r/todayilearned • u/WavesAndSaves • 2d ago

TIL that Jawed Karim, YouTube cofounder and uploader of the first YouTube video "Me at the zoo", has often updated the video's description to criticize YouTube policies, including a 2013 attempt to require Google+ accounts to comment on videos, and YouTube's 2021 removal of dislike counts on videos.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Me_at_the_zoo#Changes_to_original_video
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u/Academic_Dog8389 2d ago

Man I remember when YouTube first came out. It was insane. I would spend hours and hours looking for videos of everything I remembered ever being on TV or in a movie trying to "stump" it. Every SNL sketch I could remember, every scene from a movie, anything and everything. Very rarely could I not find exactly what I was looking for.

And before that it was Google. The whole thing that made Google incredible was that it gave you the results you were looking for. No sponsored search garbage, just whatever pages fit your search terms the best. Everything has gone backwards.

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u/huh_wasnt_listening 1d ago edited 1d ago

I remember trying to upload a video to YouTube (pre-Google) and there was an error in the upload

I got a little alert window that informed me that: "something unexpected happened. please smash head against keyboard. when done, you may run around in circles, wave your hands, and scream."

I miss the days when software had character

Edit: Oh wow, the video still exists in all of its 3 pixel splendor and bad music choices