(jazzy music)
- I'm addicted to eating sand.
- They say planned to have sex with a horse.
- Oh, there we go.
I found the Microsoft Paint channel.
Hey guy. I'm really bad at making decisions.
That's not to say I make a lot of bad decisions
although I certainly do,
but rather that I'll almost always question
if I could have made a better one
regardless of the outcome.
Like even if something turns out to be great,
I'll always picture in the back of my head
an alternate universe where I chose something else
and it was a little bit better.
While writing this video,
I learned there's actually a name for this.
It's called analysis paralysis.
Basically it's when you're faced with so many viable options
that it's too hard to narrow it down to just one
so you get overwhelmed, shut down
and end up choosing nothing.
In other words,
it's what happens every time I go on Netflix.
It seems like Netflix is widely believed to be the best
of the constantly growing number of streaming services.
But why is that?
Is it because they have the best content?
'Cause I don't think they do.
I've seen like five HBO shows
that I've enjoyed more than anything I've seen on Netflix.
What Netflix specializes in is quantity.
They may not have the best movies and shows
but they certainly have the most.
There are over 5,000 titles on Netflix right now,
half of which are Noah Centineo movies.
Compare that to Hulu, HBO, CBS All Access
which I'm only including as a joke.
And it's easy to see why Netflix has become the standard
when it comes to streaming services.
They're pretty much guaranteed to have something
for everyone.
You can watch just about anything on Netflix.
Wait, anything?
I don't know if I can handle all these options.
Because it's not just quantity when it comes to Netflix
it's also the way their interface is designed.
When you scroll through Netflix
you feel like it's never going to end.
It seems like this infinite loop of movies and shows
and documentaries and "Tall Girl"
that just goes on forever.
And while you can certainly look
at that as a positive,
I don't know if it's actually conducive
for the best user experience.
At least not for someone like me.
Most of the time, my experience with Netflix is
I sit down on the couch with a plate of food, turn on the TV
and then I scroll for a bit and then I keep scrolling.
And then I say, maybe I'll watch this, but I don't.
So I'll just add it to my list, which basically confirms
that I'll never watch it because now it's behind
a bunch of other shit that I'll also never watch.
And then I scroll and I scroll.
And by the time I get back to the beginning of the list
I'm already done with my dinner.
So I turn the TV off and stare at my phone for two hours.
Now I know this obviously isn't everyone's experience.
It's just my own personal problem.
I'm the type of person who gets overwhelmed
by having too many choices
and would sometimes prefer to just be given one thing
whether I like it or not.
I'm pretty easy going.
I'll probably like it.
And even if I don't
then I can just complain about how bad it is
so it's a win-win.
I feel this way whenever I go out to eat
which makes no sense because I love all food.
Like why is it so hard
for me to order at a Japanese restaurant?
I've almost never had sushi that I didn't like.
It almost doesn't matter which two rolls I order.
I'm still going to enjoy it.
But for some reason, when I get that menu
and it's like four pages long, my brain just turns off.
You know what these words mean Drew, just pick something.
It shouldn't be this hard, man.
You knew what to expect and oh great.
Now the waiter's coming.
So you're just gonna pick spicy tuna
like you always do, you turd.
And even though it tastes delicious
and I'm having a great time,
I'm still going to spend the rest of the meal
wondering if I could have picked something slightly better
because I'm a broken person.
You know what?
Now that I think about it, maybe that's what Netflix needs.
Someone who's going to come to your couch every five minutes
and pressure you into picking something.
Maybe then I would make a decision.
The problem with that is then they'd ask you
if you're enjoying the movie like one minute into it
but then when the credits roll,
they're suddenly nowhere to be found,
but at least they got me to pick something.
This is actually one of the things
I miss about having cable.
For what little purpose cable serves in most people's lives
I think the best thing about cable is that
everything's already happening when you turn it on.
Don't get me wrong,
I will definitely still end up scrolling for 10 minutes
until I end up back where I started
but I know eventually I can just put on
the Game Show Network and watch Steve Harvey
hype up a Ford Fusion.
- Brand new head-turning Ford Fusion.
(crowd cheers)
- See but I wouldn't watch "Family Feud"
if it was on Netflix
nor would I watch like "Sports Center" or "House Hunters".
I watch these things on cable because it's already on.
I don't have to make a decision and that's the appeal.
And I know a lot of you
probably think I sound insane right now
which makes sense because I do.
This is such a first world problem.
Like technology has evolved so much to get to
where we are now and I'm just like,
Hey, can we go back to when it was harder?
I miss the simplicity.
But to me, there is such a thing as having too many options.
Like I know objectively 5,000 is better
than 50 because it's bigger.
But would you rather choose
from 5,000 things you might like
than from 50 things that you'll probably like?
For me I'd rather just have 50.
At least with this I'm less likely to sit there
second guessing my decision unable to patiently invest
in the choice that I've made because I'm too busy
thinking about all the ones that I didn't.
I know that this was the case
when I started watching two different HBO shows.
One of them was "Chernobyl", which started kind of slow
and I wasn't really sure what was happening
at first and I'm very impatient
so I almost turned it off.
But it ended up being
one of the most incredible captivating shows
that Amanda and I couldn't stop watching
until we finished all of it.
The other HBO show that comes to mind is "Succession",
which by the way, it's the best theme song
and it's not even close.
I was watching another HBO show
and I saw a preview for this.
And so one night I randomly turned it on
and after 30 minutes I was not feeling it
but I didn't have that FOMO seed
planted in the back of my head telling me
to go back and scroll Drew.
