Because of the homogeneity of user-experience design in tech, streaming companies principally all of the look the identical. All of them have classes that give approach to an countless scroll of thumbnail tiles, and each’s precise video participant is sort of equivalent. In different phrases, new options are very arduous to come back by within the streaming area — however boutique streaming service Criterion Channel has a fantastic one: searchable transcripts.
The function features a pop-out show that lists the film you’re watching’s whole script with timestamps for every particular person line. From there you possibly can scroll by way of the entire thing and even click on a line to get skipped straight to that second within the movie.
It is a fairly distinctive and area of interest function, but it surely’s additionally the right form of neat instrument to supply on a service that focuses on basic and nice films. In case you have a favourite scene, or a line you wish to see Humphrey Bogart say once more, you possibly can bounce straight to it. In the mean time, this function is on the market on some Criterion films, however not all of them.
However simply because it’s the right little addition to a service like Criterion doesn’t imply that companies like Netflix or Prime Video shouldn’t have it. In any case, with how typically individuals make memes of Netflix sequence — or how typically the service’s personal Twitter accounts tweet out subtitled stills — why shouldn’t followers have the ability to hop proper to the second of the sequence they’re searching for? In any case, skipping round and getting to look at elements of your favourite films once more is one in all greatest precise advantages streaming companies provide.
Greater than the particular function itself, Criterion’s addition is actually only a nice reminder that streaming firms aren’t doing sufficient to make their merchandise distinctive or thrilling. They aren’t pushing arduous to make the viewing expertise higher, and so they actually needs to be.
