A Look at Miro

I have been a happy iTunes user when it comes to downloading, organizing, and enjoying my favorite online “TV shows”. However, as an open-media zealot and a perpetual killer app scout, I felt like I had to give Miro, the free, open source Internet TV and video player, a try, seeing that it’s supposedly made to “turn my computer into an internet TV”.

The user interface in Miro’s small, quick-launching window is very user-friendly with a left sidebar of expandable folders that reminds me of NetNewsWire and even iTunes. The first thing Miro did upon initial launching was it combed my computer for videos, and it certainly did just that by digging up videos I thought I had lost. Miro stuck all the videos into the ‘Library’ folder on the sidebar in pretty much the same unorganized, misnamed and thumbnail-less state in which it found them. It’s worth mentioning though, that it did play all my videos seamlessly, regardless of the format.

The only real problem I had with the video playback is the fact that I couldn’t browse Miro while playing a video in full screen (I use two monitors). Miro comes pre-subscribed to four ‘starter channels’, which are (surprise!) relevant and interesting. I personally like the HD NASA show. It also comes subscribed to the company’s ‘Using Miro’ channel of about a dozen detailed screen casts to quickly get you up to speed.

I find, by far the most interesting element to Miro is its “Miro Guide” which works similarly to the iTunes store and lets the user search, browse and subscribe to some of the 4000 channels, 400 of which are available in high definition. The searching is fast when you want to find a specific channel, and the layout is easily digestible.

The channel profiles are also informative, but can sometimes be inaccurate when it’s integral RSS feed is really just an auto-download for anything on youtube with a certain tag or user.

But then again, I think this free-to-upload as well as the free-to-watch element of Miro could be the broad inclusiveness needed to help marshal the currently unorganized wealth of good content out there. If it stays true to its non-profit, open-media roots while managing the signal over the noise, Miro has the chance to become a powerful delivery system in a new world where content, not products of corporate focus groups, is truly king.