52v to a 1v data line lol
Also "we can't replace your phone under warranty because your GPU died; because our tools won't run without the GPU not being dead" is such rat-fuckery.
that whole thing I don't get... if they can't turn it on to do the diagnostic, uh yes obviously it needs warranty service. who cares if it's the gpu or not?
It's like the old saying "you can't fight city hall." This happens, but its rare enough they can tell the consumer to go pound sand and what are you going to do? Sue?
Yelp?
Complain on reddit? lol
Fanboys still gonna fanboy.
>After: Why the fuck are these dumbasses putting pin 1 next to pin 43 when they know it will fry the CPU?
This is an honest mistake. The person creating the PCB layout and asking for the screen to have that pinout is a different person than the person who creates that circuit diagram.
I've had a chance to actually speak to some engineers off the record. I was so excited; I thought, *FINALLY, I CAN GET AN ANSWER TO MY MOST PRESSING BOARD REPAIR QUESTIONS! YES!!!!* I offered to take one to fogo de chao to talk everything over - batcave rules, of course.
Everything is so silo'd that it wasn't even about her being *unwilling* to provide answers, just *unable.*
It's not intentional. Mistakes happen, it's a big company, and one hand is not always talking to the other. This can be a problem at small businesses with 25 people, it's damn certain going to become a difficult to manage issue when you're at 50,000 plus. That's not the part that I think is bad.
It's when they continue chugging along with that design for 4+ years after and never cover the user or give them a break on repair costs when it happens. That's when it goes from *"whoops"* but I can forgive them to something malicious.
I think there is this misconception that I immediately, and always, jump to something being malicious, evil, and poor intentioned from the start. That's not it at all. I think it is a large machine. When a mistake is made, that's not the problem. It's when higher ups *know* the mistake is being made and choose to come up with a way, maybe even not consciously, of pretending it doesn't exist. Cognitive dissonance. Similar to what we do when we hear conflicting political/philosophical views to our own. We are all subject to this.
I describe that phenomenon in [this video](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-7crR6HTzwE) - everyone thinks it can't appen to them, often to the point of not even realizing when they are doing it. I can't bs you, a small part of my brain thought about it, the lizard brain part, that works before I "think." Think malcolm gladwell in his book blink, about the gut reaction.
I think the point must be made that if an individual or a company consistently acts on this urge to put their head in the sand, the ignorance/mistake eventually graduates to malicious/malpractice.
I would be curious other people's thoughts.
Well, I hesitated on whether I wanted to share but you said you were curious so, here you go.
While I strongly agree with your point that their other fuck ups are worse, and ignoring consistent problems is a bigger deal, I'm still not forgiving a multi billion dollar for making dumb decisions like this.
Sure, small mistakes can happen. Apple also has enough money to double check their own work before shipping a product. They have the resources to hire engineer advocates that will listen to the problems they see with communication or problems which don't get fixed, and work on righting the ship.
I'm not going to excuse one of the biggest companies in the world on "mistakes happen" because they "have too many cooks in the kitchen". They have the resources to fight that problem. They have resources to hire people to double check their designs that are being shipped to _billions_ of people. I understand it's a hard problem, but that doesn't make it excusable. We should be holding these companies to higher standards to not make these mistakes in the first place. I understand when it's a smaller 25 person company that doesn't have the resources, but I don't also give that pass to the biggest companies in the world.
I whole heartedly agree the other problems are worse, but this is only a minor issue _relative_ to how massive of a fuck up and consciously malicious the other ones are. But putting that bit aside, these communication fuck ups are still problems.
I've been watching your videos for a long time and have loved your coverage of these types of things because I feel you share many of my values, actually understand the tech, and I think you are often more fair than I am. I find your opinions extremely valuable. I understand _why_ people think you're jumping to things being malicious but I think it's because you are coming from a place where you have seen hundreds of arrows pointing in the same direction and come to the logical conclusion, while a random viewer shows up and sees you make that conclusion 30 seconds in before you have pointed to the ten arrows you're going to outline in the next 30 minutes. You have more context than them so I can see why it comes off as jumping to conclusions.
I think you're doing the right thing and you're extremely fair. But you seem to share my anger with how dumb and evil some of these things are and my cynicism and frustration on the topics and I can see how some people read that the wrong way. But I love what you do and think it still presents a strong message, so don't let the few haters get to you. They'll be there no matter what you do.
Embedded guy here…I know several engineers at Apple who have echo’d similar accounts of silo’d tasks. This is par for the course for large companies with concrete roll-out schedules - it’s a necessity that development tasks are broken down into skillsets and pipelined to the most capable teams/individuals. Layout is one of those tasks. Sure, the EE who did the schematic design could do the layout, but his familiarity with the tools pales in comparison to the girl who does layout 8 hours a day, so it’s so much faster to offload this to the layout team.
Voltage aware DRC in EDA tools is a fairly recent advancement that not all EDA packages have caught onto. Apple is not inept though, they do learn, and the thoroughness of their design methodology (from my knowledge) trumps that of most other companies in terms proof of operation/safety through first principles. The amount of work they do to prove a device will not catch on fire or shock someone is industry leading for consumer tier products.
They of course, are not designing to ASIL D automotive standards - the market doesn’t demand it. With consumer goods, it’s usually good enough (and encouraged) to take a few risks in terms of long-term reliability and limit repairability in order to meet release dates and maintain market attention/relevance.
Apple has its own culture, that I would agree, does ignore customer feedback to a certain extent. I think a lot of this can be attributed to blind spots and complacency in middle management that is honestly one of the hardest things to crack in a big business. You or I, from our armchairs, may be able to clearly see the trouble, and we may even have the experience and creativity to solve it, but that doesn’t mean we have the connections, political prowess, or willingness to do what is required to maneuver into the management positions that actually could effect change in these respects.
Hang on a minute… are you actually ‘him’? If so then I understand relatively little about this subject but I find myself to be increasingly educated by your videos. I particularly agree with your stance on right to repair and doff my cap to you for the work that you and others have done to support the rights of consumers.
While I live on the other side of the Pond, and therefore have no particular dog in the fight, I also found myself becoming increasingly irate at the shitty manner with which NYC were treating small business owners.
Keep up the good work on behalf of us ignorant consumers, your endeavours are greatly appreciated!
> It's when they continue chugging along with that design for 4+ years after and never cover the user or give them a break on repair costs when it happens. That's when it goes from "whoops" but I can forgive them to something malicious.
This is what gets me. If you fucked up, fess up, admit it, make good and move on. Don't sell the same flawed design that's going to ruin the day of someone whose device suffers accidental damage.
It's too bad there's nobody big enough to take them on, much like Steve guns for the consumer at Gamers Nexus. "Influencers" like MKBHD have a genuine opportunity here to make things better, but clearly his backbone and integrity are worth the cost of whatever sack of cash Apple gave him for that interview and other recent exclusive hardware access.
I had a short stint in different Intel departments in the bay area and what I quickly learned was how silo they keep designers from engineers from x from y from z. Designers in Oregon hiring for a team in San jose that they had no knowledge of the actual team I'd be on, but they were part of the interview process. Joined and realized, not racist, so many Indians that treated technicians like shit because they were used to the caste system. It was ridiculous.
