[literalAardvark]

All of Amazon, Apple, all the AI stuff, Google, including YouTube, yes.

They make tons of money for the US. Value is somewhat more subjective, but Amazon for instance certainly creates an enormous amount of value, as do Google's search and maps products.

I would argue that the democratisation of knowledge that YouTube has enabled is also very valuable.

[agumonkey]

it's funny how I don't share the appreciation

they're all very mild and are not a clear improvement over previous ways, amazon is full of confusing product reviews and false advertising (they did mutualize ~free home deliveries though), youtube is also loaded with bs, the good content is not that much better than a book the rare time it can claim it is (and I'd argue most of the time it's universities uploading videos they had already made before)

I did love google maps but a bit less since they've made it a store locator more than a map.

[literalAardvark]

I attribute this to a hazy memory of "previous ways". Either that or you're in some very well supplied area.

I remember not being able to get books, I remember walking for hours in the weather just to find a library that had what I needed, or a shop that sold some flange for the kitchen sink or a crappy 800mAh rechargeable battery for my Walkman despite 1200mAh existing.

I remember trying to figure out where the heck we are/going using rotted out of date map books.

I remember submitting CVs on foot until my legs stopped working.

I remember knowing 0 people I could nerd out with about hacking. I suppose the bright side was that hacking wasn't illegal yet.

And while I'm at it I also remember when MIT OCW came out. It was awesome, but it still sucked. YouTube is a marvel in comparison.

Has Coursera done it better since? Sure. But there's room for more than one player.

All of these digital tools have been dramatic quality of life improvements.