You may have noticed a new options on some YouTube videos: the ability to turn on closed captioning. Next time you see it, do. It's absolutely hilarious.
The service is still in beta, and it really shows. Engadget first spotted how weird Apple's iPad launch video got when the feature was activated — sometimes the text is so different from what's being said that you wonder if Google is just having a laugh.
"A high-res color display" becomes "a high risk going to split," and when one of the designers says he doesn't have to change himself to use the iPad, the captions make it sound like he very clearly does. If you were relying on these captions, it would be a very different commercial.
How about an even more topical example? Remember when Sandra Bullock said that about workers and Florida and t-shirts? No? That's because you're not crazy; she never did. It's safe to say that, while an awesome idea, YouTube auto-captioning needs a little bit of work.
Check out the iPad commercial here, and be sure to click on the "CC" at the base of the video.
You can also see Bullock's acceptance speech here — be sure to do the same.
Via Engadget