You didn't scroll enough.
It moved slow at times
but the peaks were so worth the investment.
The season one finale crescendoed
into one of the most unexpected and insane endings
I've ever seen in a show
and I couldn't stop thinking about it for weeks.
And I can almost promise you
that I never would have gotten to that point
if this show was on Netflix,
because I would have backed out to the menu
and I would still be on that menu
slowly scrolling for the rest of my life.
And this is where my point about user interface
comes in again.
There's still a lot of shit on HBO now,
like some straight up garbage
but when you open up the app,
it doesn't feel like they're throwing
all of it at you at once.
Like it's much more compartmentalized.
You're sort of eased into things and it's more digestible.
It also helps that HBO has a substantially stronger focus
on quality than Netflix does.
At least when it comes to new TV shows.
Like these are all guaranteed bangers.
People love these shows and Netflix has some bangers too
but then they got this and this and this and this.
And what the fuck?
I just don't think I can trust you anymore dude.
I understand that this is
a by-product of the mass appeal that Netflix has built on.
There's probably only like a hundred things
for each person on Netflix,
but it's a different hundred things for everybody
so they have to have a million things
if they're going to appeal to everyone.
All I'm saying is I have like four megabytes of RAM
in my brain and this is more than I can handle.
Now, I'm going to go out on a limb here
and speculate that I'm not the only person
who feels this way.
One because there's already a fancy term for it
and two, because it seems like a lot of media providers
are starting to trend in the direction of "You know what,
why don't you let us tell you what to watch?"
The best example of this is TikTok.
For as weird as some of the content on TikTok is
I've always been fascinated by how the app itself works.
You don't go on TikTok and pick a category you like
or search for the thing you want to see.
I mean, you can, but nobody does that.
TikTok is basically just one page, the For You page.
And the more you interact with the app over time,
the more accurately it starts to curate the page
to fit what you've shown it you like.
- Tiddies.
- Basically the entire app is an algorithm
that adapts to you.
Sure. It sounds pretty creepy when I say it like that
but shit dawg it works.
Clearly, people like it.
And it makes sense why.
An app that's designed to be mindless
should require as little of your mind as possible.
It's not just TikTok though.
Pretty much every social media app has been
moving in this direction for years now
ditching chronological timelines in favor of an algorithm
that prioritizes the people and accounts
that you've shown it that you like the most.
And maybe that's my issue with Netflix.
Is despite the fact that
I've had an account on there for years now,
they're still really bad at figuring out what I like.
Top picks for Drew: "Star Trek"?
"The Andy Griffith Show"?
Okay Drew. So you like shows like
"The Good Place" and "Parks and Rec".
We think you'll love this show about gene editing?
Or how about this, "Father Brown."
A BBC show about a priest who solves crimes?
Was that because I watched Tim Robinson's sketch show?
What are you basing this off of?
Oh wait, hold on Drew.
We know what you'll love.
All of these random-ass Netflix Originals.
So we're only recommending to you
because we made them ourselves.
I don't know.
That just seems awfully selfish of you.
Netflix is like a boyfriend who doesn't listen
to you at all
and then for your birthday buys you an X-Box
so he can play it himself.
You should be mad but honestly,
you're just happy he remembered your birthday.
Because despite all his flaws
you still really like him for some reason.
And you want to see the good in him
even though it's usually buried in between a bunch of crap.
And that's the thing.
At the end of the day, I'm not going to stop using Netflix.
I don't think I could.
For one, I'm still on my mom's account
so it's not like it would save me
any money to stop using it.
But also the same quantity that I've spent
the past eight minutes complaining about
is the thing that makes it impossible
to imagine living without.
How can I close the door
to so many possible entertainment options?
Even if most the time I ended up choosing none of them.
My indecisiveness will probably be the death of me.
And I'm not just saying that
because that's a literal storyline
from a show I watched on Netflix.
I know that this is a problem that is keeping me
from being as happy as I could be.
Like when your brain is so busy
thinking about all of the other things you could be doing
how could you possibly stop
and enjoy the thing you are doing?
So I know that this is a personal problem
that I need to fix for my own wellbeing.
But in the meantime, Netflix
maybe you could just add like a shuffle button
that'll randomly pick something.
(knocking on door)
Oh, hey landlord, you know this isn't my front door, right?
Like you're inside my apartment right now.
- Yeah. Sorry about that.
- But also, why are you here?
I already paid rent this month.
- I'm not here for money this time Drew
I'm here to ask you a question.
It's almost lunchtime.
So tell me, what would you like to eat?
- What?
- You got Arby's, Taco Bell
- Oh fuck, not again.
- You've got leftover soup.
You didn't like it last night
but maybe you'll like it today.
Probably not though.
You want a salad?
You could make a salad.
- I want to eat.
- Me?
- That's right. Get down on the ground.
- Okay.
- Bon appetite.
- I gotta stop falling asleep while I film.
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Now back to that other guy.
We're the same person.
It's weird.
Well guys, that's going to do it for today's video.
Thank you so much for watching.
Remember if you watch even one second
of any Drew Gooden video,
you are automatically part of my family.
You may have noticed that after you clicked on this video
your name on your license changed.
That's normal. It happens to everybody.
Also your address on there changed to my address
because we live together now,
but please don't come here.
I just don't really have the space.
I'm sorry about that.
Anyway, this video is over now
so I don't know why I'm still talking.
Have a wonderful day.
Thank you guy for watching and I'll see you tomorrow.