More Online Video- Slate V
11:56 am June 25th, 2007 by Sal Cangeloso
There is new online video content provider, this time it’s from Slate.com. The online magazine launched their video site, slatev.com today amid, modest, well, no fanfare. I heard about it because I am a dedicated listener of Slate.com’s podcasts and I read an article from the site almost every day.
Thoughts-
- The site design really reminds me of Cnet’s Crave blog. It does not look like Slate.com
- They are using the Brightcove flash player, nice choice, though it seems to stop Firefox’s tabs from working properly.
- There are short pre-roll ads, very slick. Not bothersome at all.
- Slate is using their podcast regulars/superstars, like John Dickerson, not pretty faces (no offense John). This will translate into immediate fans and lend credibility to the videos.
- The videos can be listened to without watching, but are not just videos of people sitting around talking to one another (which should just be a podcast). I’m still not convinced that they all have to be videos, the audio is what is important. The one video I found in which you can see the someone in live-action is Dear Prudence, starring Emily Yoffe but then it quickly cuts to cartoon.
So far I am not overwhelmed, but I’ll give it a shot. Slate has been one of the best sources on the internet for smart, well-written content for some time now so I think they could do well with video, though I doubt it will ever rank up there with their written pieces or be able to touch the 30 minutes of brilliance that is their Friday “Gabfest” podcast.