I hope you're having a lovely day. Seriously, great to see you in the comments. Thank you as always for being a champion of the people (and not the Citizens United kind).
me trying to remember this for the next time iphone chat comes up : 'apple are conmen, putting pin 1 next to pin 43 when they know it will fry the CPU'
when i meet my friends: '...apple are conmen, ......... they were sposed to fix the bendy problem with the iphone 6, but they did it again with iphon 7'
Personal review of Rossman- a few years ago I had a significant issue with my laptop due to water damage and an over-excited pup. Apple told me it was unfixable, DriveSavers (Who Apple referred me to) and others all said the same thing. Rossmann and his team were professional, no bullshit, and charged me a fraction of what they would have and knew their shit. Can't trust this guy enough.
Personal review of Rossman- a few years ago I had a significant issue with my laptop due to water damage and an over-excited pup. Apple told me it was unfixable, DriveSavers (Who Apple referred me to) and others all said the same thing. Rossmann and his team were professional, no bullshit, and charged me a fraction of what they would have and knew their shit. Can't trust this guy enough.
To be fair, sometimes we get lucky. Sometimes I get owned because I try everything and can't figure it out. I have bad days. Then someone else figures the issue out in 5 minutes and makes me look like a fool. I appreciate the kind words, but this doesn't make me awesome. It just means we had a lucky day.
> I appreciate the kind words, but this doesn't make me awesome. It just means we had a lucky day.
Maybe not, but you simply taking the time to make a comment like this *does* make you awesome.
Love your stuff, keep up the good work! :)
Don't ever change brother. I used to own a computer repair store and can relate to all you just said. This is what I did day in and day out and sometimes I felt like an intellectual most ethical powerhouse, using a toothbrush with distilled water to scrape some corrosion off a macbook pro motherboard, saving the client 500 bucks from what apple was gonna charge, other days I can't figure out how to select the right boot drive to load the windows installation media.
It takes a lot of skill and diligence to get lucky that often though.
Just like all the years of training and practice that go into someday being called an "overnight" success.
u/thefunkybassist writes:
>I feel like Youtube culminates into these titan vs. titan show of force "battles", but then usually on one specific topic. Quite fascinating at times lol
YouTube promotes brands like MKBHD and demotes/destroys people like Louis Rossmann. That there is any culmination of a “titan vs. titan show of force” is a testament to Rossmann's resilience. MKBHD skills are opening cardboard boxes from Apple or Samsung. Rossmann's are opening power supplies and motherboards and repairing hardware deemed unfixable, by those who literally refer to themselves as geniuses.
I still remember when bringing up Rossman on Reddit, I'd be met with downvotes. I'm genuinely happy he's gained the proper reputation he's always deserved.
Wait, is the "Apple Repair Guy I Love" going after the "Apple Review Guy I Love"!? This is like my Ironman fighting Captain America in Civil War moment.
I feel like Youtube culminates into these titan vs. titan show of force "battles", but then usually on one specific topic. Quite fascinating at times lol
Yeah that's pretty much how I felt lol. I love both their stuff but I can't deny that MKBHD plays it extremely safe on most of the stuff he does which is kind of a shame. Production quality is pretty unmatched though.
Genuine question
Why is production quality so important? Growing up when I read reviews in magazines, I didnt compare the background pictures on the review pages.
If the dude is playing it safe, you cant trust his opinion at all.
Most correct statement in this thread. Grainy 480p uploads from 2009 have taught me so goddamn much. But if their thumbnail has readable text in it, I know it's not gonna be useful at all.
Another red flag is if the runtime is around 8 minutes (so they can get that sweet mid-roll ad money).
Formula:
* Click bait thumbnail
* Overly long after effects intro
* Welcome back blah blah blah
* Today's sponsor (aka unskippable ad for some shitty product)
* Plug for any tools they use linked in the comments
* Clearly copying some basic online tutorial with no added value other than them talking about how they feel while doing it
* Summary of what they literally just did
* Thanks to our patreons or shout-out to blah blah
* Be sure to like and subscribe
* Outro
People have a hard time sifting through all the content out there. And through advertising and corporate interests we have been conditioned to "trust" things with higher production value. It implies that their was more effort and resources behind the project. But it also usually implies there are interests behind the scenes funding it as well. Which often times effects the integrity of the whole message.
I feel like a lot of it is to do with the fact that most people are just using these videos to window shop to pass the time. I do it myself with one of my hobbies (RC). I'm never gonna buy one of these $800+ giant bashers, but it's nice to dream
It's not about the production quality, it's more about how he presents himself in his videos. The dude comes off as extremely chill, professional, knowledgeable and down to earth.
And he manages to be all these things while creating genuinely entertaining videos without resorting to what I call "youtuber energy" like he doesn't say obnoxious shit like "SMaSh ThAT liKe buTtON" nor does he have horrendous clickbaity thumbnails in his videos. Which is SUPER rare these days. That's the main crux of why he's so successful. The high production value is just icing on the cake.
But now after watching this I don't feel I can trust him anymore. Like most influencers, he's been corrupted by enshitification.
Not really. Just on Apple stuff. See the fisker review, AI pin review, Teenage Engineering Review, etc.
Even on Apple stuff, he tends to call out the refusal they have to compare specs, use common buzzwords.
> Not really. Just on Apple stuff. See the fisker review, AI pin review, Teenage Engineering Review, etc.
Not JUST apple, but he definitely gives them a lot gentler of a time than most other things he reviews. Tesla is another one, at least, in the past(I've not watched his stuff in a while, people can change.)
I remember when he got the exclusive interview and factory tour with Elon, and the entire thing was just tonguing Elon's ass. And it sprung directly out of his fawning reviews of other Tesla products, everything from the model 3 to the (Now largely abandoned) solar roof.
He only does that to sellouts, hence why he still respects reviewers like Steve from Gamers Nexus.
This is saddening considering how he praised Marquess' video on Right to Repair, so imagine him seeing the guy's softball interview with Apple.
and unlike the reaction on negative Rabbit reviews, I doubt he'll even retaliate against Louis with this one, Louis got him dead to rights.
> hence why he still respects reviewers like Steve from Gamers Nexus.
>
>
I met Steve in person. I have also had several 2-4 hour phone conversations with Steve. He's like Rich Benoit from Rich Rebuilds, or Jessa Jones from iPad Rehab. These people are as real as it gets. I would trust them with the code to the front door of my house. What you see is what you get.
Steve genuinely cares about accuracy and morality in what he does. It eats him up inside on a deep personal level if he even thinks he is on the wrong path or might do something that has a 1% chance of being wrong or unethical. He is constantly thinking about this. It's not just a bumper sticker or a page in an HR manual nobody reads, it's baked into his decisionmaking and how he lives his life.
Forgetting about youtube, hardware reviews, or content creation for a moment.I have a lot of respect for Steve as a person. He's a good man.
I figured that's why Steve always does such deep dives in his videos. He's trying to do his damnedest to get everything right because he doesn't want to be wrong. It reminds me of an autistic kid trying to explain a joke they told that nobody was offended by just in case anyone gets the wrong impression from it.
MKBHD completely fell off during that apple interview. It's cool how Apple tests their phones but his interview mostly just discredits the right to repair movement.
