What I like about YouTube is that it has so many "bad" videos.

I sit with my four year old son and teach him about tubas using high school concerts, how cars are made with a few old East German industrial films, and entertained him by dozens of videos of garbage trucks doing what garbage trucks do best (crushing garbage). I don't want art; I want the so-and-so fire department turning on the sirens.

And, then I find art. I found "We Need Girlfriends" on YouTube, and many other short films. Arty sites demand a bit more commitment, and in a short break some yahoos doing a high school dramatic reading from the Great Gatsby are nearly as good as half the "art" out there.

Does YouTube stifle creativity? No. It gives hope to the fifteen year old who can't crack into the sites with higher standards.