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Internet TV? It's so crazy it just might work

Internet TV? It's so crazy it just might work

Dan Ackerman Editorial Director / Computers and Gaming
Dan Ackerman leads CNET's coverage of computers and gaming hardware. A New York native and former radio DJ, he's also a regular TV talking head and the author of "The Tetris Effect" (Hachette/PublicAffairs), a non-fiction gaming and business history book that has earned rave reviews from the New York Times, Fortune, LA Review of Books, and many other publications. "Upends the standard Silicon Valley, Steve Jobs/Mark Zuckerberg technology-creation myth... the story shines." -- The New York Times
Expertise I've been testing and reviewing computer and gaming hardware for over 20 years, covering every console launch since the Dreamcast and every MacBook...ever. Credentials
  • Author of the award-winning, NY Times-reviewed nonfiction book The Tetris Effect; Longtime consumer technology expert for CBS Mornings
Dan Ackerman
One of my fondest memories of the late-'90s dot-com era is the ridiculously over-the-top parties thrown by online broadcaster Pseudo.com at its Houston-and-Broadway loft in SoHo. At the time, the feisty upstart company claimed that Internet broadcasting was the wave of the future and even more: the company would take on the broadcast networks and beat them at their own game. Without going into a long history lesson, let's just say that things didn't really turn out the way Pseudo planned.

Hundreds of millions of dollars and several years later, it turns out the famous dot-com flameout was partially right. The New York Times (registration required) today adds some mainstream cred to the growing interest in Webcasting by highlighting online offerings from traditional media outlets, such as Nickelodeon, CBS News, and MTV. While the fawning article reminds us of the Grey Lady's reputation for bringing up the rear on tech trends, it does mean that Web video is finally ready for prime time.

On a related note, CNET's got lots of groovy online videos, too. But I betcha already knew that.