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Jellyfin is really popular in our house. Everyone associates YouTube with quick and dirty dumb content. Garbage "looping" style content is allowed in private, b

Jellyfin is really popular in our house. Everyone associates YouTube with quick and dirty dumb content. Garbage "looping" style content is allowed in private, but long form content on a screen or playing aloud has to be something that is an actual 30+ minute thing with a point to it.

zarzavat 1y ago
You need to subscribe to better YouTube channels. I stopped watching regular TV (including Netflix, etc), because YouTube is much more erudite and I actually learn things rather than passively consuming dramas.
- ddtaylor 1y ago
  There are a lot of really amazing TV and movies from the last 60 years. It seems we never have time to get around to finishing what we want, but I am genuinely curious what my wife and kids think about various scenarios presented in shows like Black Mirror. Likewise, despite their inaccuracy, movies like The Imitation Game or A Beautiful Mind led me to look at the life of Alan Turing beyond just what I learned in college. Consuming content is very much a time-blocked thing for me. I have some YouTube content I consume to stay up with various AI/ML groups, etc. but that is closer to work-related and not something I will put on during a break from work as that will defeat the purpose of recharging my brain. It's also interesting to see how movies or shows capture small details that change over time.
rambambram 1y ago
> actual 30+ minute thing with a point to it Good point. I hardly see any movies anymore and lately I found that what I miss is a good story. Some Youtube channels come close, but these are all 'garden variety' stories, so to speak.
southernplaces7 1y ago
Since this isn't a defense of Google but of the many clever creators on YouTube, I can comfortably applaud so much of their work. YouTube isn't at all about just garbage content. It has no shortage of that, but it also has absolutely no shortage of truly fantastic, educative, production-worthy videos and channels of all kinds. I mean some truly excellent ones here, that are easily as good as or very often much better than anything I used to see for documentaries on network or cable TV. That so many of them are made at a fraction of those old documentary budgets and by completely independent creators (often just some guy working from his home studio) is an incredible achievement of modern media technology and innovation. The YT algorithm will often promote to you more that's similar to whatever you've already watched, so if you actually start seeking out a certain type of quality content, you'll find more of it being recommended. I carefully pick the things I take the time to view or play in the background while im working on household chores and so far haven't had any shortage of genuinely great things to enjoy. YT has its many flaws, but one of them certainly isn't a shortage of quality vidoes about nearly anything you could want to know about.
- ddtaylor 1y ago
  There are many great YT creators and content. One major problem I have with YT is that there is no concept of a "time budget" by the creators themselves. They are heavily incentivized to produce a lot of content. In the same way we see market distortions in the gaming space, where whales overshadow the general audience of the game, we basically see that in YT with how time budgeting works. Most creators will succumb to this eventually and start making content longer and less respectful of your time. Contrast that with a movie or TV show that has an actual time budget. In the same way that SponsorBlock has really cut down on the time we watch YT content by skipping the intros, sub reminders, etc. I feel like a lot of YT content that is 25 minutes could be realistically condensed down into 3 minutes if a person wasn't just trying to fill time to pay their bills.
  - southernplaces7 1y ago
    >I feel like a lot of YT content that is 25 minutes could be realistically condensed down into 3 minutes if a person wasn't just trying to fill time to pay their bills. Not sure what kind of content you're watching or seeking, or your particular attention span, but I specifically appreciate the channels and videos in which they take their time to give me a meaty, detail rich video on something interesting, and if covering it all takes 25 minutes to an hour, all the better as long as they're delivering quality information (which most do). This is how informational documentaries should be, instead of being presented as moronic, information-barren shorts and reels. I don't deny that what you describe happens, but among good content creators it's rare. I wouldn't want a video that "optimizes" a complex subject down to 3 shitty minutes. Finding out new things shouldn't be condensed into nuance-destroying tiktok reels that reinforce an inability to pay attention for much longer than it takes to have a piss.
    - ryandrake 1y ago
      Totally depends on the type of content. There's a lot of stuff on YouTube that's "Two minutes of interesting content stretched into 10 minutes because of ad revenue."
_carbyau_ 1y ago
> thing with a point to it. I'm less caring about which services are watched or games are played. But intentionality is key. The decision is made before the action is started as to what the point of the time is. Don't get me wrong, "looking to zone out for 30mins due to a tiring day" is as valid as anything else - I'm not some kind of "always be hustling" guy. But just turning something on mindlessly is not allowed.

