It’s worth stepping back every once in a while to consider just how revolutionary YouTube has been. By lowering the bar to entry for posting online movies to almost nothing, the service has made video sharing available to millions of human beings. Even if they’re terrible at it.
Petit Tube celebrates those non-stars of YouTube by randomly grabbing the site’s least-viewed videos and throwing them up on the screen. In 10 minutes of watching, you might see home movies, commercials for small-town car lots, model train exhibitions, and just about anything else, provided that no one has ever bothered to watch it before. The effect is addictive, and a little like tuning in to public access television, except that instead of drawing from small regional markets, you’re watching the fringe output of the entire planet.