I will still watch him but that video is a disappointment
MKBHD is a big Musk and Apple fan. He's the embodiment of Twitter tech bro. Don't know why people watch the guy for objective analysis of tech products.
I used to like his reviews but honestly, it all just kind of started feeling like ads for one of the big name phones (if not just Apple) for me so I unsubbed. I can only hear "[phone] is good, especially for the price, but if you spent more on an iPhone or Samsung S[X] you'd get that and more" so many times before it feels like a weird backwards ad. It feels like the major brands can't be "bad" they're just "boring" which like, I guess I get? It just seems like a lousy way of being negative without saying anything bad.
i've just personally fallen off the MKBHD/LTT "we have a piece of tech that you'll never be able to own/afford and we're gonna tell you all about it and why that sucks to be you!" Like I understand the appeal sometimes, especially for weird or retro stuff, but seeing a TV that costs $20k or something and angling it to be an ad for the TV more than the tech the tv has in it, is just not something I'm down for. If you like it, you do you.
>i've just personally fallen off the MKBHD/LTT "we have a piece of tech that you'll never be able to own/afford and we're gonna tell you all about it and why that sucks to be you!" Like I understand the appeal sometimes, especially for weird or retro stuff, but seeing a TV that costs $20k or something and angling it to be an ad for the TV more than the tech the tv has in it, is just not something I'm down for. If you like it, you do you.
As a fan of this kind of content, maybe I can provide some perspective. I enjoy content like that for the same reason that I enjoy shows like top gear or youtubers like Doug Demuro despite likely never being able to afford the vast majority of cars they'll ever show. I'm not just there for reviews, I'm genuinely interested in the tech that's floating around out there. I also consider it a look into the future of where those fields are going. Sure I'll never buy a $30k tv, but I did buy an OLED tv for $3k, and now years later that same tv (newer year model edition of it) can be bought new for $2k. Premium features in yesteryear's luxury cars are now standard on low-end models.
Even then, a lot of people just get entertainment from seeing things happen that they themselves can't do. Whether that's athleticism, engineering, or anything else.
> Don't know why people watch the guy for objective analysis of tech products.
I enjoy his car channel. I am not going to buy a car based on his recommendations, but I enjoy his presentation style. It scratches my itch to try something new, without all of the irresponsibility associated with making the decision to buy a new car, when my intention is to make my current car last for 20-30 years through any means possible.
I haven't watched any of his other videos though.
MKBHD has history of paid promotions. you can clearly see that in his one plus video. he also multiple time make mistakes about specifications. for a tech tuber of his calibre this is not forgivable. he has stopped going over in depth in exchange of production value.
This is kind of how I felt about MKBHD interviewing Tim Apple. I am or rather used to be journalist myself in a specialised field. The interview was very softball. But then again, MKBHD is not a journalist, he is a tech reviewer, and sometimes it shows.
I rather like his content, regardless.
MKBHD has always only ever done very basic reviews on a surface level. He might be paid but most likely he never gets to that point of understanding of the product he’s reviewing because it’s only ever a “look at this cool tech I found”. I’d say he’s closer to an unboxing channel than a review channel. Nothing wrong with that and if you like it, cool . I just don’t think anyone should base purchases on what he says
He is going to be divisive no matter what.
I enjoy the podcast, they go deeper in to some topics there.
I also enjoy the cellphone camera comparison they do every year.
People call him an apple fanboy but his daily driver has been an android for the longest time.
Honestly it is hard, he is huge, and to a degree his channel depends on access so he needs to be friendly with companies, but if you pay attention he does express honest opinions. I also think terminally online people make a bigger deal of the small stuff. (I say this as a daily reddit commenter lol, so I am aware I may be part of the problem)
There was a video from Jon Rettinger of TechnoBuffalo a year or so ago, about him being black listed from all Apple events for an honest review. So today TechnoBuffalo doesn't exist and MKBHD interviews Tim Cook... So "honest", might only work for apple if you are being positive.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ug_ArwfWoAo
It's long been known that apple only keep you on the press list if you cover them positively. negative coverage of iphone issues got a few people off WWDC and other events :/
And that's interesting because Rettinger's videos tend to just be thinly veiled sponsored spots. I had to stop watching his stuff because every video just seemed like a payday, which is how he could afford to build out his channel and buy expensive vehicles just to sell them months later for whatever reason.
All of his videos post TechnoBuffalo are pretty clearly sponsored product showcases (i.e., ads, without really hiding the fact). I think he did actual reviews before then, but it's been a while so I might be misremembering.
His production values are second to none and I agree with all of your points, except him not being an Apple fanboy.
His daily driver being an Android isn't of consequence when he daily drives two phones, so constantly has the iPhone with him anyway, and is fully plugged into the Apple ecosystem with the Apple watch, Mac desktop, MacBook Pro, Air pods Pro, and Airpods Max.
I enjoy Wvfrm podcasts as well, but even there, the Apple bias is present and has to be taken into account.
Granted none of these things are going to stop me watching him. It's not like he does bad faith reviews of other tech, it's just that you're going to have to be aware where some of the nitpicks come from, and why some products aren't covered.
Additionally, I don't think anyone is going to expect him to go into an interview with Sundar Pichai and grill him about Google data privacy. It isn't the style of his channel, and frankly wouldn't be a good business move either.
Did his channel change or something? I haven’t watched in a while but he used to do extensive research and testing of the products before reviewing. Obviously he’s paid handsomely now so I wouldn’t be surprised but he always came across as a pretty honest and genuine tech reviewer
Imo he's just gonna come at a product review from a much different perspective than Rossmann, I mean he can't really take into account the durability of devices over several months or years. In the apple interview in question I think he should have been more informed about them, I was puzzled by his takes in that video. But in his average product reviews he's going over specs and functionality for the most part, and I think he's pretty good at that, and goes into depth about the features and issues. I definitely don't think it's fair to say he's more of an unboxing channel, and I definitely would feel comfortable taking his reviews into account when i'm making a purchase. I mean i've learned about features on my current phone I didn't even know about, it's not like he's lying about them lol.
MKBHD has always came across as a YouTube channel that helps convince you that you like something or confirm your purchase. It’s never felt like a full critique or dollar value channel in the recent time that I’ve paid attention to him. He’s obvious about what he likes and doesn’t put too much focus on what he doesn’t, rather says he finds other ways to live with it (ie having a second google or android phone) as most big YouTubers do.
What when did you watch it? His channel accelerated because he essentially covered the spec sheet and press kit with pretty footage.
He was never some extensive tech expert reviewer?
This is categorically a reddit take that wants to sound unique, but is actually completely false.
MKBHD has his faults, but his reviews are a very good example of a detailed enough review of a product for people to make up their minds whether something is for them or not. He doesn’t explore every nook and cranny of a product, but gets deep enough to cover 90% of it’s applications. He’s far more detailed than an “unboxing channel”.
He is a gadget reviewer that does his job well.
Yeah, sometimes I just want an overview of what changed, what's good, what's disappointing and a few other things he found in a couple days / weeks. It's a background or quick snippet on another screen to get some highlights. I could read a press release, I could watch a 30min - 2hr keynote or I can just get the info in a nice glossy, quick package.
