Six Reasons I Won’t Watch YouTube Movies

YouTube is ramping up its offerings to compete with Netflix and Amazon on streaming movies. Today it announced the addition of 3,000 full-length feature films from major Hollywood studios to its movie site.

The films cost $2.99-$3.99, can be accessed for up to 30 days after purchase and watched 24 hours after beginning them.

I unfortunately see some problems with the YouTube approach, which seems to continue to demonstrate Google’s not-quite-with-it-ness. (Google bought YouTube in 2006.) Here are six reasons why I won’t be watching movies on YouTube.

1. Branding. When I think about YouTube, I think about humor, stupidity, funny cat videos, people going crazy over double rainbows. I don’t tend to associate YouTube with quality content.

2. Pricing. I’m broke, so I’d much rather wait a little longer for movies if necessary but get unlimited numbers  from Netflix starting at $7.99 a month then pay $2.99 or $3.99 per movie.

3. Set up. My husband and I already have an Xbox 360 and Wii. I don’t need yet another device to comfortably watch movies, such as a Google TV or iPad, like I would with YouTube movies (or have to physically attach my laptop to my TV). I already stream Netflix from the Xbox to the TV. My best friend does the same with her Wii, my parents with their Roku.

4. Streaming. Unless they have some magic new technology I haven’t yet read about, I’m worried about all that pausing and buffering that tends to happen when I watch YouTube videos.

5. High-def. As commenters on various blogs have pointed out, most of these YouTube videos are going to be available only in standard definition. In contrast, Netflix’s Watch Instantly offers 66 pages of HD movies and television shows. (To be fair, however, a cursory glance shows that these are not the hot new movies.)

6. Registering. You need a YouTube account to access the movies. I have one but use it so infrequently that I don’t remember the login. If I’m going to download a single-shot movie that I simply must watch immediately, I’ll go to iTunes or Amazon, places I already log into fairly regularly.

I could be wrong, of course. This could be a viable plan for others. However, I think I’ll stick with Netflix.

Get more social media, technology, and writing tidbits from me on Twitter, @evakl.

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