The most basic function you could possibly expect from a smart (or even a dumb) device is the ability to play media of your choosing. Yet there is no way under the sun to compel Google Assistant to simply call up a specific video for you on YouTube. You request a video by name or by URL, and Assistant ignores the request and plays something else instead — whatever it fancies. What's worse, it's not a glitch. It's one of the few consistent, predictable behaviors. After years of silence on this issue despite widespread bewilderment and the many complaints that have been lodged, I must assume that this an intentional feature limitation. But does this make any sense? To the Google team, it does.
