| A couple of times a week, I like to browse | | | | And if you convert the video to MP4 format, |
| through YouTube and download a handful of the | | | | you can transfer it to your iPod as well. |
| latest "must see" clips onto my iPod to share | | | | |
| with my wife (who just doesn't have the | | | | Doing this appears to be in compliance with |
| patience to wade through all the skateboard | | | | YouTube's Terms of Use, as long as you do not |
| tricks, playground fights, and "teen" | | | | distribute the videos to others, and you |
| diaries). It used to be a bit of a chore to | | | | retain any copyright notices on the files |
| download and convert those videos, but over | | | | (see sections 2A and 4). |
| the past few months, a flood of little helper | | | | |
| applications have hit the Internet. | | | | There are two excellent free services that |
| | | | take YouTube videos, download them to your |
| I've actually been meaning to get around to | | | | hard drive, convert them to MP4 format and |
| recommending a few of the YouTube download | | | | add them to iTunes. For Windows users, try |
| programs here, but every time I sit down to | | | | iTube, available here. Mac users should use |
| start writing I realize that as a Mac user, | | | | PodTube, although it requires the use of |
| it's difficult for me to recommend a program | | | | Safari. |
| for the majority of my readers, who are | | | | |
| Windows users. Yesterday, Lifehacker | | | | If you just want to get access to the file |
| recommended a website that not only downloads | | | | and view it directly (the VLC media player |
| any YouTube Flash video file, but also | | | | will play flash-format video files) and/or |
| converts it into your choice of five | | | | convert it to another file format, you can |
| different formats, including iPod mp4. | | | | download any YouTube video using Oyoom, or |
| Vixi.net's FLV Online Converter is amazingly | | | | try the Firefox extension called Video |
| simple to use, and works directly from your | | | | Downloader. We've also written our own tool |
| browser. Just enter the URL of the video's | | | | to download YouTube videos, available on this |
| webpage, select the format you want it | | | | page, and it's also embedded below. Just |
| converted to, and press the start button. The | | | | enter any YouTube video URL and hit the "Get |
| download and conversion are surprisingly | | | | Video" button. |
| quick, and once it's finished Vixi | | | | |
| automatically downloads it to your computer. | | | | Once you have the .flv video on your hard |
| Simple. | | | | drive, view it with VLC, or convert it to |
| | | | another format. For Windows users, try Replay |
| There is a ton of good content on YouTube, | | | | Converter. For Mac users we recommend |
| but copyright infringement claims and DMCA | | | | iSquint. There are also a few online file |
| take-down notices mean that any given video | | | | conversion services, but they are not as |
| can disappear at any time. Having a local | | | | reliable as desktop software and you have to |
| copy of the video means you won't lose access | | | | wait for both the upload and the download. |
| if YouTube removes the video from their site. | | | | |