The beginning of the end...

Pop quiz: What site, since being launched, has completely changed how we entertain ourselves, express ourselves and communicate with each other?

Times up. Easy answer: Youtube, baby.

Youtube is the my single most visited site and personally, I think it is one of the most important technological revolutions to grace this earth in my lifetime (that's counting the Snuggie). I'm a ridiculous Youtuber, though not the kind who uploads content. In fact, I don't even really comment that much. No, starlets, I'm a viewer. I sit and watch something with intent and find related videos that grow less and less related by every click. Soon I can't stop and I'm just searching for that "first video high". I call it chasing the Youtube Dragon. 

I figured this out late but Youtube logs every video you have watched (when you are logged into an account, at least). Years of viewing have accumulated into one scary figure:

Almost fifteen thousand watched videos? That's only the ones that are on record. Lord knows how many times I have been logged out of my account and spent entire weekends watching clips of sharks eating things.

Being such a die hard time waster I have noticed changes over the years. For the most part, all of the shifts Youtube have made are for the better. I fully acknowedge that most of these changes are for the better. In fact, the site has improved drastically since it first launched. One changes I'm not too excited about, however, is the slow (but steady) introduction of advertisements.

Usually a small banner will pop up if the video uploader is a cash whore (Cough. Cough. Ignore ads on top right of page...) but those are easy to just "x" out of and watch the remaining video undisturbed. 

No big deal. I'll take it.

Today, however, I was watching a video about a bunch of dudes who grew pot in their house and got busted and to my shock and horror something terrible happened:

An entire, full length ad played before my video. Hulu style. No way of skipping it and most definitely no way of ignoring it.

I'm actually devastated that this has become an option for partners as a means of advertising. Personally, I think it really detracts from the Youtube experience as a whole. More importantly, those precious 30 seconds will add up to months of my life that I already have reserved to waste on other videos. 

Let's pray this does not catch on.