It Looks Like Youtube Is Working On Another Redesign.

[Dirty Diaper/Maxipad Lover]

*sigh* Here we go again--another pointless redesign that no one either wanted or asked for. Lately I've been noticing little changes to YouTube here and there. Nothing major, but enough to raise plenty of red flags. The site still has the same hideous design that Google carted out earlier this year, (which makes me want to vomit every time I see it, but that's another story,) but they've found a way to actually make it worse.

Usually when a video would end, you'd get three "big buttons" on top of it, "replay," "share," and a third that I can't remember. A large "video button" would be featured off to the right, and four smaller "video buttons" would be below the other aforementioned buttons. The new overlay is what I can only describe as "video vomit" that makes an already clunky UI even clunkier. The reply button is now an "icon" that looks like a flipped "refresh/reload" button like the ones seen in web browsers. Like/Dislike "Thumbs Up/Down" buttons are next to it, and they're all the side of a postage stamp at the top left hand corner of the video window. "Share" has been shoved over on the top right hand corner in text that might as well be a 2pt type font, and the rest of the video window is covered in related videos. (Information overload--ick!)

I don't understand why Google can't leave well enough alone. YouTube was great before they rolled out the hideous interface they have now. It's the "new Coke" of website designs, and I when I say that I can't wait for it to go away, that doesn't mean that I want it replaced with something that's actually worse. (Assuming such a design exists.) Am I the only one whose noticing the new interface on the video player, and if not, am I the only one who can't stand it? Also, if you like it, (or even if you dislike it,) please explain why.

[ForbiddenFruit]

Only good that Google brought to YouTube was the 'highest rated comments' and 'uploader comments' fields. It even messed up the uploader for a few days. I had to try seven times to upload one video.

[Diapered Jason]

I have a good feeling why Google is doing this, and I believe it is to create more space for advertisements.

Also, fuck VEVO, lol.

[Dirty Diaper/Maxipad Lover]

Don't even get me started on VEVO.

A redesigned version of YouTube is "live" as I type this, and I actually think it's a little bit better then the current design, although definitely a far cry from the design that we had before. (Part of me wants to say the new design "sucks less," because it's still not great, but it's definitely nicer then the current design.) I don't understand why they had to make the actual player much worse while making the site slightly better, but somewhere between the new design and the current design is a tolerable design that's still not as good as the first one. (Yes, that's a bit of a backhanded compliment, but after that trainwreck Google gave us, it's the nicest thing I can say about their attempts to fix things that aren't broken.)

The big improvement here is that buttons actually look like buttons again, ("raised" images) and someone figured out what rows and columns are. The change to shades of gray is also much easier on the eyes then the "pure white" background YouTube was using before. The design probably isn't final, and you may or may not get it when you go to YouTube again. I should probably end this by pointing out that the hideous design that's currently in use popped up several times before Google actually implemented it, and that you may get lucky and see the new design if you check YouTube at odd hours. The player still needs major improvement, (all YouTube needs to do is go back to the design that used to be standard a few weeks ago,) but the site itself no longer makes my eyes bleed, so I'll consider that a plus.

[DiaperPony]

I've seen a lot of anti-VEVO sentiments. I'm curious, what is wrong with VEVO? I've watched quite a few VEVO videos on Youtube and never noticed anything to complain about. No ads or anything.

[Dirty Diaper/Maxipad Lover]

I've seen a lot of anti-VEVO sentiments. I'm curious, what is wrong with VEVO? I've watched quite a few VEVO videos on Youtube and never noticed anything to complain about. No ads or anything.

If you haven't had to deal with ads, then you've been one of the lucky few. Most of us get them constantly in VEVO videos. The main problem though can be summed up in two words: information overload. VEVO video pages are plastered with so much crap (and that's being kind about it,) that the video window is nothing more then clutter mixed in with the rest of the clutter VEVO has plastered on their pages. Another gripe is video quality, although that really falls under the umbrella of YouTube being the bottom feeder of streaming video quality in the first place. What makes VEVO videos even worse though is that they never take advantage of the higher quality options YouTube offers. This becomes incredibly annoying primarily because some "genius" at YouTube tied sound quality to video quality. There is no reason for audio to be compressed as heavily as YouTube compresses it, particularly when the source is from a professional recording studio.