zarzavat 1y ago

You need to subscribe to better YouTube channels. I stopped watching regular TV (including Netflix, etc), because YouTube is much more erudite and I actually learn things rather than passively consuming dramas.

ddtaylor 1y ago
There are a lot of really amazing TV and movies from the last 60 years. It seems we never have time to get around to finishing what we want, but I am genuinely curious what my wife and kids think about various scenarios presented in shows like Black Mirror. Likewise, despite their inaccuracy, movies like The Imitation Game or A Beautiful Mind led me to look at the life of Alan Turing beyond just what I learned in college. Consuming content is very much a time-blocked thing for me. I have some YouTube content I consume to stay up with various AI/ML groups, etc. but that is closer to work-related and not something I will put on during a break from work as that will defeat the purpose of recharging my brain. It's also interesting to see how movies or shows capture small details that change over time.

rambambram 1y ago

> actual 30+ minute thing with a point to it Good point. I hardly see any movies anymore and lately I found that what I miss is a good story. Some Youtube channels come close, but these are all 'garden variety' stories, so to speak.

southernplaces7 1y ago

Since this isn't a defense of Google but of the many clever creators on YouTube, I can comfortably applaud so much of their work. YouTube isn't at all about just garbage content. It has no shortage of that, but it also has absolutely no shortage of truly fantastic, educative, production-worthy videos and channels of all kinds. I mean some truly excellent ones here, that are easily as good as or very often much better than anything I used to see for documentaries on network or cable TV. That so many of them are made at a fraction of those old documentary budgets and by completely independent creators (often just some guy working from his home studio) is an incredible achievement of modern media technology and innovation. The YT algorithm will often promote to you more that's similar to whatever you've already watched, so if you actually start seeking out a certain type of quality content, you'll find more of it being recommended. I carefully pick the things I take the time to view or play in the background while im working on household chores and so far haven't had any shortage of genuinely great things to enjoy. YT has its many flaws, but one of them certainly isn't a shortage of quality vidoes about nearly anything you could want to know about.

ddtaylor 1y ago
There are many great YT creators and content. One major problem I have with YT is that there is no concept of a "time budget" by the creators themselves. They are heavily incentivized to produce a lot of content. In the same way we see market distortions in the gaming space, where whales overshadow the general audience of the game, we basically see that in YT with how time budgeting works. Most creators will succumb to this eventually and start making content longer and less respectful of your time. Contrast that with a movie or TV show that has an actual time budget. In the same way that SponsorBlock has really cut down on the time we watch YT content by skipping the intros, sub reminders, etc. I feel like a lot of YT content that is 25 minutes could be realistically condensed down into 3 minutes if a person wasn't just trying to fill time to pay their bills.
- southernplaces7 1y ago
  >I feel like a lot of YT content that is 25 minutes could be realistically condensed down into 3 minutes if a person wasn't just trying to fill time to pay their bills. Not sure what kind of content you're watching or seeking, or your particular attention span, but I specifically appreciate the channels and videos in which they take their time to give me a meaty, detail rich video on something interesting, and if covering it all takes 25 minutes to an hour, all the better as long as they're delivering quality information (which most do). This is how informational documentaries should be, instead of being presented as moronic, information-barren shorts and reels. I don't deny that what you describe happens, but among good content creators it's rare. I wouldn't want a video that "optimizes" a complex subject down to 3 shitty minutes. Finding out new things shouldn't be condensed into nuance-destroying tiktok reels that reinforce an inability to pay attention for much longer than it takes to have a piss.
  - ryandrake 1y ago
    Totally depends on the type of content. There's a lot of stuff on YouTube that's "Two minutes of interesting content stretched into 10 minutes because of ad revenue."

_carbyau_ 1y ago

> thing with a point to it. I'm less caring about which services are watched or games are played. But intentionality is key. The decision is made before the action is started as to what the point of the time is. Don't get me wrong, "looking to zone out for 30mins due to a tiring day" is as valid as anything else - I'm not some kind of "always be hustling" guy. But just turning something on mindlessly is not allowed.