The thing is, YouTube isn't about searchability. You don't go there to plug in a search term and find information. You go there for the same reason you go to the local independent movie theater -- you want a place where somebody has put together a unique and bizarre lineup of films to watch. YouTube rules because of users who act like the owners of very tiny movie theaters or cable stations by finding cool videos and posting them on their "channels."
These people offer findability, which is practically the opposite of searchability. When you search, you have to already know what you want to find. You have to plug in "espresso" or "fainting goats." Findability means that you can discover things for which you'd never dream of searching. Findability is what YouTube has now, and what Google has never had.
I thought something similar when I learned of the demise of Tower Records. New Orleans, in its present state, is running thin on "bricks and mortar" record shops and the loss of Tower comes as a particularly big blow. Is the day approaching when no one finds anything by browsing anymore?
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