[DiaperPony]

Okay I did some quick research and found the answer, and it has nothing to do with luck. I use the free program Adblock Plus and it completely eliminates the ads (I disabled ABP on a VEVO page and it was madness, just as you said). Install the plugin in Firefox and your VEVO problems will disappear (plus it helps all over the web). I forgot I was running it because it pretty much minds its own business and works well. Enjoy

p.s. It looks like the newer VEVO videos are 1080p. Check "Perform This Way" by Weird Al.

[Dirty Diaper/Maxipad Lover]

Okay I did some quick research and found the answer, and it has nothing to do with luck. I use the free program Adblock Plus and it completely eliminates the ads (I disabled ABP on a VEVO page and it was madness, just as you said). Install the plugin in Firefox and your VEVO problems will disappear (plus it helps all over the web). I forgot I was running it because it pretty much minds its own business and works well. Enjoy

That's just it though DiaperPony--I shouldn't need to run ABP on YouTube--I expect better from Google. To be honest, I find that NoScript makes ABP look like a joke, although it takes far more time to tweak NoScript. (Still, it's nice to be rid of AJAX when I don't want to deal with my computer trying to tell me what I want to type.)

As for the YouTube redesign, it's live now and I've been playing with it quite a bit lately. I have to be honest, overall the new site design is a giant leap over the one YouTube is ditching. It's still not nearly as nice as the original site design, but it's definitely a step in the right direction. The new player window is definitely worse then the old one, but everything else is so dramatically improved that I can overlook the player's poor controls. I still want my five star rating system back, as well as the old yellow "SUBSCRIBE" button, but this is still an improvement aesthetically. The site is functional again, but the next step should be tweaking this design to function more like the first one. I miss being able to easily open and close "panes" with various information in them, but at least the new design doesn't run everything together the way the previous design did. Still, I've noticed a few glitches, but the design is new, and they're minor compared to the ones that the previous design had.

[Bettypooh]

It seems that the 'techies' who create this crap don't grasp the simple concept of that if it isn't broken than you can't fix it- all you can do is make it worse. Let's look at some successful things- TV remotes, clocks, and light switches- which are all pretty much the same as their original configurations and are still highly successful. The reason is that someone thought it through very well from the beginning, which left little room for improvement. That is the path to success, not continual change for changes sake or changing stuff because you happen to be bored with the way it is now. Change for changes sake never succeeds and if you're bored, seek new horizons; don't go trying to alter the ones you see now when there's nothing wrong with them! In the words of the late (and highly successful) Steve Jobs, you can choose to pursue a profit or a product- you can't have it both ways! Guess which one he picked- and see the profit the right decision brought him? Yes, dear children, the best product is the path to the best success in the end.

End of Rant.

Bettypooh

[ForbiddenFruit]

Google is the epitome of everything bad about media these days. "Who cares about being user-friendly, just make it flasy and bazingdadidoobapbopgumbochops!"

[Guest]

My complaint is with YouTube mobile, it's the AMC Pacer of aps, it takes forever to start, it always stalls, a.nd it usually crashes.

[D_danny777]

meh

[FretaBWet]

I have been getting emails from youtube lately that said my account needed to be updated or it was going to be deleted on Dec. 15th. I went to the site and the upgrade they want is for me to link my account with a google account. It tells me that a google account is REQUIRED to have a youtube account. I don't have gmail and the reason for that is I don't need or want it so I closed the window without updating. These jackasses are under the impression I NEED them. That's the same arrogant mistake that Netflicks made recently and look what's happening with them. If everybody just said F*** You and dropped their accounts google would change their ways.

Hugs,

Freta

[leaky washer]

theirs one thing i know. warring a diaper is not perverted .kinky yes, some-of us are male female stright gay young old weather to have to want to. or have to have fun with it .you are not doing nothing wrong. i think we are all looking to be happy an maybe find a mate that likes the same good luck on the hunt

[Dirty Diaper/Maxipad Lover]

I have been getting emails from youtube lately that said my account needed to be updated or it was going to be deleted on Dec. 15th. I went to the site and the upgrade they want is for me to link my account with a google account. It tells me that a google account is REQUIRED to have a youtube account. I don't have gmail and the reason for that is I don't need or want it so I closed the window without updating. These jackasses are under the impression I NEED them.

