Be The Media

June 15, 2003 8:14 AM

konspire2b allows anyone to be their own broadcast channel, beaming out multimedia across a p2p network to the masses. Could this be the next leap for blogging?
posted by owillis (13 comments total)

More like the next leap for camgirls...
posted by PenDevil at 8:30 AM on June 15, 2003

i think the next step for blogging is over there by that cliff...
posted by quonsar at 8:31 AM on June 15, 2003

Don't diss camgirls, PenDevil--I'm in LOVE, dammit. But gosh if this FPP doesn't make me feel like a cold, refreshing Pepsi Cola. This looks prety w@R3zy to me. Consider with caution.
posted by squirrel at 8:43 AM on June 15, 2003

Could this be the next leap for blogging?

No. Is there any actual movitation for bloggers (myself included) to move to this system? 'Cause I can't find any.
posted by LukeyBoy at 8:44 AM on June 15, 2003

Well, I tried to blog some self-created multimedia a couple of months ago - then got a big ass bandwith bill at the end of the month. Something like this would come in useful.

If it means more camgirls, its a good thing.
posted by owillis at 9:12 AM on June 15, 2003

Just use bit torrent. Sounds like a lot more usefull (you don't have to be there for the 'broadcast') then konspire2b, and it already has wide distribution. Lots of people already use it.
posted by delmoi at 9:18 AM on June 15, 2003

Oh yeah, with bit torrent you don't have to set up 'channels' or anything like that. Each file you want to distribute creates it's own little p2p network, based on .torrent files that are available. bt has already been featured on slashdot and it works great.
posted by delmoi at 9:24 AM on June 15, 2003

BitTorrent doesn't work well for distributing small files (read the first question in the Slashdot interview), while Konspire2b is designed for it.
posted by waxpancake at 10:03 AM on June 15, 2003

You'll also at the very least have to serve the original copy of your masterpiece, assuming it's a size which BitTorrent can help with. If nobody else shares the file then you'll still be hit by a tremendous bandwidth bill.
posted by substrate at 10:38 AM on June 15, 2003

Just use bit torrent.

With bittorrent, you have to know about the file you want, and somehow find a torrent file for it. Only then can you download. You also have to hope that a seed exists for that file, otherwise the p2p group for the file you want will only have an incomplete copy. Bittorrent is really useful for downloading large files that tons of other people are trying to get at the same time. Once the general interest lags, bittorrent can't help much.

konspire2b serves a different market. You subscribe to channels based on topic, and files published on that channel are pushed to your machine. Instead of relying on large interest in a single file (ala bittorrent), the speed and usefulness of the software depends on how many people are subscribed to a specific channel.

It's a different model and it will be interesting to see how or if people adopt it.
posted by jsonic at 2:13 PM on June 15, 2003

All the bit torrent sites I know of have been shut down recently. And if setting up p2p distribution isn't super easy, not that many people are going to do it.
posted by mecran01 at 2:16 PM on June 15, 2003

ok, so I downloaded it. And I connected to the program on localhost. And I click on subscribe. And then what? How am I supposed to know the names of the channels I want to subscribe to? btw
posted by crunchland at 6:02 PM on June 15, 2003

Click on "Catcher" to see new channels. You can subscribe to mine, if you're so inclined.
posted by owillis at 6:26 PM on June 15, 2003