YouTube is super-popular because people can watch videos on there instantly, but let's be honest — the quality kind of sucks. It's fine for short clips that you don't really care about seeing with crystal clarity, but it's far from optimal. Well, the acceptance of crappy online video is about to change if Joost has anything to do with it.

Joost (formerly The Venice Project) is the new online video company helmed by the creators of Kazaa and Skype. It combines online streaming video with peer-to-peer downloading, allowing for faster, cleaner video streams. They're trying to set up a service that'll replace TV rather than just act as a distraction between couch sessions. It's got channels, programming, and even, gulp, ads. But it combines that with hot search and chat functions to add to the functionality. There's a beta up for those curious about how it works, so go ahead and give it a whirl and see if you like it better than your beloved YouTube. — Adam Frucci

Joost, via Gizmodo