The other night I was experiencing issues with playing a YouTube video (terminal buffering) and a link appeared beneath the video offering me an “explaination” for why I was having trouble. That link took me to the Google Video Quality Report.
I’m guessing it’s been around for a while but this is the first I’ve run into it. Basically you’re told how well your ISP handles the various quality levels of YouTube videos along with info on traffic levels throughout the day.
Clicking the “Compare Providers in Your Area” tab gets you a listing of other local ISPs for which you can see their data. In my case I’m trying to “compare” the state’s network to my home ISP and Google points that out to me with a warning that it’s a bit unrealistic.)
It looks like YouTube watching by Nebraska state employees peaks about 2pm, where residents of Lincoln peak about 9pm. Makes sense to me.
Michael Sauers is the Technology Manager for Do Space in Omaha, NE. After earning his MLS in 1995 from the University at Albany's School of Information Science and Policy Michael spent his first 20 years as a librarian training other librarians in technology along with time as a public library trustee, a bookstore manager for a library friends group, a reference librarian, a technology consultant, and a bookseller. He has written dozens of articles for various journals and magazines and has published 14 books ranging from library technology, blogging, Web design, and an index to a popular horror magazine. In his spare time, he blogs at TravelinLibrarian.info, runs The Collector's Guide to Dean Koontz website at CollectingKoontz.com, takes many, many photos, and typically reads more than 100 books a year.
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