According to Eric Schmidt, former CEO of Google, people generate as much content every two days as they did from the beginning of human history through the year 2003.

I'm not really sure if that's true, or how exactly Mr. Schmidt came to that conclusion, but if it's even half true, it's truly an amazing statistic. Over the last year, as we've been building out the MyPod Studios network, I've been amazed at the amount of video content that's out there for us to choose from. Comedies, dramas, how-to videos, fitness, cooking, advice, and the just plain ridiculous - you name it, and there's a mountain of video footage waiting to be watched. When we first got into this game, I was a little worried that we wouldn't be able to find enough videos to include. As it turns out, my bigger challenge was trying to weed through it all and pick the best of what was out there.

In the last few months, I've spent uncountable hours watching online videos, trying to figure out what I wanted to show, and what audiences would want to watch. Wanting MyPod to be a sought-after destination, I not only wanted to have something for everybody, but I wanted audiences to have access to the best videos online videos available. What I found was that "best" and "most watchable" are two very different things. There are some videos out there that are simply outstanding - smartly written, superbly acted, well produced, and very engaging. But I also found myself just as deeply entranced by devastatingly awful videos. Particularly great are the ones that don't even know how awful they are, and are sincerely trying to put on a good show. I found myself forgetting about the subject matter, but instead marveling at how cringe-worthy the effort was, much like people on a highway might have a hard time turning away from a car wreck. It's just mangled metal, but somehow we have to slow down to stare at it.

So rather than just present high quality productions, I told the MyPod account execs to avoid mediocre. Go for really good, or really, really bad, but skip over content that's just kind of there. Celebrating both ends of the spectrum is one the ways MyPod Studios will be a different, more entertaining video network.

- Jay