alt Hacker NewsWhy would you want to do that? I'm so happy I can search exactly what I want among heaps of long tail stuff, I would never want to go back to a "live tv" interaction model.
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Sometimes, it's nice to just sit down and watch something without needing to make repeated decisions about what's on.
I typically share your mindset, but I can see the appeal. There was something nice about the TV that just, ya know, already had something going when you turned it on. I spent many happy evenings in hazy basement rooms enjoying whatever Adult Swim decided was going to be on the TV that night.
I prefer searching too, but sometimes it's nice to just "put TV on." I do this now with Amazon Prime Video, which has a "Live" feature that mimics a guide akin to Channel Surfer. Also my dad (age 85) struggles with Youtube on our TV because of the decision paralysis.
For me, the best solution is a mixed one. My Plex has a curated list of tv shows and movies. Then I have Tunarr for "live" channels from own my selection. Best of both worlds.
For me it’s that usually I can figure out if I’m going to like something way more easily if I’m just clicking through and watching samples of a show. I don’t want to be constrained to a predetermined algorithmic category.
Decision fatigue
The (forced) decision fatigue and constant interruptions makes YouTube a miserable experience.
Good: I choose to when and what to change the channel to. The channel never stops.
Bad: YouTube video ends and I'm prompted to do something every 5 to 15 mins and even autoplay chooses to show me content from another channel.
For me it's just nostalgia. Back when I was a teen in the 80s, we turned on MTV and just left it there, all day, letting them tell us what was cool.
Sometimes I just want to know "what is popular on youtube right now? What is it that the world is watching?" and Youtube won't tell me anymore. The algorithm isolates me and my preferences from consensus reality. Youtube doesn't want me coming out of my cave.
Not the author, but did a LOT of research on this during my time at Disney while working on Disney+ prior to its launch.
This is, effectively, no different than a carousel of algorithm-recommended content. However, UX studies have found users reluctant to watch something recommended to them. It requires making an affirmative decision on time investment. Most people have the experience of a friend recommending a movie or book and still being reluctant to dive in.
The problem is very similar to dating apps, if you think about it. This is why Tinder's innovation on "swipe left/right" took off the way it did. In UX terms it's better to drop users into something and make the cognitive effort be choosing to get out of it rather than choosing to get into it. It's a big part of why TikTok works.
The reason this isn't more common in video apps has more to do with UX norms at this point. Another important thing I learned about streaming at Disney was that no one really cares how innovative the browsing experience is. They just want to watch Frozen. They're used to carousels now, and they're easy to program. This, I think, speaks more to your sensibilities.