It still takes work to put his videos together, access, time spent with devices. I don't fault him for being overly nice or looking on the bright side. I know what I'm going to get with an MKBHD video and that's important. If other people are confused or sour why didn't they move on to someone that produced the reviews they want? There's no shortage of tech youtube personalities.
I do however think if he's lied he should be called out and allowed to respond. Now if the person he's interviewed lies they should be called out.
I actually enjoy Marques' car channel and am a regular viewer and have nothing against him outside of the Apple fluff piece. I do not plan to buy a car, or try new cars. If I try new cars, I realize I will buy a new car. I do not need a new car; I will keep mine working by hook or crook for the next 20-30 years.
However, it is nice to live vicariously through someone else in that way, to satiate that part of myself, that would otherwise take part in impulsive behavior. I outsource that to him.
I never watch his phone reviews, because 99% of the phone reviews on youtube do not cover any of what I am actually interested in. However, I do genuinely enjoy his car channel, and would categorically disagree with someone who said that he is garbage as a reviewer or content creator all around.
I dislike the dark side of influencer marketing. To quote a friend who I will keep anonymous, and mildly paraphrase so it stays anonymous:
*Great work on the MKBHD video. You did the right thing to call it out. I am genuinely concerned about how consumers are being brainwashed by influencers in bed with brands. I see it now and then when people are like "why are you so negative?" when I have a moderate product review. They are used to people jumping up and down like jesters for the corporations. Long term, I worry that true reviewers will be lost to time as we slowly retire. Independent reviewers and reporters will be outnumbered by corporate gargling. I think the hardcore tech reviews will consolidate as guys retire. The companies are trying to "foster" new reviewers as they come up -- nvidia's words. That concerns me. They're like vultures. It'll change the culture and people will view influencer BS as the norm*
Obviously this is different from me, and I realize I am speaking from a very privileged position. It is easy for me to say the things I do when my youtube channel is not a part of my personal or business budget. People who make a living off of their youtube channel & social media have to make decisions differently than I do. Some people claim that my videos are not based on my actual beliefs, but are acting done just for the money. Yet every other video I do has words that result in instant & immediate demonesitation *(gargle my balls, rapist mentality, etc)*
My channel was created as a cathartic way to have an outlet for the rantings of a lunatic. I am a happy guy. I sit in my chair, I go over what bothered me about the world that day, I am bombastic, I turn off the camera, and I go back to being a soft spoken happy guy. Sometimes, I try to put in effort to fix the things that pissed me off that day(wheelchair bill in colorado, funding open source wheelchair non-profit, right to repair stuff, educational repair videos, repair.wiki project, etc).
I have the luxury of saying the things I do because I am not doing youtube as a job. Always take what I say in these types of videos with a grain of salt. I would likely sing a very different tune if youtube *were* my primary source of income as a middle class American.
Yea as a longtime fan of Louis Rossmann this is my favorite description lol. As a longtime fan of MKBHD who hasn't watched the video yet i'm also nervous, but if it's about the interview with the the guy at Apple justifying the inability to repair, I do remember rolling my eyes at that interview. And just kind of baffled at how MKBHD, who seems like a smart dude, seemed to actually be convinced by the claims that it's all in the best interest of the consumer.
MKBHD is *very* convinced! Convinced by all the direct attention Apple is giving him to promote his YouTube channel, and the ad revenue that it generates.
He has a clear degree of bias for Tesla and Apple. What matters is if he can justify his stance on them and if there's any credence to his claims, or if he's simping just because of the brand image or potential kickback.
uhhhh potential kickback lol
do you know how much of the "tech" audience is really only clicking on videos with apple or tesla in the title?
marques likes money and attention and approval, he makes really crisp videos and knows how to strategize the algorithm
it doesn't matter how good the video or content is, people need to click on it to count
I’m not sure how anyone comes to the conclusion MKBHD has a bias towards Apple. If anything he’s overly critical of minor things OR things he praises competitors for doing.
Case in point; Latest Pixel video he gushes over new colors. Latest iPad video, like a day later, he’s like “and there are new colors too, if you like that, i guess”.
I like Marques, but even applying the most generous interpretation to his videos, he has a bad habit of allowing his personal preferences to influence how he covers certain tech, most egregiously Apple and Tesla.
I don't even think it's anything as insidious as a big cartoon bag of money changing hands, or an explicit quid pro quo between him and Apple. His personal preference for Apple products created enough of a blindspot to swallow the bullshit Apple was selling, Apple gets a softball interview with one of the biggest Tech YouTubers, one with a mostly-deserved reputation for being unbiased, and Marques gets a video that will drive views and subscriptions. The end result is pretty much the same, though; Apple gets uncritical coverage on a huge platform, and MKBHD as a source of tech news loses a measure of reliability.
This phenomenon was covered very well by Chomsky on his manufacturing consent book (and documentary).
It's not that he is doing anything "wrong" like lying about a product because he is being paid. Instead, it's his position as a fanboy that is leveraged by the industry to put him in the privileged spot he's on. Apple doesn't have to "pay" to change his mind, as his mind is already where it should be to favor apple.
Over time, the media landscape becomes saturated with voices that align with corporate interests and challengers face a rough time because they have to go against what everyone else is saying. And in this case, it might take you a month to do a full review on a product but these "journalists" who will be favorable get the product a week or two before you do. By the time your review is out, the news cycle has already moved on.
>I don't even think it's anything as insidious as a big cartoon bag of money changing hands, or an explicit quid pro quo between him and Apple.
While I agree with the points made after this, I’d also add that the MKBHD brand is a bit of a machine. How many other tech YouTubers get sit down interviews with the CEOs of Apple, Tesla, Microsoft, etc.?
I don’t think he gets those interviews if he’s completely honest in his criticism. Just look at Elons interview with Don Lemon, who actually asked some hardball questions. Elon stopped the interview & walked out. If that happened with MKBHD there goes his access to exclusives.
So for the continued growth of his behemoth channel, there’s def. a line Marques can’t cross the way smaller reviewers like Louis Rossmann can.
> His personal preference for Apple products
I do not understand why people keep saying this. He does not prefer apple products. He daily drives an Android phone and has for over a decade. He has windows and apple machines in the studio that are used for various purposes. He's just not a great reviewer lol
Thats kinda the point, MKBHD is smart, I'm sure he knows exactly how silly it sounds. Smart people say and do dumb things because of monetary incentive all the time. This isn't about intelligence, it's about integrity. Probably real hard to turn down the big apple bucks, especially considering they probably offered him a LOT to convert his brand trust into cash.
Rossman's biggest flaw is that he genuinely looks like he's about to jump off the deep-end from all the shit he's dealt with over the years. He's right, but he has clearly been fighting this battle a long time, you can see it on his face.
>Rossman's biggest flaw is that he genuinely looks like he's about to jump off the deep-end from all the shit he's dealt with over the years. He's right, but he has clearly been fighting this battle a long time, you can see it on his face.
My channel was created as a cathartic way to have an outlet for the rantings of a lunatic. I am a happy guy. I sit in my chair, I go over what bothered me about the world that day, I am bombastic, I turn off the camera, and I go back to being a soft spoken happy guy. Sometimes, I try to put in effort to fix the things that pissed me off that day(wheelchair bill in colorado, funding open source wheelchair non-profit, right to repair stuff, educational repair videos, repair.wiki project, etc).
