All professionals I've ever talked to seem to agree that videos are a terrible form of reference information

It really depends. For most software things, I'd prefer to have written documentation. If it's purely for reference, then yes I agree text is better.

For working on my bicycle or car, often I like watching videos because you pick up on little ways the pros make the jobs easier - for example, the steps might do a poor job of describing the angle and movement of tyre levers, but it's easily understood via video (just an example).

As a result, it can be a much richer experience when you are building skills as opposed to just following a checklist.