Ahh... YouTube Red. The topic of much discussion, much controversy, and a whole new way of watching videos- ad free! Like most people, I don't like ads. I tend to spam the 'skip ad' button, and get very frustrated if ads stop me from watching videos or playing games, or when they stop working and I have to refresh or restart whatever I'm doing. It is particularly annoying when the ad plays just fine, but the video I'm watching fails to play! Yet, I don't hate ads as much as some people do, resorting to ad-blockers that stop hard working YouTube creators from receiving the revenue they deserve. I sometimes watch ads, for entertainment. It sounds strange, but some adds can be quite amusing, informative, or even idea-giving!
I quite like YouTube for its unique concept and how it's 'free' to use. Considering that and me might wanting to occasionally watch some ads, you probably won't see me getting YouTube Red anytime soon or not soon, (until I get rich, perhaps), but the fact that it is not available in Canada only enforces that.
That said, I have nothing against YouTube Red. For those who want to get it, I don't see why not. From a video creator's perspective, YouTube Red gives creators a chance to earn more revenue for what they do, which is great. One thing I noticed with the introduction of this, however, is that there has been a very significant decrease in skip-able ads. It's fine to ignore the button for a little while if the commercial is something interesting, but if I'm forced to watch an ad from start to finish, I hate it. Therefore, I wouldn't worry about the advertisers, they will do just fine, considering all the places that ads can be placed, and especially this new development.
Truth is, though, we can't really expect anything to be free, and whether it's money, or time, we will have to pay something for everything. And so whatever option we choose, there will be drawbacks, so the best thing to do is to just accept it.
Growing up in a world where Saturday Morning Cartoons were very much a thing, I hold a certain nostalgia to that big static-y box that provided me with Backyardigans and anything else that I might have happened to crave. I remember waiting in front of the clock for 4:00 PM to hit so I could indulge myself in 30 blissful minutes of Arthur, nothing more important in that moment than an anthropomorphic aardvark (seriously, it was an amazing show filled with really entertaining and not just educating plots with references to things that only older audiences would understand).
Then the record button came around, and sitting around watching any random show while waiting for favourite shows to come on became useless, finally exposed for the absolute waste of time that it was (I mean, studies have proven that just randomly flipping through channels and watching random shows doesn't actually even make you happy). Aside from certain shows that I watch only after I can skip through all the commercials, I just stopped using the TV. Why? Actually, it was because I found some hobbies to invest my time into. But that is besides the point. Then I discovered YouTube. It was free, unlimited, entertaining, and most importantly wait-free (except when Minecraft series episodes ran out, but there were always others to find). TV is just too limiting, too time-wasting and just not satisfying.
The way I see it, TV is reaching its natural, inevitable end. That said, I don't think it will be gone completely. There are things about watching television that something like YouTube can't replace, like the sitting down with your family to watch those favourite shows. Just like radio was limited to music stations with a few news shows in between, TV will have to move over to make room for the new innovations that have come around. So even though I foresee a lot of changes in how most people get their video entertainment, there are still going to be people who watch TV, and so we won't be seeing its complete demise any time soon.