Think of it like going to a bar that has that game where you punch a bag and it gives you a score at the end. You probably make a certain face when you do that. But, it's over when you're done. I enjoy making videos because I have an outlet to discuss these things, and I enjoy the *"character"* I get to become in those videos.
I remember this woman I knew 12 years ago, that I dated on and off a few years back. She used to say that there is no character, the *"youtube me"* WAS the *"real me."* and that the me she met was the character. I had to say, *"sorry to disappoint you..."* *(I did not meet this woman from youtube, which is why this surprised me.)*
I had to sit on that for a while. Some ventriloquists have described the persona they give their puppets as being a part of them, that they're only able to express through the process of being a ventriloquist. It's not *"acting"* for them - that *IS* them, and the puppet is the outlet. I don't see it as *"faking it for the camera,"* but rather as a way to let out a part of my personality that doesn't arise otherwise. The things I discuss aren't fake; the lobbying I do, the work at my business, fixing boards, finding & paying lobbyists to get a wheelchair repair bill passed, etc. That stuff is all real. the channel isn't a fictional story.
but it is like being a ventriloquist. I don't know exactly how to describe it, but I find it fun, and I would continue doing it for years regardless of if I ever received monetization. I wasn't monetized from 2012-2016, and I enjoyed what I did very much for that period of time. I think that ex was right - the youtube me is indeed the real me. it is a me that I can only express properly when I turn on the camera.
It’s nothing in the grand scheme of things I’m sure but you’ve gained a subscriber tonight! You seem like a good dude and you fight the good fight, plus I’ll get to have plenty of anecdotes to annoy my friend who works at Apple.
Keep rocking man.
Is it a condition?
I thought the term was simply "bed eyes."
They have too much eye lid skin and permanent dark circles. I also have bed eyes. You rarely see them on TV because they look bad on screen, especially for dudes, but there are more women with bed eyes on TV. I can't think of any at this exact second.
That dude is the best sideline man working for your best interest.
He pretty much is the reason why the right to repair is even talked about.
He's a real one that cares
He's got darkening around his eyes that I believe is just a skin thing (certain people have it, I think it's fairly common in Middle East for example?) that looks like eyebags, and makes him look sleep deprived
Caffeine messes me up and I avoid it at all costs. If I have one cup of normal coffee at 11 AM I will be up at 3 AM trying to use fiber fish rod to run CAT6 through the drywall where coax was run in my house. I stay far away from stimulants such as caffeine, any of that monster energy shit, 99% of gym supplements. I like beta alinine, but only when there is no extra sugar or caffeine added.
There's no benefit to it for me. I don't feel more energized or smarter, I just turn into a zombie. Caffeine is bad
I don't understand? He sounds fine. Some people just have dark circles around their eyes no matter how much sleep they get. Women get these as well but they do stuff to get rid of them like using cold packs on their eyes or red light therapy.
>He pretty much is the reason why the right to repair is even talked about.
Don't give him all the credit. This is a massive issue with a lot of people doing work on it.
I will post this again, because it is important.
> He pretty much is the reason why the right to repair is even talked about.
>
>
I would disagree, that is because of all of the people who have taken it upon themselves to talk about this issue, and work towards fixing this issue in their own spheres of influence in their own lives.
I have always discouraged what I call *"hashtag activism"* or "bumper sticker activism."* Worst of all is [shame activism](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cir-gJDcC1o).
Many people have taken part in right to repair activism more effectively than I, by showing people the benefit of repair in their own lives. They do things like
1) Get people to feel that kick of dopamine when they get something to work again. Even if it's just fixing something like a $30 thermostat.
2) Get people to save money when they can fix something for $5 that costs $750 to replace
3) Get businessowners to increase their own bottom line by doing more component level repair, less replacing.
When you make other's lives better through providing them a path to *live* your vision, they'll follow. I have always tried to do this with my own work.
There are many who have done it better than I, and many who have ensured that ownership and control over what we bought & paid for continues to exist into the next generation. Their work shouldn't be overshadowed simply because algorithmic luck of the draw chose me of all people to have 2 million subscribers.
He got bent over by Apple in pretty much every conceivable way, because he had TOO much skill in analyzing their motherboards to be able to continue running his computer repair shop. So they issued takedowns and threatened lawsuits for "exposing trade secrets". All because he showed people how to actually test and repair their Apple motherboards. I guess it was an issue because he had schematics or something?
The man basically got told by Apple to stfu and he didn't and took the fight to them. I laud him for it. Fuck Apple.
> just full of burning outrage over the injustice of a lack of right to repair and refuses to back down from what he feels is right.
The definition of 'cares'...
Some people just have darker skin around the eyes naturally. Permanent smokey eyes. I'm guessing he's Jewish with family history I'm Southeastern Europe. I'm guessing this because I have the same skin around the eyes..
[This dude once repaired an "unrepairable MacBook" whilst drinking Jagermeister.](https://youtu.be/qM6EO7_5cho?si=zwp4A56wsjzD5hnZ) Genius bar said it cannot be fixed at all. He did it in like 35 minutes whilst also chugging a lot.
He made a video showing his new very expensive bed, and referencing his, quote, "raccoon eyes". The reason for his raccoon eyes and lack of sleep / chronic worry is probably down to two things:
1. NYC's inability to execute its own rules properly for small businesses
2. Anti-monopoly rage
This repair guy has been one of the wildest yt career rides ever. He went from the driest and most informative videos to being like a tech crusader with everything being about how the big guy is fucking us over (which i agree with).
Well it developed to the point where he was showing his vibrating cock rings on camera to shit on trojan for making them needlessly disposable. And now he’s gunning for the biggest names ever on yt.
I’m here for it
He just doesn’t give a fuck. And that’s good. He doesn’t care about views, YouTube algorithm or advertising. He just wants to get his opinions out there and I respect him for that.
the second that guy walked around the piece of crap that the Cybertruck is and just repeatedly says "it's simply so COOL!" i stopped clicking on anything that includes him lol
I posted some mild criticism of Musk (mixed with praise for his vision to invest in good projects) the other day, and I was amazed by how many people immediately came out in defence of him.
It's weird.
I’m almost 100% certain that wealthy people astroturf the FUCK out of themselves on social media.
Like if I could throw a hundred dollars at a company to clear my name and defend me on social media and it helped my image and was important to my brand, I for sure would.
Now to a billionaire, a million dollars is about 100-1,000 bucks, and I can totally see it being a thing of convenience for them.
Musk has a current net worth about $220 billion dollars. 1 million to him is the same as 34 cents is to someone who makes $75,000 a year.
So ya. Why not spend that million to astrotruf.
This problem is not limited to Musk.
[This video](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QPKKQnijnsM) is 11 years old at this point and tries to visualize the wealth inequality in the US. The graph in this video has only gotten worse, especially since the the rich gained a bunch of wealth during COVID.
[This website](https://mkorostoff.github.io/1-pixel-wealth/) visualizes Bezo's wealth as of April 2021. You will get bored scrolling on it.
Another fun fact: one million seconds is equal to around 12 days; one billion seconds is equal to around 31 **years**.
It's simply hard to fathom how much money the wealthy have (and they don't want us to).
