Does anyone actually watch the videos?

Im sure many do... but to me the internet is not TV. I am not at all into video, Flash or animation on the net - even though i do graphics..

i guess i just like the net to be like a huge accessible book - that makes you think and participate.. not a tv thing you sit and watch.. even though you can comment - you still had to sit and wait to see/hear the content.

Unfortunately.. I have two bad situations that don't allow me to watch the video..

At work.. my workstations are great!.. but my bandwidth is horrible, thus i get a lot of buffering and choppy video...

At home.. my PC is ancient! (due to lack of funds) but my bandwidth it prime.. (4mb down 256k up cable).. but the ancient computer has trouble processing the video..

Why not offer different video stream qualities? It wouldnt take but a few more minutes to create a lesser quality, place a link right under the original or something..

Jake

my issues wernt bandwidth/machine related - although that's interesting..

i have 3 meg dsl - 800k up - i just dont click on the video..  i did once - the typesetter guy - shrek haha ( accent i mean

Bill Hill is Irish. Wasn't Shrek supposed to be Scottish?

To answer your question: yes, I watch the videos. All of them.

..well my mother was joan McCoy (irish) and my dad was bill Grant ( scottish) so its the same to me

Personally, I read Channel 9 via the RSS feed in my news aggregator. As a result, going to watch the videos is a bit inconvenient, and many times I find myself wishing there was a writeup I could read instead of viewing the video. Plus, it's a lot easier to skim text then it is a video clip. That said, it's nice to have some variety and to get to "meet" the developers. -Zach

I like the videos and when it comes to topics like typography etc which are not my biggest interests, I would most likely just skip them if they were in textual format on the screen. Bill's accent was a small shock at first but after watching a couple videos it's enjoyable for lack of a better word in my mind at the moment.

There is nothing wrong with the videos, but having them as downloadable clips as well as streams would be a good idea indeed.

Yep, watch 'em. Somehow I wish it was more of a focal point of this community, but yeah, I watch 'em

I think one of the main purposes to this site is to close the gap between the MS development community and the employees who are responsible for so much of what we work with. Few people can express themselves adequately enough in written text for others to get a personal feeling of them.

Video on the web is a supplement, just as graphics are to text. It's nice to have flash, videos, audio, and static content on the web. And to answer your question, yes I do watch the videos. =)

i agree..

but maybe do a force - auto play on the top video - i mean - your featuring them right?  and posters have no access to the frontdoor edit..correct? So why make us interact - ( i dont need to click to read - why click to play?)

Perhaps i was asking - judging by the numbers - should not coffeehouse be the focus of the site - and not video - or would that be too slashdot  and the jig would be up lol


the far more important fact is: maybe most people dont watch/click video because its demanded of them to interact.

if there was a way to test - run a vid - front and center on channel 9 - that auto-starts - with a "cancel" button.  Log all the clicks on "cancel"

I bet they would be minimal
But asking me to click?  well thats far far too much work

I watch every single one without exception.

/Lars.

The videos are the reason I come here. We get to see the developers being so candid. Certain other companies practically shove gags in their developers' mouths.

No.  I don't think I've watched any of the MSDN ones either.

The problem is that I don't like wearing headphones at work, and playing the audio through the speakers would disturb cubicle neighbors.

If the videos were closed captioned, I might watch them.  Of course, then it would also be easy to post a transcript of the video too.

I watch as many of the videos as I can. and I really enjoy them. It is the main feature for me.  The moblog is a nice additoinal unique feature, too.

The wiki is fine for right now, I think the main thing I use is the Blog Directory. The forums are great but there are a lot of other ways to talk to people.  I do like the addition of RSS to the forums as that's what really keeps me coming back.

Its a great experiment so far.

I watch some of them. Depends on the topic. But I also have nasty buffering problems at work as well.

I think there have been several valid requests here in this thread that should make it over into the list of wanted features:

* Low Res Videos
* Downloadable Videos
* Transcripts

I watch most if not all of them depending on pressure of time (all my Channel 9 activity is done in my downtime not my employer's).

I think they're a big draw here to be honest and like the fact that they're short and sweet. In a similar way I enjoy .Net rocks but often it feels like it's too long and takes up too much time. No such problem with the videos here which are short and sweet and help put a "face" to names I've "Known" for a long time (eg been reading Chris Sells for years).