Ten years ago today, an earnest young man by the name of Jawed Karim uploaded the world’s first YouTube video.
In the 18-second opus, entitled “Me at the zoo,” the then 26-year-old YouTube co-founder delivered an important message — that elephants were cool because they had “really, really, really long — um — trunks” and that was “pretty much all there is to say.”
If only, Jawed. If only.
Humanity has had a lot to say since then about pretty much everything. And it has also learned a lot — for one thing, that elephant trunks are long, but they’re not that long.
Still, the posting of “Me at the zoo” was a historic moment for our species, marking our first hit of a drug that we’re now hopelessly (and probably forever) addicted to.
So thank you, Jawed, for being that trusting stranger in the dark alley that is the internet. Before I return to YouTube, where I’ll tune out the world and forget that time moves forward, I just have one question: Now that you’re a multimillionaire, do you still think elephants are cool?
