Youtube: the simple economics of optimal bandwidth usage

YouTube has a maximum bandwidth capability. Video streaming speed also depends on a number of packet routing and connection issues. Let’s set that aside for a moment. Let’s just say YouTube has this finite amount of resources to give its users. Right now, when we want to see a video, we can one of the following two things.

• Put the video on play, then pause it so it can cache enough that we can see without “jittering”
• Watch straight ahead, hoping there is no “jittering” or enduring it

The thing is, caching uses up the finite amount of resource YouTube can distribute. If less people cached, more people would be able to watch straight-ahead. I’m guessing the ideal is that the most people can watch streaming video without the jittery stops. But this is a prisoner’s dilemma: if everyone watches straight ahead, resources are (modulo differences in video quality, etc.) evenly divided and everyone can enjoy minimal-jitter. But in minimal jitter lies the incentive to cache ahead. This is bad economics. What should be done is penalize downloading-while-not-playing by some amount.

Breadcrumb trails:

A dilemma at 5:30 AM

I ended up working all night long to finish work due today. I’m still expected to get the comments on a previous version of this tomorrow morning and have a meeting about it all in the early afternoon. It also takes me a two-hour commute to get to work.

I accidentally skipped my meds after staying out all night friday. My drug schedule is all screwed up, not to mention the 15mg of Ritalin I took along the last 12 hours.

So I can either take the 8:40 bus and get there at about 10PM (and risk my colleague not being there with the comments) or take the 10:30 bus and get there about 12PM. I’m supposed to maximize for un-sleepiness and information digested and processed by the time of the meeting.

Should I just skip my antipsychotic again? All reason points to no — I need to counter all the craziness and be sane by tomorrow. On the other hand, if I take my antipsychotic and my benzodiazepines I might not be able to wake up at all, no matter how loud the alarms. And I skip the benzos I might be sleepy *and* get that kind of “hidden anxiety” that gets me deep into the DR/DP twilight zone.

Breadcrumb trails: