Today YouTube has announced the launch of LeanBack, a TV-like viewing experience.
Go to LeanBack and a full-screen feed, personalized for each viewer, begins playing. Using your enter and direction keys you can navigate the feed. No need for the mouse or for entering URLs.
Given the fact that this is what greeted my poor eyes when I clicked through, my everpresent fear of a global takeover by an intelligent supercomputer is officially assuaged.
Although there is some evidence for the claim that boogie nights are frequently, if not always, the best in town.
Kuan Yong, Senior Product Manager for YouTube, explained how the feed is created.
“This feed is based on your YouTube settings and preferences, including content from your subscriptions and videos your friends are sharing on Facebook (assuming you’ve connected your YouTube account to your Facebook account).”
Two data sources – your YouTube info and your Facebook sharing – seem insufficient to get at an approximation of something as complex as a person’s taste. Here’s hoping they add in additional sources, such as Twitter accounts and feed readers.
Recommendations are a compelling and appealing aspect of the Web, but any burgeoning trend has people playing catch-up. YouTube may in fact catch up. But right now, kidding aside, it’s not terribly impressive.
