I decided to take advantage of a 50% discount to get the Nebula streaming service (it’s kind of an independent self funded YouTube) for a year. The creator I am most familiar with on there is Lindsey Ellis which is what got me to try it but there are a few other I have watched or heard of. I was wondering if anyone else has the service and can recommend any interesting channels on there. Thanks.
I did it a while back and let it lapse when the subscription ended. It just doesn’t work for me. The creators that I like release their videos on youtube as well, so I just watch them there. The creators I don’t know, I didn’t have any reason to watch. I don’t know, something about the way content was served up/suggested to me just didn’t click. And, as much as I hate to say it, I like seeing the thumbs up ratings/comments/view count, especially when it comes to people I don’t know. There’s so much content out there, I need something or some way to break it up. I can’t look at an endless sea of thumbnails and pick one.
Another thing, that I thought was one of those ‘just me’ things until others mentioned it, is that it messes with my youtube history. By that I mean, if I watch a video that I like on Nebula, youtube will keep suggesting it to me over and over. That’s both annoying and, if it’s a video that I like, I want it to influence my algorithm, youtube needs to see that I watched it. In the end, I’ve found it’s just easier to watch it on youtube.
I really, really wanted to like it, it just didn’t work for me. That doesn’t mean I won’t rejoin at some point, but for now, youtube works just fine.
The driving force behind me finding my way to it was Sam from Half as Interesting and Wendover Productions. IIRC, some of the other youtubers I watch were also pushing it (Veritasium? LegalEagle? Smarter Every Day?), but Sam pushed the hardest.
I have been on Nebula for a while now. Actually have a lifetime subscription (so, basically, I have nailed my ship’s ensign to the mast: no surrender).
I guess it depends on what you like. Do you like Lindsey Ellis for her coverage of films/music/art/etc, or for her politics? Or both? For me it’s both, and I have curated my “follows” on Nebula mostly along those lines.
I just say “I am not interested in this video” and then when it asks if I want to say why, I select “I have already watched this video”.
I’m a big fan of Jet Lag The Game.
I have a sub but rarely use it. Its discovery & recommendations systems aren’t as powerful as YouTube’s, and it doesn’t have auto-generated subtitles and translations.
That said, I do enjoy some engineering & urban planning channels, like:
- Not Just Bikes | Nebula
- Practical Engineering | Nebula
- The Efficient Engineer | Nebula
- Real Engineering | Nebula
And randomly, a “picky rich person travels” channel:
I am not rich, not an engineer, and not an urban planner. It’s just interesting to learn about things I would otherwise have no awareness of.
All of those are available on YouTube as well. I probably won’t resubscribe to Nebula after this year.
I got a year long membership for my birthday last year….mostly for Lindsey Ellis. And honestly, she’s the only creator on there that I like and I honestly find her last two videos too depressing to actually watch all the way through.
I was unimpressed with Maggie Mae Fish’s “kids show.” And The Dinner Plan was….bad… Some people are better film-analyzers than filmmakers.
I will probably not renew.
I don’t know if he’s on Nebula, but maybe check out Not An Engineer. His videos are along the same lines as Inheritance Machining, if you’re familiar with him.
Hah, fun! Thanks, will check them both out 
It’s cool that we live in age when anybody could be the next Archimedes or Da Vinci.
The theme song was catchy.