For a brief period of time I had a job that required me to descend deep into the bowels of DIY crafting website, Etsy, in order to look for soap and lotion makers who might purchase raw materials from my employer. Even more annoying than crazy craft people were the steampunk aficionados. While I appreciate a good bit of subtle anachronism as much as the next girl, there came a point where the sight of bronzed iPods and Wii Remotes adorned with superfluous cathodes started to annoy the living hell out of me.

Steam-powered YouTube makes up for that. The website is something of an interactive filter, wherein you embed a video, and are then forced to “adjust” the audio and visual elements, manually, as well as regularly release the pressure. Why do I enjoy what is essentially a more laborious way to view YouTube videos? Because it reminds us that older technology isn’t used anymore because it’s damned impractical! Steam is a terrible power source! It’s volatile, and usually a horrible pollutant! And you did have to constantly adjust pressure and dials, precisely because it was so volatile!

So go ahead, try out what is a reasonable facsimile of a steam-powered machine in the context of something as awesome and convenient as YouTube, and remind yourself that luddites are suckers. And as steampunk gasps its dying breaths, let’s step on its throat to quicken its departure.