Andy Bowers and Bill Smee write:

much of Web video is pretty awful... dreary adaptations of print media content

Sadly, the Dear Prudence video fits this description. I'm a fan of Emily Yoffe, but the video comes off as cloying and insipid. The nature of Dear Prudence makes it poorly suited to video treatment.

The iTunes "comparison," on the other hand, clearly works best (works only) as a video. Its best is pretty poor, though. Given the overwhelmingly negative Fray response when it was posted as a regular Slate article recently, I'm surprised to see it here as a launch title for Slate V.

The Curse of the Camera Phone[i] was one example that successfully improved on an earlier podcast by adding video, even if it was a bit by-the-numbers.

Don't try to force the funny (or the hip, or the cute). Stay focused on where video can add value or accommodate a concept that doesn't fit well in print, and I'll look forward to seeing [i]Slate V evolve its way toward the high bar set by its parent.