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Comment by asjir | Hacker News Reader

The author makes an argument that at least looks like people choose YT over Nebula because YT is free. I, for example, already pay for Nebula, so I can watch it for free, but I still go to YT.

IMO it might be just a product problem. I opened nebula and:

* The same video had a better title on YT that was actually less clickbaity and more informative - assumedly because of YT algorithm for optimization

* Nebula auto set quality to 480p compared to 1080p in YT - if I wasn't tech-savvy I'd assume it's just worse quality.

* The loading times when you seek to part that's not loaded yet are 10x longer

* I missed comments

The recommendation algorithm is weaker too, I can't tell to what extent this is due to YouTube having simply more data and to what extent it's weaker engineering.

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As someone who was subbed to Nebula, this matches my experience. Especially the lack of comments, spending time on Nebula just felt cold and isolating, even if the content was good.

just want to also plug dropout.tv, which is way less annoying than Nebula with ads-in-video, and is just a generally entertaining good time + inspiring business story.

Seconded! Funniest content out there right now. I’d recommend Game Changer season 2 or Make Some Noise. Good old funny improv games. Like whose line meets modernity with younger people.

Dropout annoys me with some of their UX decisions. I know it's a younger app, but every time I go to watch a longer-run show (Game Changer for example) it defaults me to Season 1, Episode 1. I want the latest stuff, not the oldest!

it also doesn't track where you left off inside an episode at all. Their content is pretty good, but the site is VERY minimal.

theyre a comedy company, not a tech company. would be nice if there was a way to leave feedback from developers... like heck i'd send a PR or two just to hang out with the crew a bit

Same. I like the idea of Nebula, but I'll often find videos on YouTube, then switch to Nebula to watch. Definitely speaks to a failure of whatever the Nebula discovery algorithm is.

This seems like a very strange perspective. Nebula is for specifically following content creators you really like and enjoy their videos earlier and at a better quality (plus some exclusive content).

Why would you particularly care about the title is that's a videomaker you follow anyway? Why would you care about seeking times? Are you jumping constantly in an ad-free and sponsor-free video you specifically subscribed for? Why miss the comments? Is it a video sharing platform or social media?

> Why miss the comments? Is it a video sharing platform or social media?

Because Nebula has a lot of complex content. Things like history, science, making stuff.

And those things have a lot of room for things like the maker messing something up, or struggling with something, or not explaining something properly.

On Youtube if somebody makes an obvious mistake, or is obviously incompetent to an expert, somebody will point it out. If a hobbyist doesn't quite have the skills to do a thing sometimes an expert will show up and help them. If an educative video doesn't include crucial details, somebody will ask.

Like look at say, Inheritance Machining or Alec Steele on Youtube, who take on challenging projects they struggle with and often get advice from expert viewers.

It's weird not to have this on Nebula. On one hand it seems to sell itself as "smart content", on the other hand it's a return to the old TV model of "shut up and consume".

I have to agree, really weird choice not having commentaries

I get why; the comments section can be a terrible place on YouTube so it makes an intuitive amount of sense. But surely the paywall keeps the low quality comments out?

> Why would you particularly care about the title is that's a videomaker you follow anyway?

Because you don't necessarily enjoy everything they produce?

> The recommendation algorithm is weaker too

That's a low bar to be honest, because google's recommendation algorithm is absolutely atrocious.

YouTube's recommendation algorithm is a modern miracle if you take care to:

- Like

- Subscribe

- Dislike

…and make copious use of 'Not Interested' and 'Don't ever show this channel to me again'.

I do keep having to whack it with more of that but it's expected. My recommendations sidebar is not actively obnoxious and if it hints at it, well, rinse and repeat. If it's gonna try to pander to me I will set extremely loud boundaries, and there's every opportunity to do that.

Subscription are easily ignored as soon as you have watched some other topics for half a day.

Youtube's algorithm has an exxagerated recency bias and it tends to ignore in my case most of the topics I'm subscribed to as soon as I don't watch those topics for few days.

The only thing it gets right, the only one, is sort of figuring out my usage depending on the time and device I'm using. On desktop I use it mostly for music streaming, on tv/phone I use it mostly for other content, that's the only thing it gets right.

But otherwise, it's an utter mess when Spotify or Tik Tok do an infinitely better job with way less information and guidance.

If the algorithm is temporarily not giving you good recommendations, there's always the Subscriptions tab, which only shows your subscriptions and no recommendations. Good also for those who hate recommendations.

It's clearly not made for the people using it.

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