Year In Review: My Favorite Launch Of 2007

The last 365.2425 days - give or take - have comprised a pretty remarkable period of time. Everything in the tech space has appeared supercharged since that day of new beginnings past. Whether you look at advancements made in root technologies that have enabled the transmission of higher and higher quality media over the Web, or more singular accomplishments like new utilitarian services among the likes of office software built both for local and remote use and backup options that allow one to do away with hardware purchases and instead facilitate safety and redundancy via “the cloud,” much innovative progress has been made. Progress that consumers and enterprising professional can appreciate in kind.

That said, there is one invention brought to light in the previous year that I wish to highlight once more. I say once more because it is something I have already written about here at Profy.

Yes, it is something that I think deserves yet another mention, above all others brought to your attention since the proverbial ball dropped roughly one annum ago. Because it’s many things wrapped into one. It’s entertaining. It’s engaging (in a semi-social sense). And it’s still a relatively unique piece of kit, even a good ten months after its launch. Nevermind the fact that it’s still in beta. It’s been nothing but fantastic so far, and I wouldn’t hesitate for a moment to recommend you try it. It, without further adieu, is Jaman.

Now, many of you will surely think up the names of other deliveries of 2007 that have carried with them more significance than this. Jaman isn’t altogether groundbreaking by any means. One could likely argue that there have been at least a dozen other items that have been tossed into the public arena which have stirred far more minds in the realm of blogospheric chatter – be it the debut of AmazonMP3 or the more general turn of the tide in the war waged against DRM, or perhaps the arrival of IPTV channels arranged by various big-name networks, or the advent of social networking applications (a la Facebook, and now Bebo, too).

But truth be told, I’ve been most impressed by Jaman this year. Why? In part because it satisfies a demand that’s not MySpace-like in grandeur.

Here’s what I mean by that. Jaman is an avenue built to deliver independent film – both long- and short-form. And as lovely as Sundance and Cannes and the Toronto and Tribeca film festivals are to their respective audiences and devotees, they rarely, if ever, rake in big money equivalent to that which is regularly seen by Hollywood’s blockbuster machine(s). The lack of heavy financing in effect allows those seeking a bit of freshness and inventiveness in film to achieve their goals without having to genericize. Experimentation is rife in various subsets of the industry.

By process of association, Jaman is able to tap directly into those subsets and aggregate a wealth of content – a good amount of which is astonishingly interesting, I might add – which it can then deliver directly to you, the consumer, in a way akin to, say, Netflix, albeit wholly in the form digital downloads.

High quality digital downloads, to be accurate. And since it’s now so very easy to venture into the world of independent film with Jaman, one is able to bring two alluring things together. A win-win, no doubt.

All in all, Jaman makes for something, to repeat what was said above, very entertaining. And since we all (or most all of us, anyhow) recognize 2008 as the year the best of the Web - as far as visual attractions are concerned – will get its due attention, I imagine Jaman ranks fairly high on the list of things worth watching in the months to come.

Do note, Jaman is currently offering three free download tickets to anyone who signs up now. I urge you to try the beta for yourself.