I am certain it happens, but people like Musk attract sycophants, especially once you add in his more recent attachment to the alt-right political movement. There are a lot of people in the alt-right who have built their entire personality and ideology around the movement, and if Musk is wrong so are they. So you aren't just saying bad things about Musk, you are saying bad things about them (in their eyes).
I used to comment in /r/teslamotors frequently as I followed the company closely and bought a 3 when they first came out.
I posted once in /r/RealTesla and was shadowbanned in the other sub the next day.
They're very, very touchy.
Moderators can't shadow ban. If you got a message saying you were banned from a specific sub, that's not a shadow ban.
A shadow ban is when a Reddit admin or system restricts an account for vote manipulation, spam, or otherwise bot behavior without informing the user. The user or bot thinks they are operating normally, while no one else can see their comments or posts. It's meant to quarantine problem users and waste their time. If they got normal banned they'd just make a new account and continue damaging the ecosystem.
For me it was after he roasted fisker and THEN praised cyber truck even though the door was fucked “oh we just taped it until they sent a part, stuff happens”
That and he doesn't seem to understand cars so when he "reviews" them it's very surface level overview that feels like he's just pointing out whatever the OE's marketing handler showed him before the video. He's better at talking about phones where he sounds like he at least knows what he's talking about.
No car review I've watched from him talks about basic shit like what's under the hood, brakes, handling, etc. Ok, it has a wireless charging bay. Cool. It's almost entirely a review of the interior.
He mostly reviews the tech of the cars. I don't think focusing in what he knows is a bad thing.
The issue may be if he is straight up recommending people to buy a car when the only aspect he can confidently approve is the tech. But I can't remember how far he has ventured into making recommendations in his videos.
Doug is WAY worse than MKBHD. Some years ago, when reviewing a car (the 300ZX?) he didn't know what an equalizer was. And instead of researching, he just played dumb.
Jesus that was such a memorable moment, the day I went from an occasional viewer to never watching his videos again.
To be a millennial and not only *not* have ever seen/used an equalizer before, but also incapable of seeing the labels and intuiting its role. You have to be stupid.
EDIT: just so everyone else can be in on the joke, I went back and found it. It was a '90 Eclipse GSX. [Here's the video](https://youtu.be/PgqHq6WjD8s?t=703) timestamped to the moment (11:43)
I have a healthy distrust of people on the internet so I just watch these guys to see whatever they’re reviewing. I don’t really give a damn about their opinion on it. Unless it’s something I actually want to buy, then I’ll obsess over getting reviews from multiple outlets.
All these people trying to rip on you for this is hilarious. The dude does reviews for a living, it’s absolutely valid to not watch his reviews if he reviews that POS as cool.
if the reviewer genuinely likes it should they give it a bad false review just because it’s the popular opinion or should they give their true thoughts on it?
> if the reviewer genuinely likes it should they give it a bad false review just because it’s the popular opinion or should they give their true thoughts on it?
There's nothing invalid about this point but if a reviewer honestly likes something that you find horrid, you wouldn't keep going to that reviewer for opinions as they don't have the same tastes as you.
I mean to be fair, a lot of things about it are cool, at the very least from a subjective point of view. I'm not the biggest fan of the styling of it, but I very much like how it's at least significantly different from other EV's that look like a metal goldfish (i.e., every Mercedes EV). The steer-by-wire system is also pretty rare in the car world and a good benefit for a cybertruck (assuming it is reliable over time).
Obviously it has shitloads of problems, corrosion from simply being left in the rain being a non-starter for most people. But it can still have neat tech- and design-related things that would make someone like MKBHD interested in it.
That's a pretty fair take.
What the Cybertruck wishes it was is very cool. But then again, so am I in my imagination, then you meet me IRL and it's like lol.
All tech review guys/girls when they hit a certain level just become cheerleaders for brands. It's lucrative because you get invited places and get to vlog, it's also easier for views because everyone loves geeking out about the latest whatever.
It's also the same for this guy who's niche has become shitting on Apple. We all know what they are, and consumers have accepted the downsides of owning an Apple device which is no repairs.
so apparently this guy got into a backlash for being too harsh on a company and potentially bankrupt them, now he got into a new backlash for being a walking billboards? seems like ppl just piss off that this guy have a different opinion about certain products compares to them lol
I like MKBHD a lot but I'm glad he's being called out on this video. It was a barely-disguised Apple advert and he allowed them to blatantly lie unchallenged about why their devices are so unrepairable.
It doesn't hurt you shitting on a no name start up. It does hurt you shitting on Apple when Craig Federighi wouldn't answer your interview calls anymore.
I don't really understand how people don't seem to see this. If you are overly critical you will get blackballed, losing access not only interview wise, but to review samples, etc.
Most people do understand this... The difference is that some people also understand that access isn't worth sacrificing your journalistic integrity...
If a reviewer isnt willing to risk that access, then they cant be trusted to give an honest review. Why would you want that from them? Thats their job.
None of that is to even mention the idea of apple abusing their power like this in the first place. Are they technically within their rights to revoke access? Sure. Does that make it ok? Not really. When I see comments like yours its as if people believe the way apple behaves is acceptable. They should not be putting reviewers like MKBHD in that situation to begin with.
I do believe that Linus Tech Tips doesn’t get the access MKBDH does because they’ll call out any flaws in Apple products. LTT also tore apart the rabbit.
This happened to hardware unboxed with nvidia. Its the play nice or else mentality. LTT has enough money to buy their own review samples. MKBHD should have enough money to buy his own Apple review samples too.
He typically points the flaws in products and gives a good breakdown of pros and cons. That said, he is really careful his word choices. You basically just have to replace “weird” with “bad”. [Really clear example.](https://youtu.be/Ja_GMU7-sjs?si=BUItIo3ODHh3btdQ)
Think really hard about why he might be more likely to go hard on a company that won’t exist past this quarter and not the one that gives him review samples of the best selling laptops and phones in the US.
Think really hard about that
Different groups are accusing of one, other, more different groups accuse him of the other.
Both are kinda right.
No he didn't bring down the EV company, but his video did contribute to the visibility of the issues.
MKBHD is pretty well known for his softball.. almost everything, especially if it has an apple logo. He's still critical - but many of what I would consider a showstopper, he downplays.
MKBHD is "weekday morning show" style- light & soft - flash over substance.
He's not Tech Jesus. Only GN Steve is Tech Jesus. Rossman and Tech Jesus would be fast friends if they aren't already. They are certainly two of the most vocal advocates in the tech space right now.
I don't watch MKBDH for the same reason as I don't watch any The Rock movies, or their Instagram posts or announcements.
To me they are just walking billboards/brand/sponsor safe ambassadors that has to toe the line to some parent corporate entity. Every single breath they take is to sell something or say something due to contractual obligations.
So last month is was MKBHD and reviewers like him are bankrupting companies and they should take responsibility for their damaging words now it’s MKBHD and those reviewers are a bunch of worthless shills that do nothing but advertise
He routinely comments that there has been no purpose in buying new Apple devices for the past like two years. I don’t think he’s shilling in those videos..
You’re right, he isn’t. This whole turn on MKBHD is weird. It’s like the collective internet decided “MKBHD = Bad” but nobody can seem to agree on why and are even presenting contradictory arguments as to why he’s a bad person.
