Don’t Fight the Future

After getting over our initial feeling of awe, and observing the “hang-out” vibe at the office, we sat down inside Double Rainbow at a big square table. Cliff Redeker, was the first employee to arrive. He had blondish hair and seemed very young, yet he had been working for Google for several years. Soon the dapper Chris Dale who works in public relations arrived in a lavender colored button down shirt with a grey suit, including a vest—and he wore a bow-tie. Nicole Alston came next, with her curly hair and bright yellow shirt. Finally Lance Kavanaugh arrived, looking more like a professor in his grey sweater vest than a tech man. Alston and Kavanaugh are both part of the legal team at YouTube. We knew we were sitting amidst some of the bright minds behind this company, and were ready to listen.

Chris Dale explained that YouTube is based on the idea that “anybody can capture anything. This idea has changed the world.” It has never been easier to experience life in different parts of the world. Families separated by miles can still experience closeness, and citizens seeking social change can meet and exchange ideas.

“Google is on such a large scale,” Cliff Redeker said, “that it could affect the whole world.”

One of the challenges for an international website, where content is created by users, is figuring out ways to make it easier for users to navigate the site and find videos. One way YouTube is trying to help users find what they want is by creating channels. These are the future of entertainment, according to Youtube. Channels expand to let users see other videos that are compatible with a particular genre or hobby the user has.

As the YouTube panel explained, They are trying to create a viewing experience that is more like watching TV—a laid-back experience, rather than furious clicking and searching while hunched over a laptop. They are also trying to create controls that will allow schools to use YouTube as a tool.