This almost made me close my YouTube account when Google started doing it. The way they initially did it was to throw up a screen that wouldn't let you access YOUR account unless you performed the upgrade first. Want to add a new video? Can't do it until you upgrade. Want to update your channel? Can't do it until you upgrade. Want to rewrite a description or add captions? Well you get the idea--Google pretty much locked anyone who didn't have a Google account out of their YouTube account until they upgraded. I had to create a Google account just to clean up the mess YouTube made of my channel when they switched it to that joke of a design that they're finally getting rid of. This is actually worse then what Microsoft does with the XBox 360. If you don't update your system, Microsoft locks you out of XBox Live until you do, which actually makes sense. (Microsoft pushes out security updates to patch holes that people would exploit to hack XBox Live and subsequently steal content with.) The thing is, if you didn't update XBox Live, you could still use your XBox 360 offline under Microsoft's forced upgrade system. With Google's forced upgrade system though, it's not even possible to check your YouTube messages or fix a typo in a video's description--the service becomes unusable unless you log out and clear your cookies. The fact that Google thinks I'd ever use their half-baked e-mail software with a known security flaw that they refuse to fix at that speaks volumes.

The problem isn't even that Google updated Youtube, but that they fixed the one thing that didn't need to be fixed and have now "un-fixed" it, and that's the interface. The video player itself is a pure bottom feeder when it comes to quality and has been in dire need of a real update since Google acquired the site. A regular old 480p DVD has better picture quality then a 1080p Youtube video, because Youtube's bitrate is absolute crap--there 1080p isn't even real 1080p either. It's a "fake" half-1080p file that's upconverted to 1080p for playback, which is reflected in the quality of Youtube's 1080p material. The addition of fake 2160p/QFHD/4K film (pick the term you like) resolutions was complete pointless, and utterly stupid. Even if someone with a Youtube account has the capability of creating a 2160p Quad-Full HD video, (read: movie studios) no one other than a select few people (read: movie studios) actually have the hardware or bandwidth that's required for playing back the file. Meanwhile the 1080p setting is still a complete joke, the 720p setting is barely on par with most DVDs, and the 480p (and lower) setting ruins the quality of otherwise decent content. Instead of screwing with the layout, Google should have been optimizing the player itself.

I don't dislike the new layout, although I dislike that the old layout was so bad Google needed a new layout to fix the layout that replaced an excellent layout. I also dislike Google's sheer egomaniacal arrogance, which you've summed up wonderfully Freta.

[DiaperPony]

That's just it though DiaperPony--I shouldn't need to run ABP on YouTube--I expect better from Google. To be honest, I find that NoScript makes ABP look like a joke, although it takes far more time to tweak NoScript. (Still, it's nice to be rid of AJAX when I don't want to deal with my computer trying to tell me what I want to type.)

I think "thank you" would have been nicer for me to hear. Although, I am confused by what you are saying a bit. You talked about those not getting ads as "lucky". So to me that would indicate that you did not know about ABP, because if you did, you'd know that there was no luck. Yet, you smugly talk bad about ABP and promote NoScript, which indicates that you did know about ABP all along and were just pretending of not knowing a way to remove the ads.

My conclusion from all of this is that you have some serious bone to pick with Google, maybe your true reason you have not even stated, and so you will attack any way you can.. even if that means distorting or ignoring inconvienient facts.

I personally take Google and Youtube at face value. They offer me free services that I can choose to use or not use. They are in business to make money, and they do that from advertising. You seem to think they owe you something, but I disagree. You should simply walk away and use the services of a competitor. I did not like Microsoft so I swiched to Linux. You do not like Google so use something else.

[timmyc]

Let's look at some successful things- TV remotes, clocks, and light switches- which are all pretty much the same as their original configurations

Surely you jest

[Dirty Diaper/Maxipad Lover]

I think "thank you" would have been nicer for me to hear. Although, I am confused by what you are saying a bit. You talked about those not getting ads as "lucky". So to me that would indicate that you did not know about ABP, because if you did, you'd know that there was no luck. Yet, you smugly talk bad about ABP and promote NoScript, which indicates that you did know about ABP all along and were just pretending of not knowing a way to remove the ads.