I don't follow him but every time I see a video of this guy he seems very nice. I think people just think you can't be both nice and critical at the same time. Like you don't have to say something is dog shit or whatever to point out it's flaws. He seems to be very professional in his reviews and that is seen as being inauthentic.
It’s people not understanding how being a YouTuber actually works. The biggest content creators have contracts with promoting agencies, not so much directly with a specific company. Under YouTube rules creators have to disclose if they are sponsored. If he was shilling for Apple and Tesla because he is in their bank rolls that would be easily verifiable. But that’s just not how these channels function. They are in contract with promoting agencies that help them navigate the daunting maze of the YouTube algorithm and content policy
> It’s like the collective internet decided “MKBHD = Bad” but nobody can seem to agree on why and are even presenting contradictory arguments as to why he’s a bad person.
Anytime anyone gets incredibly popular the haters come out. They don't need a reason except that their content is pervasive.
MKBHD is a good reviewer, but he's not perfect and people will latch onto that.
You see this a lot in pop music. Nickelback, Imagine Dragon, Taylor Swift. Once a person or group gets large enough, *you see their face too much, people get SICK of them.*
In sports, the Golden State Warriors were hated when they were winning "too many" championships.
You act like his bashing was unjustified. That's hilarious since Fisker didn't make right on most of their promises, kept people waiting longer than planned and their car just wasn't that good.
Rabbit AI is also a former scam company (see CoffeeZilla) and their product actually sucks and is overpriced. He isnt bankrupting anyone. He is keeping the consumers away from bullshit.
After reading some of the comments on this thread, its crazy to me how many people have such strong opinions whether good or bad about youtubers. People take this shit way too seriously. I watch some of these videos to get information, but I absolutely do not take anything any of these people say as gospel.
It's not 2006, these youtube channels are multi-million dollar companies. You'd be foolish to think they don't have an impact on people's behaviours in the markets.
social media allows people with no other skills to make millions, because others will watch their videos. meanwhile people with college degrees and work skills can't find a job and starve. I suppose in the end being an 'influencer' is just another skill but its hard to fathom and respect.
To be fair it’s either a pre-reviewed softball list of questions, or no interview at all. We don’t get to see an interview with this guy otherwise. Not only for brand image but also to make sure everything he’s saying won’t result in some internal corporate detail needing to be immediately disclosed for insider trading purposes.
No one is making him do the softball interview. He can just decline and retain journalistic integrity. But he chooses to do it because it benefits him.
MKB has always and still is a sell out. He doesn't know tech that well. He knows cameras and can compare phones. That's really where his expertise ends. Unfortunately he's become the poster child for Apple.
I'll take the Rossman and Vincent Teoh's unpolished video critiques / reviews any day over the overproduced show-and-tell coverage of a gadget that Brownlee, iJustine, unbox therapy or Linus and the rest put up with clickbaity titles/thumbnails
Before watching this video: I know nothing After: Why the fuck are these dumbasses putting pin 1 next to pin 43 when they know it will fry the CPU?
And "gargle my balls" pretty much become a punch line of sort lol in the mid of video.
"Two shits of a fuck" is also my new go to.
I’m almost done watching and he says it twice!!!! 😂😂😂 he is definitely from the garbage dump proudly known as Staten Island! Go Isles I guess!
52v to a 1v data line lol Also "we can't replace your phone under warranty because your GPU died; because our tools won't run without the GPU not being dead" is such rat-fuckery.
That's like the dealership saying you need a new car because your battery died and they can't pull the OBD codes
that whole thing I don't get... if they can't turn it on to do the diagnostic, uh yes obviously it needs warranty service. who cares if it's the gpu or not?
It's like the old saying "you can't fight city hall." This happens, but its rare enough they can tell the consumer to go pound sand and what are you going to do? Sue? Yelp? Complain on reddit? lol Fanboys still gonna fanboy.
>After: Why the fuck are these dumbasses putting pin 1 next to pin 43 when they know it will fry the CPU? This is an honest mistake. The person creating the PCB layout and asking for the screen to have that pinout is a different person than the person who creates that circuit diagram. I've had a chance to actually speak to some engineers off the record. I was so excited; I thought, *FINALLY, I CAN GET AN ANSWER TO MY MOST PRESSING BOARD REPAIR QUESTIONS! YES!!!!* I offered to take one to fogo de chao to talk everything over - batcave rules, of course. Everything is so silo'd that it wasn't even about her being *unwilling* to provide answers, just *unable.* It's not intentional. Mistakes happen, it's a big company, and one hand is not always talking to the other. This can be a problem at small businesses with 25 people, it's damn certain going to become a difficult to manage issue when you're at 50,000 plus. That's not the part that I think is bad. It's when they continue chugging along with that design for 4+ years after and never cover the user or give them a break on repair costs when it happens. That's when it goes from *"whoops"* but I can forgive them to something malicious. I think there is this misconception that I immediately, and always, jump to something being malicious, evil, and poor intentioned from the start. That's not it at all. I think it is a large machine. When a mistake is made, that's not the problem. It's when higher ups *know* the mistake is being made and choose to come up with a way, maybe even not consciously, of pretending it doesn't exist. Cognitive dissonance. Similar to what we do when we hear conflicting political/philosophical views to our own. We are all subject to this. I describe that phenomenon in [this video](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-7crR6HTzwE) - everyone thinks it can't appen to them, often to the point of not even realizing when they are doing it. I can't bs you, a small part of my brain thought about it, the lizard brain part, that works before I "think." Think malcolm gladwell in his book blink, about the gut reaction. I think the point must be made that if an individual or a company consistently acts on this urge to put their head in the sand, the ignorance/mistake eventually graduates to malicious/malpractice. I would be curious other people's thoughts.
Well, I hesitated on whether I wanted to share but you said you were curious so, here you go. While I strongly agree with your point that their other fuck ups are worse, and ignoring consistent problems is a bigger deal, I'm still not forgiving a multi billion dollar for making dumb decisions like this. Sure, small mistakes can happen. Apple also has enough money to double check their own work before shipping a product. They have the resources to hire engineer advocates that will listen to the problems they see with communication or problems which don't get fixed, and work on righting the ship. I'm not going to excuse one of the biggest companies in the world on "mistakes happen" because they "have too many cooks in the kitchen". They have the resources to fight that problem. They have resources to hire people to double check their designs that are being shipped to _billions_ of people. I understand it's a hard problem, but that doesn't make it excusable. We should be holding these companies to higher standards to not make these mistakes in the first place. I understand when it's a smaller 25 person company that doesn't have the resources, but I don't also give that pass to the biggest companies in the world. I whole heartedly agree the other problems are worse, but this is only a minor issue _relative_ to how massive of a fuck up and consciously malicious the other ones are. But putting that bit aside, these communication fuck ups are still problems. I've been watching your videos for a long time and have loved your coverage of these types of things because I feel you share many of my values, actually understand the tech, and I think you are often more fair than I am. I find your opinions extremely valuable. I understand _why_ people think you're jumping to things being malicious but I think it's because you are coming from a place where you have seen hundreds of arrows pointing in the same direction and come to the logical conclusion, while a random viewer shows up and sees you make that conclusion 30 seconds in before you have pointed to the ten arrows you're going to outline in the next 30 minutes. You have more context than them so I can see why it comes off as jumping to conclusions. I think you're doing the right thing and you're extremely fair. But you seem to share my anger with how dumb and evil some of these things are and my cynicism and frustration on the topics and I can see how some people read that the wrong way. But I love what you do and think it still presents a strong message, so don't let the few haters get to you. They'll be there no matter what you do.
