“We want to be the television home page for the Internet generation .” With its debut Monday [August 1st], Current TV will be judged by the same mundane standards as other networks – on whether its programming can hold a viewer’s interest.

Every half-hour, Current promises a news update using data from Google on news stories most frequently searched for on the Web. “We have no illusions about the fact that our product has to be compelling,” said David Neuman, Current’s programming director. “We also believe it has to be unique. Who wants to watch the seventh clone of a different network?”

Current TV is not a “clone”. It’s crap!

There isn’t exactly a stack of content, yet. A legitimate start-up problem. It’s hard to tolerate more than six or eight minutes at a time — over several attempts around the clock — yet, half of the “pods” I’ve seen [their obvious try to capture iPod spin] have marched past more than once.

The 8mm “revolution” in 1965, was based on film instead of video, of course. Tens of thousands of middle-class high school and college kids were “set free” to create a visual hymn to youth and change. Talent, knowledge and training ended up being the requisite qualities, back then. They still are. The persistence of self-concern that ends up captured by video beginners may be, “totally touching”, man. “Boring” also comes to mind.