Announcing Miro
I am exhausted, excited, and very proud to present Miro.
Please check out our new website and download Miro, Public Preview 1 - GetMiro.com.
Formerly known as ‘Democracy Player’, this new name, logo, and updated version of the software represents the next evolution of the project. We are hoping to reach even more people and build the open video movement. The software is more polished and stable than ever. The website has been re-designed with more focus on community and outreach. The new name will be less confusing to everyone who thought Democracy Player was only for videos about politics.
As always, we are a non-profit organization and we build this software because we think there’s a chance to bring television online in a way that’s more open and accessible than ever. Companies are battling desperately to control video, monopolize users, and build proprietary distribution systems. It’s a dangerous direction for the future of media.
Miro is built to be as open as possible– open source, open-standards, compatible with any host that provides video rss, open to alternate channel guides, and able to search multiple video sites. We want there to a be minimum of gatekeepers and a maximum of choice for creators and viewers. The future of online video is being defined right now. We need your help to make sure that the open approach is as strong as possible.
Take a look at our new ‘Join In‘ page and see if there’s ways you want to get involved. Let’s do this thing!
July 17th, 2007 at 7:57 pm
We’ve done an in-depth review of Miro over at last100. Probably missed a few things, but great job Miro people!
July 17th, 2007 at 9:06 pm
[…] Jul 17th, 2007 by Ryan Lanham Announcing Miro […]
July 17th, 2007 at 9:09 pm
[…] « Announcing Miro […]
July 17th, 2007 at 10:36 pm
steve– thanks so much for the review! you know, we’ve changed the look of the channel guide since you did the review, maybe you want to update the pic.
npr
July 18th, 2007 at 3:09 am
Democracy Player was a much better name. It had a deeper meaning, and I never thought it was “only for videos about politics.” It spearheaded the independent podcasting and IPTV movement; it was the only open source video podcast-catcher that worked well and got popular. The iTunes Store is Apple’s guarded compound. We all live in democratic countries, why not democratise the entertainment business and take power away from the ‘traditional’ entertainment conglomerates? I hate the name Miro. That is my honest opinion.
July 18th, 2007 at 4:35 am
Hi Smaran, I appreciate your thoughts. The name change was a big decision, but ultimately we felt that the name ‘Democracy’ was simply confusing too many people because they thought it would only play videos about politics and politicians.
July 18th, 2007 at 7:10 am
My review has been submitted to Digg. If you like review, digg on!
July 18th, 2007 at 8:24 am
fantastic release guys! I’ve been tracking your efforts for some time and I must say the result is very impressive. It really is just what the world needs right now.
‘Tillykke’/Congratulations from Copenhagen - Michael
July 18th, 2007 at 9:18 am
MPlayer anyone?
July 18th, 2007 at 11:31 am
Congrats on the new name. While Democracy Player had a good meaning it was also misunderstood. Not only like ‘Stuff about politicians’ but also a little ‘too American’ for my taste.
I like the new name and I’m sure the project will go far. The sooner corporations start to respect open standards, the better.
July 18th, 2007 at 2:06 pm
Congratulations, guys! I still like the old name, but then again, I said the same thing when Firebird became Firefox. I guess things might change over time.
I really like the new logo, though it really reminds me of an M&M.
July 18th, 2007 at 3:47 pm
Nice player, but still with some bugs
BTW. You should check the code you provide for the buttons because it is incorrect :(. It goes to www.miro.com when the right url is www.getmiro.com
July 18th, 2007 at 3:56 pm
oops! thanks M. should be fixed now.
July 18th, 2007 at 4:59 pm
great project!
July 18th, 2007 at 5:26 pm
[…] la nueva fase del proyecto anteriormente conocido como Democracy Player, ha anunciado su lanzamiento, así esta aplicación multiplataforma se suma a la gran oferta (Joost, Stage6, …) que en la […]
July 18th, 2007 at 6:43 pm
[…] famoso Democracy Player mudou de nome. Agora chama-se Miro e tem várias novas […]
July 19th, 2007 at 1:40 am
Congrats to the Miro team!
July 19th, 2007 at 3:51 am
[…] cum incearca, intr-un fel sau altul, sa o faca celelalte servicii similare. Dupa cum se afirma pe blogul oficial Miro, “companiile se lupta cu disperare pentru a controla content-ul video, a monopoliza […]
July 19th, 2007 at 5:33 am
what if i want audio content? audio is at least 75% of the digital media revolution… hello, podcasts? i want my mp3s to show up in my folders. is it even an option? options are always better than restrictions. are you planning on making miro video only or is audio even available? please don’t make me switch back to bash podder; or even worse… itunes via wine, *pout* *whine*.
July 19th, 2007 at 10:06 am
katy– you should be able to add any audio podcast to your feeds.
July 19th, 2007 at 1:42 pm
Hi. Nice work.
I (and many other) think that a free independent player is not enough. We also need a way to make channels with free software. Broadcast Machine is unavailable for download and is no longer under development. I’m not a developer, but I can be a Beta Tester…
“Join the fight to keep video open” is not completed without free ways to publish video. Feedburner may be great but we need to have free tools, server independent (php). Broadcast Machine, Drupal, Wordpress, Joomla puggins…
July 21st, 2007 at 11:08 am
I tried watching one of the TED videos - does it have to dl the whole thing before it plays? The TED videos work fine for me on their site and embedded in my blog - but not on Miro.
Also there no way to configure the player so that videos play at actual size rather than stretching to fill the screen?
I wish you all the best with this enterprise - but IMHO this beta version adds way too much weight to gain any traction outside geek world.
July 22nd, 2007 at 10:52 pm
[…] Essa mudança representa uma nova fase, além de mais estabilidade o programa ganhou novos recursos, o site passou por um redesign e o nome não soa mais com algo relacionado apenas a vídeos políticos. Mais informações podem ser encontradas no anúncio oficial do Miro. […]
July 23rd, 2007 at 5:25 am
I’m too with Osvaldo.
By the way, why Miro? Miro was also the australian company behind MamboCMS and is a german company and what more? I think this name change could create some issues in some countries.
Best regards
July 29th, 2007 at 1:45 pm
[…] evolução do projecto, segundo um dos responsáveis. A alteração no nome também serviu para que não fosse confundido com […]
August 18th, 2007 at 4:43 am
[…] Participatory Culture Foundation hat ihren Democracy Player nun definitiv in Miro umbenannt (vgl. Announcing Miro). Abgesehen davon kommt die aktuelle Version 0.9.8.1 im vertrauten Gewand daher, und auch von den […]