"I'm a $5, I'm a $5. You need to pay attention, I'm a $5." That's what Bureau of Engraving and Printing Director Larry Felix says the newly unveiled $5 bill design screams.

And he's quite right. Its new design makes it distinctively a $5 note. From the new light purple coloring to the large purple 5 on the back, the little yellow 05s on front and back and the four new watermarks of 5 numerals, this is clearly a $5 bill. You can see images at www.banknotereporter.com.

The colorized $5 design debuted online at 9 a.m. Eastern today. I'm in the Central time zone, so I logged in at about 7:50 my time and went to www.moneyfactory.gov/newmoney.

I was concerned about technical glitches, so I was viewing the site on two computers, one a Mac and one a PC, on separate high-speed Internet lines. On two screens I watched a clock count down to the big moment, and ... voila! Right on time, streaming video began playing. Music played, graphics moved. There were images of notes being produced. A voice-over started.

Then it froze. And jumped. On both computers.

Oh great. It wasn't loading fast enough for the players. My guess is that there were a lot of people trying to view it at that time. Or maybe it was my Internet speed. I wonder how it worked for others — did you view it? If so, I hope you'll post a comment about your experience.

Eventually I got through all of the video, but first I wanted to break away and take part in the press Q&A that was made available at 9:30 Eastern. I had preregistered, so I figured this should work smoothly.

Alas, when I tried to type my questions, nothing happened. I tried several times with no luck. I decided I'd e-mail my questions and follow up on the phone, similar to what I'd do if the unveiling event had been a live ceremony that I wasn't able to attend in person.

While I let the video continue to load on one computer, I used the other to download images of the new design. I read information about the $5 online and typed up my initial report. It was posted at NumisMaster.com, www.banknotereporter.com and www.numismaticnews.net by about 10:15 a.m. Central, thanks to quick work by Dave Harper, Lisa Bellavin and Maggie Pahl. You can see images of the new note at those sites.

Even though I experienced some technical glitches, I think this digital debut was a solid success. It brought everyone interested in the information directly to the source. It eliminated any chance of terrorist interference — which may sound odd to most of us but is a real consideration when staging a live event.

I just hope my Internet is upgraded by the time the $100 is unveiled.