For the second time now a video podcast has changed, making my earlier statements incorrect.

First it was Morgan Webb backing away from the camera, and now it’s the Revision3 Gazette being made available to everyone. As I mentioned in my “Problems with Revision3” post, I thought it was a bad move to make exclusive content that users couldn’t preview, especially when the payment system is deeply flawed.

But now it’s free to download by all users, not just paying members.

The Revision3 Gazette is hosted by Rev3 Director of Production Sarah Lane (you’ll remember her from G4TV’s Attack of the Show, and she used to be Digg founder Kevin Rose’s girlfriend). It’s a behind-the-scenes look at how the Revision3 network operates day-to-day, with the first episode focusing on their move into new offices.

Link to Revision3 Gazette.

Link to Sarah Lane’s announcement at the Rev3 Forums.

I’m pretty confident that my Video Podcast Tip had nothing to do with this, but Morgan Webb’s WebbAlert is now much more comfortable to watch.

Why?

Because she’s a person now, and not a floating head. She’s farther away from the camera.

Compare this episode from Tuesday to today’s episode. Isn’t it so much better now?

You might not be able to tell from the still shot that it’s a huge improvement, but press play on the episode from Tuesday. It gets really creepy and uncomfortable to watch really fast.

Then watch today’s. See the difference?

Remember this when you’re making your own video podcast. Unless you’re making a horror show, you really don’t want to creep out your audience.

PureVideo, a video search service that I covered in October has just released a wide variety of new features. Some are more intriguing than others: Let’s take a look.

• MyPureVideo (beta) is a new start page designed for folks interested in the online video charts. The page highlights the top video across nine different channels, however you can also add content that is not video related, either from their library or an RSS feed. It’s an interesting endeavor, but it is just another addition to the plethora of start pages that are already available.
• The research channel is going to offer top videos from academic feeds such as the History Channel, NASA, NOVA, and A&E.
• The PureVideo Toolbar will (in Web 1.0 style) offer users a toolbar with a few things they do need and lots that they don’t.

My experience with new media websites has been very spoiled. I generally get exposed (and stay with) the best of the best, and quite frankly I don’t see PureVideo fitting in with this class. The potential is there, certainly the technology is in place, however I fear that PureVideo is ceasing before they reach their full potential for innovation. They’re just copying every popular web service online: adding a toolbar, a customizable home page, and other services that are unrelated to their core mission. It’s unfortunate too, because there is no single provider of internet-wide video search.

Personally, I’d suggest that PureVideo drop their homepage and toolbars. As a user, those sites hold no value to me. Instead, why not offer widgets for other popular start pages like Google Personalized Homepage or Netvibes? That way users don’t have to be locked in to PureVideo’s service.

All in all, it’s nice to see that PureVideo is interested in expanding their service, however I don’t think they are doing it the best possible way.

Just a quickie follow up,

Today I was contacted again by StupidVideos about yesterday’s rant. While a small gesture, it meant a lot knowing I wasn’t dealing with a robot! I’ve since replied and I hope we’re on the way to a better relationship (and a good learning experience on both sides).