YouTube's only goal is to make more money. Most YouTubers' only goal is to get more views. Sure it can be useful but that's a perfect excuse to live on forever. People were fine before YouTube, and you can learn anything from words an images.

I recommend taking a page out of the FSF's book and just straight up not using it, because it doesn't respect its users.

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jasode 2 hours ago | parent [-]

>, and you can learn anything from words an images.

A lot of info on Youtube is not available in alternative forms such as books or blogs with just words and images.

E.g. A random person uploads a video on how he repaired my particular washing machine by isolating the relay that broke. It's not in blog form because the guy is not an HTML expert or WordPress user. Instead, he simply used his smartphone to record a 10 minute video of what he did and uploaded it to Youtube.

Was I "fine" before Youtube?!? In the past with that type of situation, I would have spent $1000 on a new washing machine instead of spending $2 for a new relay part and soldering it myself. There was no equivalent resource available to show me how to DIY repair it. Trying to avoid $1000 by calling an appliance repairman wouldn't help because these days, they charge a $150 trip & diagnostic fee just to show up ... and then in the end, they say the electronics board that's fried is discontinued so they can't get the part which means the only the only remedy is to buy a new washing machine. So I would end up paying a guy $150 to tell me to pay another $1000 for a new washing machine... for a total of $1150. Youtube helps in avoiding all that. As a knowledge base for DIY learning how to repair random stuff around the house, there is no alternative to Youtube.

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Gecko4072 an hour ago | parent [-]

How did that person who uploaded the YouTube video figure it out? They didn't have a video to watch. So why couldn't you?

I'd say it's more of specific hypothetical, and I don't understand how one couldn't read about a fuse on a forum or in a manual and diagnose with a DMM. Sure, YouTube is convenient because we are all out of time, all the time.

It's also a further reflection of how helpless we have become with regards to so much of what we rely on.

	▲	jasode 35 minutes ago \| parent [-]
		>How did that person who uploaded the YouTube video figure it out? They didn't have a video to watch. He spent a month trying different repairs (replacing pump, etc) that didn't work and then finally stumbled onto the electrical relay as the root cause. This is the deep link to the video I used: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Gm_2qISYvk&t=2m41s >So why couldn't you? Maybe I eventually could have fixed it if I spent weeks on it and replicated all his failures but I didn't have to because ... he uploaded a video to help me. His video was the breakthrough I needed because it identified the particular relay. I actually had to watch more Youtube videos to learn how to actually replace the relay because the board is encased on epoxy resin and I had no idea how to deal with it. Various Youtube videos showed ideas of using an exacto knife and Dremel rotary tool to cut through the plastic case on the other side. >, and I don't understand how one couldn't read about a fuse on a forum or in a manual and diagnose with a DMM. One could hypothetically read the text of fixing a single relay of that particular washer model on a forum ... if... that guy in the vid hypothetically wrote a post on a forum... but he didn't. Sometimes, the mode of sharing is Youtube instead of a forum post. I can't control what other people do. I did eventually find the official Samsung service manual PDF file and had to download it from some sketchy warez website because end-consumers are not supposed to have it ... but it only talks about board-level repairs ($250) instead of isolated repairs of replacing a single faulty relay. Without hypotheticals or exaggeration, Youtube has literally saved me thousands of dollars. Showing how to fix cars, plumbing, ice makers, sewing machines, coffee machine, sprinkler systems, etc.