YouTube one at a time

What if there was only one copy of a YouTube video

I remember the good old days of YouTube when you could grab any old ad blockers and watch videos uninterrupted for hours. Now, you have to suffer through at least one, but often two ads when watching stuff. Realistically, I should just cough up the money for YouTube Pro (or whatever they call it) but I have some ideological opposition to it now, so here we are.

I’m writing this newsletter a couple of hours before you receive it. It’s been a long night. When I have long nights, I typically throw an idea out without giving it much thought. That is the case with this idea.

What if YouTube changed its backend so only one person could watch a video at a time? There’s no logical reason for them to do this, but it would be hilarious if it worked this way. There would immediately be a black market for selling phones that had videos that were farther ahead in the queue for popular videos. Or, more realistically, people would find a way to game the system.

This is by no means my proudest work, but regardless, it’s a fun concept.

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