So I came across this really cool new service that works like Instapaper for video, and thought I'd share it with HN.
Just got my invite today and I've been LOVING it so far. It lets me discover videos, bookmark them and watch offline on my iPad or iPhone.
(My hour long subway rides without internet aren't painful anymore. Phew)
These services have some serious barriers to entry. I created one of these, <a href="http://wacchen.com" rel="nofollow">http://wacchen.com</a>, I think it was the first. When you search for instapaper for video, the first 2 results mention my app. I am not actively maintaining my thing anymore because I realized there was going to be a hiccup in any wide adoption; Youtube. Youtube does not, and probably will never allow people to download that content. 80% of what most people bookmark are youtube videos. Sure some sites out there can be scrapped, but at best your business will be in murky territory. I wrote about this on my blog as well. <a href="http://alexkessinger.net/2010/11/15/why-instapaper-for-video-as-an-ios-app-is-a-long-ways-away/" rel="nofollow">http://alexkessinger.net/2010/11/15/why-instapaper-for-video...</a><p>Someone is going to crack this nut, but they will need to figure out the youtube problem.
I think this a great idea, and I've recently noticed a number of people doing things in more or less the same direction. I've been collecting them:<p>* Deja <a href="http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/deja/id417625158?mt=8&uo=4" rel="nofollow">http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/deja/id417625158?mt=8&uo=...</a><p>* Squrl <a href="http://www.squrl.com/" rel="nofollow">http://www.squrl.com/</a><p>* Plizy <a href="http://plizy.com/" rel="nofollow">http://plizy.com/</a><p>* Showyou <a href="http://showyou.com/" rel="nofollow">http://showyou.com/</a><p>* Roadshow <a href="http://fetchsoftworks.com/roadshow/" rel="nofollow">http://fetchsoftworks.com/roadshow/</a><p>I even wrote a really simple way to actually use a folder called "Watch Later" in Instapaper as a video queue (only works for paying Instapaper subscribers): <a href="http://watchlater.radbox.org/" rel="nofollow">http://watchlater.radbox.org/</a>
Mine focuses on trying to automatically discover HTML5-capable viewers for use on iOS.<p>Every one is slightly different, and this one looks particularly nice. Thanks for making it -- I look forward to trying it.
Seems like there is a lot of competition in the field<p><a href="http://www.google.com/search?q=instapaper+for+video" rel="nofollow">http://www.google.com/search?q=instapaper+for+video</a><p>Good luck
Watchlr looks to do the same and more. Gregory Schnese gave a really good presentation at the most recent NYTM event this past Tuesday. You can sign up at <a href="http://watchlr.com" rel="nofollow">http://watchlr.com</a>.