Okay, so QuickTime 4 is out-- albeit in a "preview" version not yet deemed fit for an official, honest-to-goodness release. That doesn't mean it's not a whole lot of fun to play with, though. We've got a kickin' new MoviePlayer (er, we mean QuickTime Player), a new QuickTime 4-enhanced version of the Phantom Menace trailer, and-- finally-- the ability to stream live media right off the 'net. What more could a reasonable media junkie ask for?

To which question we respond, "how about something to watch?" Streaming QuickTime is all well and good, but unless people actually start serving up something for us to download, it's not doing anyone any favors. Sure, Apple's been streaming some video since day one for demo purposes, but look at what those selections were. There's Bloomberg News, which streams live financial news right to your browser. Well, excuse us, but we already resent the stations in our cable package taking up valuable channel space with boring financial data when we don't even get the Surgery Channel; the last thing we want is more financial data in our web browser as well. There's BBC World, which is a little better-- at least it's not as financially-centered-- but it's still news instead of the mind-numbing entertainment we need for our continued slack-jawed existence. Lastly, Apple posted something that looked really promising: QuickTime 4 of HBO. But it wasn't live streaming of the actual HBO cable channel, just streamed-on-demand video of a promo for some boxing match (when we first checked).

But now it's gotten better! The HBO page is still video-on-demand, but now it's footage of Dennis Miller reading us all a bedtime story about "Little Black Beret." And if that's not enough Dennis for you (and really, how could it be?), tune in Friday night at 11:30 EDT, QuickTime 4 in hand, for what will apparently be a complete and "live" broadcast of Dennis Miller Live. See, now that's entertainment. And if you're still trying to convince the neighbors that most TV is "just too lowbrow" for your cultured and refined tastes, don't worry-- Apple hasn't forgotten about you. They've also posted a live feed from Boston's own WGBH, so you can get your fill of browser-broadcast public television. Since we can flip on the TV and switch to WGBH "the old-fashioned way," we can confirm that the QuickTime 4 feed, while live, isn't the same as what's showing on the tube, but you still might get to watch Zoom if you're lucky. So the options are increasing-- but they're all being broadcast from Apple. Is anyone else going to take up the QuickTime 4 Streaming challenge?