Why Does YouTube Have To Make It So Hard?

[Mr.Bee]

Didn't they ever CONSIDER there would be people like me that don't watch video on our little internet computers?
That maybe we might want to watch on a stand-alone unconnected computer with premium sound?
I know this may seem like and old concept, and all I ever watch is news clips that should be available to everyone.
YouTube, you are just shooting yourselves in the foot.

[Intractable]

1. For the past few hours, I've been watching concerts by my favorite rock bands on YouTube for free,

and without commercials.

Some of these videos are so well-recorded, I do not need to spend $300 for a ticket to the current Rush concerts. It's been filmed from every angle and uploaded to YouTube.

I can watch them on my home theater with big speakers, or via my computer using a top-quality soundcard into headphones.

I don't know what you are complaining about.

[Mr.Bee]

2. Ah, but you see

I.T. guys taught me to always have two computers.
A dinky one for internet you never save personal data,
and a premium one unconnected to any internet.
I have lived by that philosophy 30 years.
Complaining about?
The difficulty getting it from one to the other.
So, Goodbye 'Latest Videos', Thom Hartmann, Farron Cousins,
Cenk Uygar and Ana, Brian Tyler Cohen, Damage Report and Rebel HQ.

[Intractable]

6. So, the IT guys taught you this 30 years ago?

You want to watch internet videos without an internet connection?



Okay.

[usonian]

3. Look up YouTube downloader.

I use the web ones. No dodgy apps to install.

Ask your format. Many great classical pieces have only idiot pics for "video" so no mp4

Or save the videos.

Save. Forever.

Programmers always find a way.

Web version. Beware malware apps.

[Mr.Bee]

4. Complaining about?

If your access to app.ytdown.to or similar apps has been blocked, it is likely due to YouTube's aggressive anti-bot and anti-scraping measures, your browser cache , or your network firewall blocking the download server.
YouTube frequently updates its backend infrastructure to prevent automated downloads, which often results in downloader applications breaking or timing out.
Error HTTP 403 Website Access Blocked
YouTube is actively blocking the request, usually due to outdated software, bot detection, or IP address throttling
Thanks, YouTube, for keeping us all safe.

[Midwestern Democrat]

5. YouTube has been making some terrible decisions lately. Like getting rid of their old smaller default screen and

defaulting to a screen as large as "theater mode" - which makes any video not in HD look like fuzzy crap. This year, those geniuses decided to get rid of the ability to sort videos by upload date - now the search results are totally driven by their algorithm - which results in videos posted by small channels (such as a user posting only one video) getting buried far down in the search results. I liked the ability to sort by upload date - I'd do a search on a particular subject and could immediately see the new videos that I hadn't seen before at the very top - now you have to go through a bunch of older videos to find that new hidden gem.

[chia]

7. I can filter by upload date by Today, This week ,This month, This year

Is that less specific than before? I don't watch a ton of YouTube and don't remember.

[Tasmanian Devil]

9. A useful writeup

Fyi, I thought this post ...

YouTube is a Research Library Here's How to Search It Like One
https://democraticunderground.com/122896041

(and the article it links to) was really useful in becoming a youtube power user.

Your milage my vary, but fyi.

[Tasmanian Devil]

8. I'm Confused

Why would you have premium sound on a system that isn't connected? It's not just youtube, there's a gazillion streaming services that you could be watching.

I'd put the big screen and premium sound on your internet computer and leave the dinky audio and smaller screen on your unconnected system that has your private data on it.

Fyi, I'm pleased with my Apple TV (the box, not the streaming service). Have it hooked up to a decent TV and it'll stream youtube and the others. And other than my login information for the streaming services, it has no private data on it.

If you're complaining about youtube making it difficult to download and copy videos to another device, well that's just a company trying to protect its IP. I can think of a dozen more revolting things that youtube and google have done. In general I find it hard to get upset at a company trying to preserve its business.

