Techization

I will take this snarky mood I’m in to discuss the recent trends of Ustream.  I first found out about Ustream about one year ago and have been using it weekly since.  I have found lots of engaging and insightful streams.  Anything from a Lil’ Wayne concert to Chris Pirillo and even some live amateur ghost hunters.

Those folks who are big Ustream fans must have seen the Shiba Inu Puppy Cam by now right?  If you haven’t, I assume you either aren’t a regular user of Ustream, or you have been living in a cave.  Yes I will agree, they are cute for about 30 seconds.  Yes, 30 seconds.  I have seen users who sit on that channel for hours commenting on what the puppies are doing from minute to minute.  I mean, really?!   These cute little puppies have inspired a groundswell on Ustream with other pet owners trying to ‘e-pimp’ their pets cuteness online.

Top 4 Highest Rated Channels – 3/13/09

• Bizkit (Gaming related)
• Broomeacres German Shepherds
• Ketches Chocolate Lab Litter
• Shayla & her Golden Retriever puppies

The list goes on and on, a majority (well over half) are pet cams.  These live ‘webcams’ feature dogs, cats, fish and ferrets.  When I view these webcams, and I will call them that because I don’t believe they fall under what I classify as a channel, they remind me of EarthCam.

Personally I’m just not very thrilled with watching someones dog or cat run around a pen.   I have my own dog to gain personal enjoyment and pleasure from.  Why is it such a hit on Ustream?  Are these all apartment dwelling net geeks who are not allowed pets?  Are these Ustream channels rapidly becoming the online version of a Tamagotchi?  It’s hard to say.

Ustream while popular is not mainstream by any means.  It’s Alexa traffic rank does not even put it in the top 1000 websites on the Interwebs.

Therefore, these newer type of start-ups are often frequented by us Internet savvy geek users, not mainstream a-typical users.

I don’t know about you, but I’m keeping my puppy far away from my webcam