DanLin.net

After hitting version 0.8.1 and logging 40,000 beta testers, the guys at Joost are ready to grow again. This week they began issuing more tokens for inviting friends to current beta testers. As a matter of fact, I already gave one of my 2 tokens to Senor Deekez earlier tonight and already they have filled my bucket back up to 2 again…

There are even guys now selling their invite tokens on eBay which I’m guessing you have to be pretty desperate to do. OK, I thought about doing that too but I’ve decided against it. If you need an invite to Joost and don’t know anyone already in the beta group, post a comment below and tell me why I should give you one of mine.

Apparently people are clamoring on to anything on the Web that is talking about the Google TV Hoax. It’s the only reason why people were flooding to my blog in record numbers this last Monday shortly after my post went up. See GAnalytics screen shot below. Since my last post about the Secret Beta/Hoax I have concluded it is most likely a hoax than anything else. The user interface mocked up by Erickson and crew just does not look scalable and the whole fiasco about his buddy Gary Castle posting an anonymous video with a 2 day old YouTube acoount pretty much sealed the deal for me.

These are big numbers for my standards….

Mark Erickson is a video blogger on Youtube who hosts his own technology show called Infinite Solutions. The vlog purports that it has found its way into a super secret Google TV beta program by way or an obscure easter egg technique. Many around the Web are refusing to believe the validity of his findings and have deemed this a well produced hoax. Maybe they are just overly cautious because it looks to me like it might just be the real deal. Just watch the mullet Mark sports in the clip as well as the 1980ish production style makes it hard to believe that he has the ability to pull off something as elaborate as some have claimed.

It is not unfathomable that Google with its acquisition of Youtube and its recent video search updates that it would solidify its position in online video by launching a Joost competitor into the marketplace. With its media partnerships in Youtube and its seemingly endless supply of cash, it is certainly able to pull this off. On the other hand, Google is certainly not immune to failure in the online video market when it comes launching its own services.