Now that I DVR television programs on a nightly basis, my morning TV habits have changed as well.
I no longer automatically turn on “Today” or “Live with Regis and Kelly” while I’m eating breakfast. Instead, I may be watching shows from the previous evening’s recordings. Hey, when you can whip through the commercials, you get through them pretty quickly.
But this morning, I actually watched a bit of “Today,” and was intrigued by a teaser on the “8 hidden benefits of middle age.” (Of course, I’M not middle age; I just know people who are and thought it might be interesting to share.) Since it was coming on later in the program — after I would be working — I decided to catch it online.
Here’s where “Today” suffered a big, fat FAIL.
They post enormous amounts of video on their website, and most segments are preceded by an advertisement. I don’t sweat that; in fact, I expect it. But the ad for cling wrap buffered about every five seconds… so by the time the actual segment began, I had not only hit middle age, I was ready for retirement. Then the segment buffered about every third word. I could not get past the opening chit-chat; it was simply taking too long and was too darn annoying.
I still don’t know what the eight hidden benefits are to middle age are; patience definitely isn’t one of them.
Now, to be fair, I did check a couple of other pieces of video on the “Today” website to make sure that this wasn’t a random FAIL. No such luck. Every piece of video buffered like a tortoise.
If the folks at Youtube can figure out a way for random people to post video online that — nine times out of 10 — doesn’t buffer, then the folks at “Today” should be able to do the same.
Hint: size does matter.
