Beaming Videos
14.05.25
I watch videos at upwards of 2x speed, and it's not uncommon for me to watch videos at 4x speed. Let me explain why.
Content and time are both valuable, so I want to maximize the content seen per minute. The goal is not to consume more content. I am selective about what I watch, and I rarely watch anything recommended to me. Rather, the goal is to watch the content of my choice faster. I call this "content beaming" because it's like shooting a beam of information into your brain. I intend to maximize free time, so I can allocate more time to other tasks.
It's simple math. If you watch a two hour video at twice the speed, you will earn an entire hour of more free time. If you turn on subtitles, it's entirely possible to watch at unreasonably high speeds. I want to watch the progress bar melt away. There is something deeply satisfying about getting what you want very quickly.
One might raise an issue that watching this way would prevent you from absorbing information properly, but this is completely untrue. In fact, it is better to watch at a faster pace because you will be forced to pay closer attention. Additionally, you can watch the same video more than once in the same amount of time. Imagine watching an hour-long video three times before someone even finishes it once.
When watching a video at any speed: 1) you will miss something 2) you will not remember everything 3) you will remember only a few things. 1 can be alleviated by watching something multiple times. When I like a new episode and want to see it again, I'll watch at a higher speed and catch what I missed. It's not like I enjoy something less because I don't watch at a regular speed. In fact, I find watching at a faster speed more enjoyable.
As for the last two points, it's a fact that you will remember what you value from a video and forget much of the rest. I believe that watching faster reduces the time spent on unvalued, unmemorable content.
I use an extension called Video Speed Controller in order to watch past 2x speed. It works on all HTML5 videos at the click of a keybind. I have it bound to 'x' to slow down and 'c' to speed up because c also activates captions. It's possible to use a JavaScript bookmarklet to set the video playback speed as well. I have 'gc' in Tridactyl set to prompt the user to input the speed manually. I will discuss more about custom keybinds in a future post.
Will you beam, or will you stay in the dust?