Trial and Error

Joost Part 2—Taking Over My Computer

March 21, 2007 12:36 PM

So I visit Joost again and it totally takes over my computer. Yep, it’s out of control. Some funky Indian music plays and somewhere on my desktop is a bizarre Joost video playing without any care to what I want. So, naturally, I minimize every window open and search for the offending program. Ah, there it is. But now the screen is full screen. I pound away on the keyboard, frantically searching for the escape button. I despise video that plays without any control. Finally, the window shrinks and I hit pause. Whew, now I am back on the main Joost page.

I scroll through some of the channels, clicking on categories such as “most interactive.” But nothing happens. So I loop back into the main content listing and decide to pick a random programmer—Lassie videos. But that link only brings me to a page asking me to add or remove the channel. So I try one more, opting for the Lime network. A yoga video launches and the quality is great. But once again, Joost makes it ultra difficult to actually control the service. Joost takes over the computer screen again, so I must resize the window. When I look around for a button to escort me back to the main listing, I see none. Nor is there a friendly little “X” button to shut down the program. So once more, I resort to the right click and exit option.

Joost is a big thumbs down.