Penn Says

Penn Jillette started a video project yesterday. He'll rant from one to three minutes, alone, on anything that he likes, with interactivity from people who can post videos and responses and things back to him. He'll provide the "nut point of view," covering atheism, libertarianism, and skepticism.

I had read that he was doing something this month, but I figured it would be a resurrection of sorts of Penn Radio. This is an entirely different thing.

I'm a bit disappointed. This doesn't occupy the same sphere as radio, or podcasting in general. Not only is there much more content there, in an hour daily show, as compared to a few minutes per day of raw video, but these short daily videos aren't substitutes for being able to queue up a podcast when on the go, injecting a great hour of conversation into your life. Visually, there's nothing there other than looking into Penn's face, and that's not where the appeal comes from. It comes from his ideas, and an hour radio show gave that. Regarding interactivity, Penn Radio had that too, if you were in the right cities. Here, I suppose it's a step up since anyone with a broadband connection to the Internet can participate in an equal way.

Maybe this will grow on me. After all, it's Penn!

Could this be symptomatic of the greater changes in the media landscape today? Entertainment is becoming shorter and shorter. People used to listen to the radio. Now they watch short clips on YouTube. This is different though. The demand for Penn Radio hadn't decreased when it ended. I digress. Check it out. What do you think of it?