Must See Justin.TV

April 5, 2007 — -- Do you watch Justin.TV? If not, you may be wondering what it is. Justin.TV is… Justin Kan's life. The 23-year-old Yale graduate transmits video and sound of his entire life, around the clock, via his Web site, www.justin.tv.

Justin.TV is different things to different people. Some wonder how bored you have to be to sit in front of a computer and watch a total stranger go through an often stunningly boring day on live Internet video.

Others look at Justin.TV and see brilliance -- a bold vision of the future that should have television executives quaking in their boots. The reality is, Justin.TV could be a little of both.

Everything Kan does can be watched live. Everything is fodder for a show. Get up in the morning -- that's a show. Make a sandwich -- that's a show. Clean up after a party -- that's a show.

Along with three friends, Kan began "broadcasting" Justin.TV about two weeks ago out of a cramped San Francisco apartment filled with laptop computers and old pizza boxes.

Kan wears a camera and microphone attached to a hat and wired to a backpack filled with the electronic guts that keep the video streaming. Some of that technology has been invented by the four 20-somethings to enable Kan to ride city buses, go shopping, even go out on dates without ever losing that live signal from his camera. The camera really does go everywhere -- Kan makes sure to point the camera towards the ceiling when he visits the men's room.

Justin.TV can be interesting -- watching Kan getting kicked out of the Gap while trying to buy socks seems to be a fan favorite.

"Most places are pretty accommodating actually," said Kan. "The camera's not that obtrusive. It's not like having a film crew follow you around. So generally, when I'm just on my own, there aren't any problems."

Watching the webcast can also be deadly dull. Log on to the site, and the chances are pretty good you'll catch a first-person view of Kan sitting in a chair typing on a computer. "I can't be interesting 24/7," he said. "Eight hours of the day I am probably sleeping."

So, what makes Kan so special? "You've got to be a special type of guy to strap a camera to your head," said Michael Seibel, the COO of Justin.TV Inc., "especially if you're the first guy to do it."