Charlie Rose on Google Video Store

So Google announced they are getting into the Video Store biz. Seems that everyone is getting into this business now. Not sure how good a fit that is for Google, which appears to want to be in every business these days, but glad to see them there none the less.

The thing about most of the content that is being released for download, is that I don't want to watch it on the small video screen of an iPod or a computer screen. I want to watch it in all its HD glory on the big TV screen. Things like Lost, or CSI, or NBA basketball really gain a lot by being on the big screen. So until they are selling an HD form (and at a couple of Gigs an hour, that isn't going to happen for a while), I am not interested.

That is why I was excited to see that Charlie Rose had signed up for the program as well. Charlie Rose gains nothing by being on a fancy TV. Actually, sometimes I wonder if he wouldn't be just as good if he was on radio. He also has a large library that doesn't really lose anything with age. If someone was on his show 5 years ago that interests you, that is still a valuable show to watch.

Put another way, each night Charlie broadcasts an interview with a person I might or might not like. Now, I have the choice between watching it, or going through the library and finding my favorite people he has interviewed over the last 10 years and choosing to watch that. I can select from all the shows he has ever done and watch only the people who interest me.

Another interesting thing that is now possible is to watch how people change. Charlie interviews Bill Gates and Andy Grove every other day (well alright, it just seems like that). It would be interesting to watch all of the Andy Grove shows back to back and see how he has changed over time.

Other content comes from independent film provider Greencine, TV network ITN and the producers of The Charlie Rose Show, which is offering older shows for 99 cents each. The Charlie Rose content is not copy protected and can be moved to portable devices and Google Video Player for offline viewing. All the other available content is copy protected and users will not be able to share it with other devices, according to Chane.

I love this. Instead of the $2.00 an episode, he is going with $.99 and not screwing around with lame-ass copy protection. Big props to Charlie and his team for deciding to go this route. Make the price low enough that it isn't worth the effort to try and steal it.

There have been times that I have seen a great show and known of someone that I knew would have loved it. Now I can just forward a link to the show, and my friend can pay the buck to watch it.

I think Charlie Rose is the perfect fit for the current downloadable video technology. And with their price and lack of copy-protection, this seems like a winner to me.