Stop download (via YouTube)

It happens to me a lot. I open a page, there are a few YouTube videos in the page. I click on one video. I don’t like it. I stop it. Then I click on another one. I stop it. Another one. Stop it. (OK, this repeating mechanism doesn’t happen all that often, but still)

The thing is, YouTube still continues to download the video, even if I’m not interested in it. And this is a big problem, since online videos consume a lot of bandwidth (more on this – Bandwidth is running out. Let’s save the bandwidth « Flash Video Technology and Optimizations).

What you can do about this is simple – once you notice you don’t like a video, right click on it and hit “Stop download”. All YouTube videos seem to have this functionality. It’s simple, it doesn’t download the video anymore, it’s reversible (you can click “Play” if you change your mind. And it’s good for the bandwidth.

Nature will thank you. So will I.