After causing outrage by muting videos with copyrighted music, YouTube has attempted to get regain some cred by making some of its videos downloadable.
The new feature is only available on a handful of videos so far – such as Barack Obama's weekly address (above) – but is expected to spread across the site over the coming year if it proves popular.
Videos are available via a new 'click to download' button, which drops a high-quality H.264 file onto your desktop for playing in video players like Quicktime.
While legally suspect third party software has let you download YouTube videos for a while, it's significant that Google has started providing an official service, particularly as it could reduce the number of clicks (and ad revenue) for YouTube, not to mention land it in some more copyright strife.
Will downloadable videos be enough to maintain your Youtube loyalty, or are you already moving to alternatives like Vimeo and Blip? Let us know in the comments section below.
