It turns out that Steve Jobs can drive traffic.

No surprise there.

What's interesting about this is finding out that Ustream.tv was able to handle 75,000 concurrent streams of Steve Jobs on their streaming video platform (with some strain):

Biggest…Day…Ever

Unfortunately, the increased load (several times our normal levels) did strain the system, but thanks to the heroic efforts of the technical team, we kept the system running. Our apologies to anyone who experienced technical difficulties during the massive surge in usage.

That's an impressive milestone, especially considering that the service was free for both viewers AND publishers.

Jeremiah Owyang weighs in with some analysis of this milestone for Ustream:

First is shows that live video web streaming is coming to the fore-front of new technology. I’ve reduced my live blogging efforts when I can just setup a cam and listen.

Secondly, this is disruptive. Disruptive to events and TV. With over 75,000 people checking out the event, that was certainly way more than could have ever joined in real life.

I could see how this would reduce a person's live blogging efforts. Especially if the posts consist of nothing more than "here's what's happening right now" or "this product just launched." However, blogging still offers the ability to provide context to the news you're taking in live, which is something people find valuable. Compare the ratings of your average 24-hour news channel to CSPAN to see the value of context, even if it's context about the same story over and over.

Any guesses on what will be the next big event to hit Ustream.tv?