Okay, let me try and clear things up. I usually don't run blocking software because it's rare that I need or want it. When I go to YouTube, I almost always keep blocking software disabled. (I might have had it on once or twice since the site was created, but I usually keep it disabled when I know I'll be on reputable sites.) Every time I've been on a VEVO page, I've had blocking software disabled, which is why I stated that you're "lucky" if you don't get an ad on those pages. Once you mentioned that ABP fixes the problem, I mentioned that I prefer NoScript for blocking purposes in general--you should have been able to infer that I tested NoScript on Youtube after your post from the simple fact that I mentioned I preferred it to ABP. Blocking software only works when it's enabled, and mine wasn't, which is why it seemed random for me not to hit an ad on a VEVO page. I keep my add-ons to a minimum because they bog down the browser--right now I have the "Wayback machine," "Download Helper," and "NoScript" installed, and that's it. Only "Wayback Machine," and "Download Helper" are actually enabled though, and NoScript is "disabled" just as ABP was before I switched to NoScript.

I personally take Google and Youtube at face value. They offer me free services that I can choose to use or not use. They are in business to make money, and they do that from advertising. You seem to think they owe you something, but I disagree. You should simply walk away and use the services of a competitor. I did not like Microsoft so I swiched to Linux. You do not like Google so use something else.

I have, or at the very least, had no issue with Google until they began to run their service(s) into the ground. Now that I don't like Google, I've changed the services that I can change and avoided the ones that they let me avoid. See my previous comment on Youtube requiring Google accounts that they previously didn't, even though the only thing I use my Google account for is Youtube. I have no problem with small amounts of advertising, I have a problem with intrusive ads from a company that used to pride itself on unintrusive ads and user friendliness. There are no good alternatives to Youtube or Google's search engine at this point because Google/Youtube crushed their competition. Yahoo! used to be the top search engine until some no-name called Google came along took their customers, and ultimately caused Yahoo's search to redirect to Google's results, as every other major search engine does with the exception of Microsoft's Bing. YouTube still has more exposure then its alternatives, and until that changes I'm stuck with it.

My original post did include a thank you, but it looks like I edited it out when I cleaned up the earlier drafts, so let me put it in this one, thank you.

Surely you jest

Gah! You beat me to "why remote controls had huge room for improvement" there. The Zenith Lazy Bones should have been pictured there, wired to the set like a dog on a leash. The other examples were good though, unless of course you want to argue that Sun Dials qualify as clocks and not merely time measuring instruments.

[Dirty Diaper/Maxipad Lover]

Okay, I don't mean to "bump" this, but I have some new material for this thread. It hasn't even been a year since the last major redesign and GoogleTube is already trying to push out another one. It gets worse--the new redesign is just as hideous as the design that Google had before the current one.

*sigh*

GoogleTube just keeps going from bad to worse--they're also trying to push FULL NAMES onto channels.

[ForbiddenFruit]

The full names thing has been around for a few months now, IIRC.

[Dirty Diaper/Maxipad Lover]

The full names thing has been around for a few months now, IIRC.

Thanks for the heads-up ForbiddenFruit--I didn't realize that.

[DiaperPony]

I think it's hilarious that you hate Google and Youtube so much, yet you keep using their products.

[Dirty Diaper/Maxipad Lover]

I think it's hilarious that you hate Google and Youtube so much, yet you keep using their products.

The only two public search engines that actually provide original information are Google and Bing. (Everybody else just pulls results from one of those two.) I actually did look into switching to Bing, but Google still provides more accurate results. Barely. Microsoft is catching up to them and could very well beat them by this time next year.

YouTube's website is terrible, but it has the most users and is about as unavoidable as Google as a search engine. Even if I don't use it for my videos I wind up with links to videos that others have put there. Every video streaming site has some weird quirk, so the best I can do is an alternative that's as bad as YouTube. I avoid everything else Google though. Search and YouTube are the only products that I still use from them.

[ForbiddenFruit]

The YT redesign went live just now.

It's horrible.

[DiaperPony]

Only thing that seems different is the main page, which I never use anyways.