HelloWorld to take on YouTube? Nope says “BlinkTest”

August 17, 2006 By

When people send me stuff I give it the “BlinkTest.” Named after Malcolm Gladwell’s “Blink” book.

What is my impression after the first 10 seconds? Especially in comparison to something I already know about. It’s those first few seconds that really count. It’s why I like WetPaint and PBWiki (I tried about five others and the first 10 second experience sucked in comparison to these two wiki tools).

Here, let’s try with “HelloWorld,” a new service that lets you post your video up to the Web for free. Open your browser. Visit HelloWorld. Look around. Have a friend time you and only give you 10 seconds. Close your browser. Do the same with YouTube.

Now, what are your opinions? For me I saw a lot of things that looked like ads on Hello World. I didn’t see any on YouTube.

On YouTube I saw examples of videos done by real people. On Helloworld I didn’t see any examples that demonstrated to me that there was a community there.

For me the new Web is about technology COMBINED with community. Heck, even the old Web was about that. Ebay. Craigslist. Today Digg.

On YouTube I saw a simple statement of purpose. I even remember it without looking “Broadcast yourself.” What about HelloWorld? I can’t remember one. I do remember seeing stock quotes on HelloWorld. Huh? If I want stock quotes I’ll go to Quicken or Yahoo Finance. They don’t belong on a video service page.

Portals are dead. Even the one Podtech thought it was building. Dead. Dead. Dead. (PodTech is moving away from the portal model, by the way, in the site redesign we’re doing. Instead we’re going to a “microsite” model where one URL is for one thing).

John Dvorak is right about YouTube (damn, I never thought I’d be using the words “Dvorak” and “right” in the same sentence).

You wanna beat YouTube you gotta pass the BlinkTest. Next! Who wants to submit something for the BlinkTest?

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  • http://connectedworld.wordpress.com/ David

    HelloWorld is supposed to be a video site? Could have fooled me. Like others, I couldn’t figure out what I was supposed to do. So many screen elements demanding my attention. I just freaked out and left.

  • http://connectedworld.wordpress.com/ David

    HelloWorld is supposed to be a video site? Could have fooled me. Like others, I couldn’t figure out what I was supposed to do. So many screen elements demanding my attention. I just freaked out and left.

  • LayZ

    Well, that wasn’t really the point of Gladwell’s book (and no surprised it was lost on you), but the first impression thing works for just about anything, doesn’t it? A web site that is easy to read and navigate. Is a product easy to use? Is a car visually appealing? The list goes on. Isn’t this product design 101?

  • LayZ

    Well, that wasn’t really the point of Gladwell’s book (and no surprised it was lost on you), but the first impression thing works for just about anything, doesn’t it? A web site that is easy to read and navigate. Is a product easy to use? Is a car visually appealing? The list goes on. Isn’t this product design 101?

  • http://scobleizer.wordpress.com/ Robert Scoble

    LayZ: everything is lost on me. Thanks for noticing. That wasn’t the point of my post, though.

    Anyway, yeah, first impression does matter on most everything. Except when your first impression is wrong.

  • http://scobleizer.wordpress.com/ Robert Scoble

    LayZ: everything is lost on me. Thanks for noticing. That wasn’t the point of my post, though.

    Anyway, yeah, first impression does matter on most everything. Except when your first impression is wrong.

  • http://blogumentary.typepad.com/ chuck

    I love the BlinkTest too!
    Yes, HelloWorld is just plain awful. You always see a million wannabe sites popup with any trend-like-thing.

    I agree with this survey that blip.tv is the best, and what i recommend to many people and organization wanting to easily post and share video. Unlike YouTube, they don’t compress the crap out of your video or slap a logo over it.

  • http://blogumentary.typepad.com chuck

    I love the BlinkTest too!
    Yes, HelloWorld is just plain awful. You always see a million wannabe sites popup with any trend-like-thing.

