447.9M views · Apr 24, 2005 · 0:19 · 0 HN recommenders · 7 mentions · discussed 2016–2021
The first video ever uploaded to YouTube, in April 2005. Co-founder Jawed Karim stands in front of the elephants at the San Diego Zoo for about 19 seconds.
Why Hacker News points people here: HN mentions it as a historical reference, for dates and as the first YouTube video, not as a recommendation.
“Here’s the first official video on YouTube”HN comment, 2021
Yeah, everything was better ten years ago. Like this ten year old youtube video: this video (240p?). Web pages have become bloated, but they load faster on my phone now than they did on the desktop that I had in 2005. There are many frustrating things occuring with development now, but it is crazy to say that ten years ago was objectively better.
First YouTube video, dated to compare with Wayback capture.
This wayback machine is from April 28, 2005. Me at the Zoo[1] is from April 23, 2005. So technically speaking, someone did upload something. And 5 days is actually really 5 days... Which brings the question - what is the second oldest YouTube video still on the site? Who is the “also ran”? [1] this video
Cited for upload date compared with Vimeo's first videos.
> I think YouTube's success is mainly that they were first Actually, Vimeo's first videos[0] were uploaded a month before YouTube's[1]. [0] link [1] this video
“Here’s the first official video on YouTube”
The first official YouTube video, 19 seconds long.
Nice. Here’s the first official video on YouTube (not just a test which was then deleted). “Me at the zoo” by jawed (a YouTube founder) 2005-04-23 this video 19 seconds long
“The first video was founder Jawed Karim visiting the zoo”
The first YouTube video, a factoid.
The first video was founder Jawed Karim visiting the zoo: this video It gets pulled out as a factoid periodically.
> 16 years later, home video is still the core value of YouTube Is it? I guess it depends on what you mean by home video. Is it "Me at the zoo"[0], or independent content creators like PewDiePie or Veratassium? Compared to Hollywood most if not all Youtube channels are completely different, but when I think of home video and early Youtube I think of personal family trips, not NileRed. [0] this video
>I don't think there is deep evil thinking behind dislike change this isn't a small change, it's a major platform decision that impacts user experience, usability and engagement -- it's also received strong criticism from the community including from the original founder of Youtube [1] (see description), but they're pushing it through anyway You're being too naïve about the corporate agendas behind this change. [1] this video
