Ask HN: Is there a viable alternative to applicant tracking systems (ATS)?

ATS's are those ugly things you get when you apply for a position at a medium to large company. They basically institute a ticketing system for candidates' application with the defense that they don't have the "time or manpower" to deal with lots of applications.

Forgive me if this has been discussed ad nauseum before, but I can't believe how common these terribly designed systems are, even at "human-centered" companies like IDEO (hah!).

I've been scouring a few blogs of proactive recruiters that say that ATS's make recruiters lazy, discourage good candidates, and amount to treating your candidates like crap.

Can anyone think of a possible solution for a medium to large size organization that doesn't just take a dump on their candidates? I like the idea of speed video interviews but that may not work on a large scale.