Appletell

Apple has paid for a huge ad on the YouTube homepage. This is only the second ad of this size, the first being an ad for the Spore video game. In doing this, Apple will reach a very large audience of its target demographic. But will it actually rope them in?

I find that ads that greatly interfere with my experience on any website backfire intensely, leaving me with a dislike for that company, and not an interest in their product. As it is, this ad isn’t incredibly annoying, but it does shove the content down a considerable amount, possibly blocking it from view on some smaller-screened computers.

What do you think? Annoying or not? Video after the break.

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Videos mocking and showing off Apple and its products have been on YouTube forever, but just recently (September 25th, 2008), a channel claiming to be the official channel has showen up on the web. The Official Apple’s Youtube channel on the popular video sharing site YouTube looks rather skeptical. Apple generally doesn’t join other sites, so this may not be theirs. And, with the backround picture, it doesn’t look too conviencing. If Apple was to join YouTube, or if this really is their channel, they could use it to put up tutorials and ad campaigns, and even host a VLog. Currently, the channel hosts 25 videos, but we would expect many more since these went up in the first few days.

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I’m not a YouTube kind of guy. I’m just not entertained by kittens falling off things, toddlers explaining the plot to Star Wars in their oh-simple-and-innocent way, or high school kids beating each other up or making out. Or both. Most YouTube users need to learn an important rule of entertainment…just because something’s entertaining to you and your friends, that doesn’t mean it’s actually, you know, entertaining.

That being said, there are a lot of wonderful videos to be found, both amateur and (usually uploaded illegally) professional. Old music videos I’ve long forgotten (Russel Mulcahy, we need you now) top the list, but every now and again I also find something new from a group of budding filmmakers that makes me wonder how so many professionals got (and retain) their jobs. Those are great moments, finding something like that, but to share your find, you’ve no choice but to just e-mail URLs or embed the video in your blog. What if you want to show someone on your iPhone or iPod, or even burn a DVD to pass around? There are various options out there—some easier than others, some more reliable than others, some more legal than others—but one of the best options available to Mac users right now is Web2 Delight.

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YouTube has been quietly re-encoding some of its videos, users have found. Where possible, they have increased the videos’ resolution from 320x240 to 480x360. They have also made improvements to the sound, including AAC audio instead of the mono sound on previous encodings. These up-conversions are happening mainly to newly uploaded videos, but they are also selecting older videos, such as the skateboarding dog video, to re-encode.

YouTube, though the biggest and most prevalent of video sharing sites, is falling behind in features, and this re-encoding might be an attempt to catch up with other video sharing sites that have begun offing 720p HD video options. It might also be influenced by Apple, who was behind the conversion to H.264, allowing for iPhone playback without Flash.

Via [Electronista]

• What is going to happen at Macworld 2009?
• Apple releases the top 10 applications downloaded at the iTunes Store for 2008
• Apple releases list of most downloaded iPhone games of 2008

Here is a great Youtube video by a person called “DoctorMacenstein” chronicling the life and times of the Apple website. Sadly, the views aren’t comprehensive (you’ll have to hit the “Wayback Machine” for that) but it is a nice walk down the Mac’s memory lane. It’s paved with wild colored CRT-based iMac’s and toilet seat shaped clamshell iBooks. The video is pretty well done, I make no promises on the Skid Row song.

• Apple: Wait, no, stop, you don’t need Antivirus software
• Apple releases list of most downloaded iPhone games of 2008
• What is going to happen at Macworld 2009?

At the fifth D: All Things Digital event, Steve Jobs revealed a software upgrade to the Apple TV that would allow customers to access YouTube’s thousands of clips through a wireless internet collection. You would not access the clips directly from YouTube, instead a team would host the videos in an Apple TV format, available for anyone to view. Users will be able to log in to their YouTube accounts, add favorites and use other features of the popular video-sharing site.

The video quality will be exactly the same as the ones on YouTube’s site which means the videos through an HDTV will be similar as to on your computer. There is a quality issue when watching very low quality content on a TV or display with a high resolution. Though, as Steve mentioned, people are finding ways to upload better content everyday. The update will be available in mid-June with only selected clips (i.e. Featured videos), with the whole YouTube library being available in the fall.

[Apple TV]

• What is going to happen at Macworld 2009?
• Apple: Wait, no, stop, you don’t need Antivirus software
• Apple releases list of most downloaded iPhone games of 2008