@androidsixteen.eth and I have been building something for the past few months and we are finally excited to introduce Pinetree 🌲

Check out the video below:
https://pinetree.so/video/0x8ad9e7630bbb2abc6f5d167e04df79443a9cdc2d

1/ @giu and I are excited to officially launch Pinetree! 🌲

We're building the best video client for casters, with crypto rails baked in. Our conviction is that ads-based video platforms are a local maxima and that we have an opportunity to unlock the global maxima — a video content network powered by a p2p economy.

🇧🇷🇺🇸 - Book: Making Things Think: https://holloway.com/mtt .Investor in Wander, Carry, Footprint, Merkle Manufactory (Farcaster), Dynamic, Paragraph

friendly neighborhood shitcaster / building @pinetree

3/ The MVP

That is a lofty vision, and it won’t arrive in a matter of months or even a few years, realistically. So we needed to start with a product: https://pinetree.so

For the MVP, we built a web app that lets video creators upload videos (up to 10GB at launch), and distribute it on Farcaster via mini app. We’re leveraging the Farcaster namespace and social graph for distribution and composability.

We want Pinetree to be the best place for casters to upload long-form videos and share with their followers. If we stick the landing on this, we’ll expand to more functionality like live streaming and enabling composability with other mini apps – imagine voting on a @ponder poll or pacing a bet on @bracketgame while watching a video on Pinetree.

It’s obviously only Day 1 (always has been 🔫🧑‍🚀), but we’re excited to explore the possibilities! 

If you are a creator and want to upload content to Pinetree, DC me or @giu, or send us an email at gm@pinetree.so.

4/ Why start with long-form video?

Long-form is a discounted format these days because of the proliferation of TikTok and other short-form videos. But long-form videos are evergreen and don't decay as rapidly — this unlocks enduring revenue streams for creators.

Think of the best movies, educational lectures, or podcast conversations you’ve watched. They’ve left an imprint on your life in a way that a 30 second video never could. Crypto supercharges this and enables creators to capture more of the immense value they create via this content format

We also think that long-form video creators are underserved right now. We constantly see homegrown shows like @gmfarcaster or @okbanger sharing their content on YouTube, which has no way of connecting back to the “farconomy”. 

Pinetree fixes this™️ .

5/ Why Farcaster?

For one, @giu and I met through FC. We’ve also made numerous friends, connected with investors, and found our first users on FC. Though it is still a small network, it is pound-for-pound stronger than any ecosystem we’ve been a part of. Even in just testing this release, we received so much help and without judgment. This place is just built different when it comes to builders supporting each other.

Farcaster is also a movement that aligns with our vision for the future of the internet – permissionless, composable and censorship-resistant. In order to see it win, we need to be a part of its phalanx. We aim to contribute back to the protocol and flank the main client so that this movement can win.

6/ Content is King

I’ll leave you with a parting thought: in 1996, Bill Gates wrote an essay entitled “Content is King” and published it on the Microsoft website: https://medium.com/@HeathEvans/content-is-king-essay-by-bill-gates-1996-df74552f80d9

He ends the article with the following (abridged):

“A major reason paying for content doesn’t work very well yet is that it’s not practical to charge small amounts. But within a year the mechanisms will be in place that allow content providers to charge just a cent or a few cents for information. 

This technology will liberate publishers to charge small amounts of money, in the hope of attracting wide audiences.

Those who succeed will propel the Internet forward as a marketplace of ideas, experiences, and products-a marketplace of content.”

He wasn’t correct about the timing – it ended up taking 25+ years for the technological unlock to happen. But it has now, and we have an opportunity of a lifetime to build a better internet as a result.

7/ Thank you!

A heartfelt thanks to all of our Farcaster angels for supporting us: @dwr.eth @v @ted @kia @zain @nonlinear.eth @maurelian.eth @phil @eulerlagrange.eth @luc @cojo.eth @benersing @grin @maksim @jkl

8/ Addendum

Again, it's only Day 1, and we expect there to be bugs and issues that y'all will discover in prod!

Please send us any and all feedback you have via DC or email, and we'll take a look as soon as we can (between halal cart runs and dollar slices 😁)

2/ Our vision

We believe that video creators are the equivalent of SMBs (small-medium businesses) on the internet. The internet broke open distribution and allowed anyone with an idea and a will to reach millions of people they would otherwise have never been able to.

But the model folded in on itself, and king-made a handful of platforms which increasingly intermediate creators and their audiences. Distribution and monetization belongs to them and most creators end up serfs renting online land.

We think this dynamic is ripe for change, as crypto-finance obviates the need for middlemen that run extensive ad networks. And in the longer-term future, as p2p storage and networking continue to improve, we envision online video platforms looking more like public utilities and less like large corporations.

Purple People

cc @giu but perhaps you have a strategy for pseudo/anons?

awesome, down to discuss on /purplepeople ?

/cal 

Photographer, Artist, Web3 Educator, IP Lawyer, Patent Agent, Explorer 📸⛰️✨ 

 Building /flowcast with /mindfulness 🌊

https://wanderloots.com/links

Startup artist seeking inspiration.  Champion of /bcard

Whatever your decentralized, borderless, neutral, censorship-resistant open blockchain question is, the answer is YES… to Crypto!

I like the long form reasoning.  Get us away from medicinal social media.

creating and destroying; flying cars, roc.camera, july.rocks

Engineer on Base 🔵 • Building BlockSocks 🧦 • Denver, CO 📍

Thank you!!

Gave you upload perms just now

Also, any chance you're at FarCon?

Hell yes! Congrats on the launch. Signed up + requested to upload.

I don't think there is a strict definition, but I'd say 2+ minutes

We won't gate anyone from adding short videos (eg. 30 secs or whatever), but our focus won't be on shallow impressions. It's about evergreen value to both creator and viewer

i love this so much. 

when you say long-form content, what's the minimum duration we're looking at?

I would like to try it but why email?
this is a mini-app, on warpcast/FC, why do I need an email to sign up?

Hear you — but this is part of the distribution value prop. Creators need to be able to reach their audiences via email and DC is not a suitable replacement 

Ofc we won’t share or export any emails without user permission, but it’s still the gold standard protocol for communication

Reasoning:
https://warpcast.com/androidsixteen.eth/0x3ce56c68

would love to try it out soon as available

Artist developer musician. Crypto class of 2014. Hosting /cryptoart, /muse and /mxjxn  💌 tg: @maxjackson 🔗 linktr.ee/mxjxn 
Ally 🏳️‍⚧️🏳️‍🌈

meatbag version of a custom LLM ⚡️  lifelong learner ⚡️ physician assistant ⚡️ recovering newspaper journalist ⚡️ link3.to/logonaut

Congrats! I'm not having any success logging in with email for the first time, though. DM me when you get a chance?

Growing veggies for the fine folks of Southeastern Massachusetts, w/ a focus on nutrient quality. Always interested in the evolution of digital payments.  🎩 

Congrats on the ship.

Excited to see y’all sail.

𝓜𝓲𝓵𝓪𝓭𝔂—𝒻𝓇𝒾𝑒𝓃𝒹𝓁𝓎 𝓃𝑒𝒾𝑔𝒽𝒷𝑜𝓇𝒽𝑜𝑜𝒹 𝓃𝑜𝑜𝒷—𝑒𝓉𝒽 𝓃𝑒𝓌𝓫𝓲𝓮🪆