YouTube Unveils New Site

Today's most interesting stories in technology, media and entertainment:

YouTube completed a drastic redesign of its site yesterday. The Google-owned video network simplified its interface in hopes of making the site more intuitive and less cluttered. In addition to removing extraneous links from the video page, YouTube is also getting rid of its five-star rating system, replacing it with a more Facebook friendly 'like' and 'dislike' setup.

Google Earth is turning out to be a valuable asset for fighting crime. The service recently came of use when a Florida man who illegally dumped his boat in a subdivision. Deputy Gregory Barnes used the satellite imaging service to locate the previous location of the boat, effectively tracing the prior location of the boat to its owner through satellite images.

Cisco is hoping that its new router will simplify wireless life. Designed with the simplicity of the Flip cam in mind, the Valet Wi-Fi router makes it infinitely easier to set-up and install your home WiFi network. The move comes after Cisco noticed that many customers returned Linksys routers because they were too complicated to set-up. The Valet system costs $100 and comes with a USB drive that stores all pertinent login information, IP addresses and more.

Today's Video -- How Many Megapixels Do You Really Need?

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Comments

[LastAngryWoman]

12:50 PM on 04/02/2010

I can't stand it. For all the reasons already mentioned in this thread. And I realized while reading this article, that my YouTube usage has declined by at least 80%. I'm fundamentally lazy, and not site savvy...I end up frustrated within 2 minutes and quit. But I'm sure they won't miss me.

[Ugonna]

09:40 AM on 04/02/2010

I can't get into my History section anymore. Boo!!! Its only yesterday I learned how to rate, go into someone's channel, favorite again, etc. None of this was obvious to me, I just got lucky. WTF do you mean "improvements"? Youtube needs to go back to what worked, until they figure out a "new" system that actually IS better than the old one!!

[BMcCue7]

02:47 PM on 04/02/2010

Yeah!

[RobinSeattle]

03:39 AM on 04/02/2010

You Tube screwed the pooch with the redesign. I keep getting error messages when I try to post comments, it is an aesthetic disaster, the abolition of the star system (which should have been expanded to 1-10 instead of 1-5) only ensures that their suggested videos will be more irrelevant than ever. The way the comments show looks amateurish and sloppy, too.

As I've said before, this is a case of somebody within You Tube or Google's maze of cubicles attempting to justify his/her existence by screwing up something that worked just fine previously.

I was so frustrated by the new look that I just gave up after an hour even though I had intended spending much more time browsing videos on it. I'm sure I'm not alone in that and that makes the site revision totally counterproductive. Heckuva job there, You Tube.

[GQTaste]

11:10 PM on 04/01/2010

I don't think it's improved either and i don't think it has to do w/ it being brand new. It was perfectly fine two days ago. Sometimes you're best to leave things alone.

[PlayTOE]

02:29 PM on 04/01/2010

The new YouTube is different, but not better.

no one button return to your subscriptions.
no easy to work rating system so you can tell which vids are worth watching.
no responding to another member's comment where it can be found.

but it does stream the vids OK.