StumbleUpon Video Coming to the Wii
Marshall Kirkpatrick
14 comments »
I’m no gamer but I love StumbleUpon Video - so tonight’s announcement that the crowdsourced video discovery tool is going to be available on the TV via a customized version made for the Nintendo Wii sounds like great news to me. If you’ve never seen StumbleUpon you should make sure to check it out; the company provides a browser toolbar that takes you to unexpected web pages that fit your interests as defined by your self categorization and subsequent thumbs up and down to pages served up. The combination of personalization and serendipity is addictive.
The video section of the site doesn’t require a browser toolbar to use. If you’re someone who questions the quality of video on YouTube, some time with the collectively vetted selections at StumbleUpon could help change your mind.
The company will host the Wii version of the site at Stumble.tv. More than 6 million Wii consoles have been sold since they went on sale last Fall. I’d love to embed a video of Conan O’Brien beating Serena Williams in Wii Tennis here, but it’s been taken off YouTube via a copyright claim. Thanks to all partied involved for stifling my creative aspirations.
Sending video from the web to the TV is something that no shortage of companies are doing or are seeking to do. I’ve thought for some time that establishing content deals with hardware makers was the way to do this - but the more ways we see it happen, the more convinced I am that total openness is is inevitable. StumbleUpon videos are primarily from YouTube and Google Video but industry momentum is such that it should just be a matter of time until everything is available almost everywhere.
StumbleUpon is celebrating its 5th anniversary tonight and is also releasing version 3.0 of its browser toolbar, which will integrate video along with standard web page stumbling.
The company was rumored to be up for sale in November, but the sale hasn’t materialized. They’ve raised a mere $1.5 million in financing and generate revenue by charging advertisers 5 cents per visitor sent to their page inserted occasionally into the path of stumblers.
this is essentially an opposite of a search engine - a directory form of finding what you seek, but instead of standard text subdivided - it’s in the form of video clips, followed by viewer suggestions.
you’re not really Stumbling upon, per se - you came to it, looking for it.
for the most part, i still prefer youtube and google’s ‘traditional’ search option for when looking for videos
why would you want to watch 2min video clips on your tv? seems like the computer would be the best option for that, while the tv best used for 2hour movies
I agree with comment #1 - Every time I’ve used StumbleUpon I’ve landed in really great pages and websites. However, at least for me, it’s just a time killer - if I have nothing else to do (unlikely) or simply I’m in for a distraction and remember to hit the button, then I do it.
that’s pretty hot. i’ve checked it out on the wii and it’s great!
That will be soo cool…I love stumble upon ..and now on Wii…Sweet !
Yes i agree with the 1st comment. It is is a good way of browsing through the net only if you do not know what you want to browse. The Stumble loads for you a site on the basis of the preferences that you provide at the starting. I do believe that it is learning a users habit with the ‘Thumbs Up’ and ‘Thumbs Down’ button but this seems that the user has to manually tell Stumble about his choices, which i think is bad learning. Me.dium is another application of browsing through the web with the help of like minded users or your frns. I think Me.dium is a much better way of stubmling to websites through some medium.
I’m glad to hear this.
StumbleUpon is the only one of the “social bookmarking” sites that has a real revenue model and seems to keep doing really cool stuff beyond their initial idea.
Another reason, why I should buy WII… Happy Stumbling guys…
I don’t see the need. The existing page for StumbleUpon video looks and functions well in the Wii browser as is. My guess is that the only differences for the “Wii version” will be blown up text and buttons.
Don’t agree with #1 and #2 comments……
Stumbleupon is a great product. I don’t see it at all as a time killer… Yes it’s addictive, which is not a bad thing.
Case in point: I now first “stumble” on topics, when I used to go to google first,,, I traveled to Bangalore a few weeks back, and wanted to find out about the city. In google, the search returned pages and pages of results, many of which wanted to sell me a hotel room. In Stumble Upon, the results took me to web sites about the city, about what to do there, photos of the city. Net net, I found out a lot more using this discovery method, than google or traditional search.
I don’t have a Wii yet.
–Will
If they’re doing this mainly for the Wii’s web browser (Opera), could their be a version of their toolbar that works with the desktop version of Opera in the works? Or are they still pushing Firefox and ignoring the people using Opera or Safari?
Alright! I was just thinking about that yesterday as I was stumbling through videos on my laptop in front of my TV wishing my Xbox Media Center had Stumble Video. It’s official, I have to get a Wii now.
As for the argument that 2 min. videos are best on laptops, I think that’s ridiculous. What if you want to watch videos with friends or family? The TV is much better for that. I get my fill of the computer during the day.
Either way, way to go StumbleUpon! I’m rooting for you.
this is like the “i’m feeling lucky” button on google.
how anyone is stupid enough to invest money on ideas like this is beyond me. it reminds me of a flameout called realnames…
rb.
rb - maybe you should try and use the service a bit more before you bash it… it really can find some great sites across the web.