[Mr.Bee]

10. My Generation

I guess I need to appeal to those in my age group.
Those of us who watch DvDs instead of streaming.
Why would you have premium sound on a system that isn't connected?
I built my system long before computers when we used to listen to records.
Because if you lose your internet connection you're outta luck.
Because your personal data is safe.
But hey, you want to play roulette with that, be my guest.
There is no safe internet computer.

[Tasmanian Devil]

11. DVD's et al

I wouldn't consider my DVD collection as particularly sensitive data that I'd be afraid of putting on my internet computer. And that would go for my modest collection of ripped audio and videos as well.

I.e. just keep your actually private/sensitive info on your offline computer and turn your internet computer into your audio-video premium device.

Ripping/saving a youtube video to watch on your offline system seems like a lot of work. How do you move the video? With a thumb drive or do you have a LAN so that your "offline" system is still on your local network? If the latter, then there are software solutions you might want to explore. E.g. turn your mostly "offline" system into a virtual a/v device that you can use from streaming on the internet computer. E.g. when we watch MS.Now via a free streaming service I configure a mac to stream from the net, but send the audio/video to the Apple TV device as a remote screen. Needed because there's no app on the Apple TV box to display video streams from https://usnewson.com/watch/msnbc-live). There are a lot of screen/audio sharing software solutions that you might find useful and would avoid the hassle of ripping and copying the videos.

Btw ... I'm likely as old as you. But I've been using the Arpanet/Internet since the early 70s and am quite aware of the security implications and how to keep my machines backed up and secure.

Humor: I also have a physical blueray DVD player hooked up to my TV. Once in a great while it actually gets used! Much more common is watching a streaming service or youtube over my Apple TV box. And Apple seems to be moderately decent with not snooping on my viewing habits. Better than google at least.

And yes, there's no safe internet computer. But what I consider to be private information is really pretty small compared to my a/v usage.

> Because if you lose your internet connection you're outta luck
Well yeah. But losing access to entertainment is hardly a crisis. But to be honest, I need the internet to get my work done, and my ISP's suck, so I actually pay two internet ISPs so we have redundant connectivity.

[hunter]

13. My wife's work is partly dependent on the internet.

If our home connection goes out she uses her work phone as a hot spot. If that's not working she uses her personal phone. The cost of that redundancy has been reduced considerably now that we have 5G cell service in our neighborhood.

[Tasmanian Devil]

14. Lucky!

We live in a cell-phone dead zone (ah the joys of living in the mountains). Power outages are frequent and our cell phones are useless without a WiFi connection to the net. Fortunately one of our two ISPs has battery backup and generators, so when we're on backup power we can still get online.

I keep thinking about lofting a repeater in a (tethered) helium balloon so we could bounce off of it to reach the nearest cell tower ... but that would be silly

[hunter]

12. I connect my little internet computer to my big monitor or television using an HDMI cable.

It worked fine the last time I tried it.

Disclaimers:

I have a YouTube Premium subscription because I have little tolerance for television advertising. There is a "download" option that allows me to watch videos offline but these files are heavily protected and can't be copied to other devices, so far as I know.

I don't watch ANY television news or opinion. I think television is a terrible medium for news and opinion. ( The site formerly known as twitter is worse. )

My wife and I don't have cable, satellite, or broadcast television. We watch DVDs and subscribe to a few no-advertising streaming channels at any given time. We unsubscribe to them when they start to be uninteresting to us.

My "little internet computer," my Linux laptop, my phone, and my big Linux desktop all have separate internet identities and I use them for different purposes. I don't do email on my phone. Our television isn't connected to the internet or an antenna, just the DVD player and whatever streaming dongles we currently hate the least.

In general, if someone makes it difficult or irritating for me to watch their crap I don't watch their crap. If the internet goes out my wife and I have a large collection of DVDs to watch, most of which I've bought impulsively at thrift stores.

It's possible I'm not such a connoisseur of movies that I care if they are 480p, 720p, 1080p, or 4K. I'm only paying attention to the story. That may be why the HDMI cable works for me.