It's because some people don't look titles one at a time. If I have in front of me a list of 30 movies, the fact that I have the cursor over one doesn't mean I'm considering that one. I might be thinking about the name of the movie that my coworker mentioned yesterday, deciding whether I want a comedy or an action flick, or discussing with my girlfriend what to see; or simply reading diagonally the list of 30 movies, which for most of them I'll probably know something about without reading a description. Making me force my attention where my cursor is forces me to consider them one by one instead, and not pause to ponder.
Liking to see a preview is fine - and there could be a button for that, so that I could tell the app to show it. But the way it is (was) I don't have the control, it's the UI who decides where my attention should be, and that's wrong.
The best comparison I can make it's an overeager shop attendant asking "can I help you?" When you're looking at a product - except in this case it doesn't matter how many times you tell them you're just looking, they come back 8 seconds later to ask again.
Liking to see a preview is fine - and there could be a button for that, so that I could tell the app to show it. But the way it is (was) I don't have the control, it's the UI who decides where my attention should be, and that's wrong.
The best comparison I can make it's an overeager shop attendant asking "can I help you?" When you're looking at a product - except in this case it doesn't matter how many times you tell them you're just looking, they come back 8 seconds later to ask again.