YouTube Just Ate TV. It's Only Getting Started

Original Article ↗ Hacker News Discussion ↗

YouTube as Powerful Tool vs. Unreliable Slop

  • Many praise YouTube as an unmatched learning platform for DIY: car repair, electronics, woodworking, etc., enabling complex projects without formal training.
  • Others stress that a lot of “how‑to” content is dangerously wrong or hyper‑specific (“how this one guy fixed this one car”), with poor diagnosis and overconfident amateurs.
  • Concern that upcoming AI-generated “vidgen” content will flood the site with plausible but unsafe tutorials.

Monetization, Ads, and Third‑Party Clients

  • Strong frustration with increasing mid‑roll ads, sponsor reads, and perceived “enshittification.” Some say YouTube has become “unwatchable” without blockers.
  • Split between those who consider YouTube Premium “totally worth it” and those refusing to pay Google on principle or citing regional price discrimination.
  • Third‑party clients/extensions (SmartTube, NewPipe, SponsorBlock, uBlock, etc.) are widely used to remove Google ads, skip creator sponsorships, hide Shorts, and customize UI.
  • Debate over ethics: some equate heavy ad‑blocking/piracy with refusing to pay artists; others say ad avoidance isn’t piracy and DMCA abuse makes supporting the monopoly dubious.

Piracy and the Streaming Backlash

  • Many report a “piracy comeback” due to streaming fragmentation, rising prices, territorial restrictions, and disappearing/bowdlerized content.
  • Pirated + self‑hosted setups (Usenet, torrents, Jellyfin/Plex, seedboxes) are described as now matching or exceeding streaming UX, especially for subtitles and library control.
  • Multiple proposals for mandatory licensing / “everything” subscriptions or per‑episode pricing; skepticism they’d stay affordable under current copyright regimes.

Content Quality, Kids, and Ethics

  • Widespread concern about exploitative or misleading high‑view content: monetized kids, dangerous pranks, fake game shows, and deceptive CGI stunts targeted at children.
  • Some argue TV at least has institutional editorial/ethical filters; others counter that YouTube’s channel model already acts as a business/brand layer.

Recommendations, Politics, and (Alleged) Censorship

  • Many feel the recommendation engine has degraded: over‑recommends single topics, pushes junk/Shorts, repeats old or watched videos.
  • Some report constant exposure to extreme political/ragebait content despite “not interested” feedback; others say their feeds are apolitical and blame user behavior or extensions.
  • Accusations that YouTube algorithmically suppresses certain political views; others respond that de‑ranking is not censorship and no one is owed promotion.

TV vs. YouTube and Viewing Patterns

  • Several see “prestige TV” in decline and YouTube filling the gap with mid‑effort but engaging long‑form projects, engineering builds, and niche education.
  • Others say they’re abandoning YouTube for public/state TV, books, or physical media due to ads, ragebait, AI, and “brain‑rot” Shorts.
  • Some note that despite all complaints, YouTube dominates their viewing time and clearly is becoming the default global video platform.

UX, Features, and Localization Frustrations

  • Complaints about YouTube’s TV app UX being poor compared to SmartTube or local media apps.
  • Irritation at forced AI translation and auto‑dubbing of titles/audio based on geography, with limited ability to disable.

Broader Reflections

  • Some argue YouTube’s rise, and Hollywood trade press now acknowledging it, signals a structural shift in video media.
  • Others emphasize that HN’s piracy‑heavy, ad‑blocking perspective is unrepresentative of the general population, even if it highlights real pain points.