There are some things you’re required to do as a journalist that you don’t, well, enjoy doing. But, for the sake of the story, you press on and endure. For example, as we’re talking about online media outlets this week, I felt a duty to mosey over to the Google Video Store (GVS) for a look-see. As it competes directly with Apple’s iTunes Music Store (iTMS, the gold standard), we’ll compare and contrast as need-be.

The iTMS is accessed through Apple’s iTunes application, and the videos (and music) you download are stored within iTunes. You can watch a lower-resolution, 30-second preview of content you’re interested in buying. iTunes, of course, has a movie player built-in, and content can be viewed within an iTunes window, in its own window, or full-screen.

The GVS is accessed through any web browser. You can view a short, lower-resolution preview through a Macromedia Flash browser plug-in. Purchased video must be viewed with Google’s free Video Player. Prices vary, from $1.99 (same as the iTMS) to much higher, based on the length of the show. For example, an 80-minute “National Lampoon’s New Faces” comedy video, is $12.99. Google also offers a “Day Pass” to view the video for 24 hours for $2.99.

Where the two video stores converge is in the volume and diversity of their content. Both offer “current” TV shows (although Google offers them only primarily through the self-destructing “Day Pass” model), but the GVS store offers a wider variety of “old” shows, which can be purchased.

Now here’s the “weird” thing referenced in the title of this column. For a long time now, various internet sites have been devoted to offering “off-the-wall” videos. What I mean by “off-the-wall” are kooky TV commercials from far-off lands, stupid pet and human tricks, all forms of sports disasters and horrible accidents, and cats running into walls. You know, stuff from “USA’s Fun Videos”.

Until now, this content has been pretty much free for the enduring. The Google Video Store offers a ton of this stuff for free (and even downloadable to iPod format), but also charges you for some of it. Like $1.49 for 17 minutes of “traffic, beggars and vendors on the streets of New Delhi, India”. Riveting.

Next week on GVS: teenage girls in bikinis teaching calculus. Folks, I don’t make this stuff up, I just report it.

© 2006 Peter F. Zimowski