    I agree with this survey that blip.tv is the best, and what i recommend to many people and organization wanting to easily post and share video. Unlike YouTube, they don’t compress the crap out of your video or slap a logo over it.

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  • LayZ

    I understood the point of your post. When it comes to products people’s first impressions, like opinions, can’t be wrong. They may not map with others impressions or opinions, but that doesn’t make them wrong. “Blink” was about knowing things almost innately. That’s likely not what we are talking about here. We are talking about someones first impression about a product or service. If it doesn’t hook me in the first 5 minutes, I’m likely not going to be hooked. That does’t make me wrong or you right, or vice versa. It just means the product, for some reason, didn’t appeal to me. Has nothing to do with what I know or don’t know.

  • LayZ

    I understood the point of your post. When it comes to products people’s first impressions, like opinions, can’t be wrong. They may not map with others impressions or opinions, but that doesn’t make them wrong. “Blink” was about knowing things almost innately. That’s likely not what we are talking about here. We are talking about someones first impression about a product or service. If it doesn’t hook me in the first 5 minutes, I’m likely not going to be hooked. That does’t make me wrong or you right, or vice versa. It just means the product, for some reason, didn’t appeal to me. Has nothing to do with what I know or don’t know.

  • http://www.mrpodcast.tv/ John Pretto

    Ah,

    You’re comparing apples and oranges between Helloworld.com and all of the other Media Communities. For a fair “blink test” try http://www.helloworldbeta.com which is Hello’s true vision way back to 1996.

    Points of consideration:

    Helloworld’s Parent company is publicly traded.
    They have NO debt.
    You have the ability to transode into any format of media you want.
    Live Web-based broadcasting
    Web-based Video Mail
    Automated Podcast Publishing tools
    Automated Video Blogging
    Video Instant Messaging.
    Most importantly, they are making money.

    More Blinking required here.

  • http://www.mrpodcast.tv John Pretto

    Ah,

    You’re comparing apples and oranges between Helloworld.com and all of the other Media Communities. For a fair “blink test” try http://www.helloworldbeta.com which is Hello’s true vision way back to 1996.

    Points of consideration:

    Helloworld’s Parent company is publicly traded.
    They have NO debt.
    You have the ability to transode into any format of media you want.
    Live Web-based broadcasting
    Web-based Video Mail
    Automated Podcast Publishing tools
    Automated Video Blogging
    Video Instant Messaging.
    Most importantly, they are making money.

    More Blinking required here.

  • http://www.helloworld.com/markspivey Mark spivey

    I’ve been using Helloworld for over a year and a half now and have seen many changes which have improved the service radically.
    I have also used Youtube which is free but that’s the only real advantage.
    I like Helloworld’s technology and the ability to do things I simply cannot do with YouTube or Myspace.
    It’s true you get what you pay for.
    My dream was to have my own TV studio and promote my music and Helloworld has given me the best online tools to be able to do this.
    What I really like about the service is the flexibility I have working with my content and how I can choose who sees what, where and when.
    I effectively have the same versatility as a TV station at an absolute fraction of the cost.
    If you want free and basic stick with YouTube but if you want to get more out of the web then Helloworld is definitely the way to go.
    (And you get paid if you share it with others).

  • http://www.helloworld.com/markspivey Mark spivey

    I’ve been using Helloworld for over a year and a half now and have seen many changes which have improved the service radically.
    I have also used Youtube which is free but that’s the only real advantage.
    I like Helloworld’s technology and the ability to do things I simply cannot do with YouTube or Myspace.
    It’s true you get what you pay for.
    My dream was to have my own TV studio and promote my music and Helloworld has given me the best online tools to be able to do this.
    What I really like about the service is the flexibility I have working with my content and how I can choose who sees what, where and when.
    I effectively have the same versatility as a TV station at an absolute fraction of the cost.
    If you want free and basic stick with YouTube but if you want to get more out of the web then Helloworld is definitely the way to go.
    (And you get paid if you share it with others).

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