.  Because we’ve got something that will change everything sitting in the pipe.  I just don’t know what.