Youtube is an interesting animal, intriguing and frustrating at the same time. As an open-ended system, it enables creativity, ubiquity, chicanery, thievery, comedy, tragedy, you name it. You can find jewels in the garbage, but at what cost?
Big advertisers face a dilemna with content and association on Youtube. Does an advertiser allow their product to be associated with unknown content? Do they need to produce their own content? If the former, there is the probability that their ads might show up in very inappropriate ways, if the latter, then there is no differentiation from other media outlets.
But most importantly of all, Youtube is just an interim solution. It has inherent and intended limitations, and all it will take is another company to make a few key changes and Youtube will be history.
Imagine if iTunes offered a similar service, or even just a bridge to the Youtube library? With a simple TV-guide-like interface, you could "program" channels of content that would be downloaded and played from your iTunes-supported device. No more Play-pause-decide-click-play overhead, just line up things to see and let them rip. After all, that's how we enjoy music, right?
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