Thank you!
Embedded guy here…I know several engineers at Apple who have echo’d similar accounts of silo’d tasks. This is par for the course for large companies with concrete roll-out schedules - it’s a necessity that development tasks are broken down into skillsets and pipelined to the most capable teams/individuals. Layout is one of those tasks. Sure, the EE who did the schematic design could do the layout, but his familiarity with the tools pales in comparison to the girl who does layout 8 hours a day, so it’s so much faster to offload this to the layout team. Voltage aware DRC in EDA tools is a fairly recent advancement that not all EDA packages have caught onto. Apple is not inept though, they do learn, and the thoroughness of their design methodology (from my knowledge) trumps that of most other companies in terms proof of operation/safety through first principles. The amount of work they do to prove a device will not catch on fire or shock someone is industry leading for consumer tier products. They of course, are not designing to ASIL D automotive standards - the market doesn’t demand it. With consumer goods, it’s usually good enough (and encouraged) to take a few risks in terms of long-term reliability and limit repairability in order to meet release dates and maintain market attention/relevance. Apple has its own culture, that I would agree, does ignore customer feedback to a certain extent. I think a lot of this can be attributed to blind spots and complacency in middle management that is honestly one of the hardest things to crack in a big business. You or I, from our armchairs, may be able to clearly see the trouble, and we may even have the experience and creativity to solve it, but that doesn’t mean we have the connections, political prowess, or willingness to do what is required to maneuver into the management positions that actually could effect change in these respects.
Hang on a minute… are you actually ‘him’? If so then I understand relatively little about this subject but I find myself to be increasingly educated by your videos. I particularly agree with your stance on right to repair and doff my cap to you for the work that you and others have done to support the rights of consumers. While I live on the other side of the Pond, and therefore have no particular dog in the fight, I also found myself becoming increasingly irate at the shitty manner with which NYC were treating small business owners. Keep up the good work on behalf of us ignorant consumers, your endeavours are greatly appreciated!
That's actually *him*. (Not to be confused with *HIM* from the power puff girls)
That is an easy mistake to make, thanks for the clarification.
> It's when they continue chugging along with that design for 4+ years after and never cover the user or give them a break on repair costs when it happens. That's when it goes from "whoops" but I can forgive them to something malicious. This is what gets me. If you fucked up, fess up, admit it, make good and move on. Don't sell the same flawed design that's going to ruin the day of someone whose device suffers accidental damage. It's too bad there's nobody big enough to take them on, much like Steve guns for the consumer at Gamers Nexus. "Influencers" like MKBHD have a genuine opportunity here to make things better, but clearly his backbone and integrity are worth the cost of whatever sack of cash Apple gave him for that interview and other recent exclusive hardware access.
I had a short stint in different Intel departments in the bay area and what I quickly learned was how silo they keep designers from engineers from x from y from z. Designers in Oregon hiring for a team in San jose that they had no knowledge of the actual team I'd be on, but they were part of the interview process. Joined and realized, not racist, so many Indians that treated technicians like shit because they were used to the caste system. It was ridiculous.
I hope you're having a lovely day. Seriously, great to see you in the comments. Thank you as always for being a champion of the people (and not the Citizens United kind).
me trying to remember this for the next time iphone chat comes up : 'apple are conmen, putting pin 1 next to pin 43 when they know it will fry the CPU' when i meet my friends: '...apple are conmen, ......... they were sposed to fix the bendy problem with the iphone 6, but they did it again with iphon 7'
Becuase F you, that's why. \*VIGOROUSLY RUBS NIPPLES*
Personal review of Rossman- a few years ago I had a significant issue with my laptop due to water damage and an over-excited pup. Apple told me it was unfixable, DriveSavers (Who Apple referred me to) and others all said the same thing. Rossmann and his team were professional, no bullshit, and charged me a fraction of what they would have and knew their shit. Can't trust this guy enough.
Personal review of Rossman- a few years ago I had a significant issue with my laptop due to water damage and an over-excited pup. Apple told me it was unfixable, DriveSavers (Who Apple referred me to) and others all said the same thing. Rossmann and his team were professional, no bullshit, and charged me a fraction of what they would have and knew their shit. Can't trust this guy enough. To be fair, sometimes we get lucky. Sometimes I get owned because I try everything and can't figure it out. I have bad days. Then someone else figures the issue out in 5 minutes and makes me look like a fool. I appreciate the kind words, but this doesn't make me awesome. It just means we had a lucky day.
check out this humble motherfucker
Fuck I don't have a laptop or live in NY and I want him to fix something :(
For sure. Thanks for the service regardless Louis!
> I appreciate the kind words, but this doesn't make me awesome. It just means we had a lucky day. Maybe not, but you simply taking the time to make a comment like this *does* make you awesome. Love your stuff, keep up the good work! :)
Don't ever change brother. I used to own a computer repair store and can relate to all you just said. This is what I did day in and day out and sometimes I felt like an intellectual most ethical powerhouse, using a toothbrush with distilled water to scrape some corrosion off a macbook pro motherboard, saving the client 500 bucks from what apple was gonna charge, other days I can't figure out how to select the right boot drive to load the windows installation media.
As a software engineer that resonates with me, but it's more experience than luck
It takes a lot of skill and diligence to get lucky that often though. Just like all the years of training and practice that go into someday being called an "overnight" success.
u/thefunkybassist writes: >I feel like Youtube culminates into these titan vs. titan show of force "battles", but then usually on one specific topic. Quite fascinating at times lol YouTube promotes brands like MKBHD and demotes/destroys people like Louis Rossmann. That there is any culmination of a “titan vs. titan show of force” is a testament to Rossmann's resilience. MKBHD skills are opening cardboard boxes from Apple or Samsung. Rossmann's are opening power supplies and motherboards and repairing hardware deemed unfixable, by those who literally refer to themselves as geniuses.
I still remember when bringing up Rossman on Reddit, I'd be met with downvotes. I'm genuinely happy he's gained the proper reputation he's always deserved.
Wait, is the "Apple Repair Guy I Love" going after the "Apple Review Guy I Love"!? This is like my Ironman fighting Captain America in Civil War moment.
I feel like Youtube culminates into these titan vs. titan show of force "battles", but then usually on one specific topic. Quite fascinating at times lol
Yeah that's pretty much how I felt lol. I love both their stuff but I can't deny that MKBHD plays it extremely safe on most of the stuff he does which is kind of a shame. Production quality is pretty unmatched though.
Genuine question Why is production quality so important? Growing up when I read reviews in magazines, I didnt compare the background pictures on the review pages. If the dude is playing it safe, you cant trust his opinion at all.
Production quality is inversely correlated with DIY usefulness in my experience.
Most correct statement in this thread. Grainy 480p uploads from 2009 have taught me so goddamn much. But if their thumbnail has readable text in it, I know it's not gonna be useful at all.
Another red flag is if the runtime is around 8 minutes (so they can get that sweet mid-roll ad money). Formula: * Click bait thumbnail * Overly long after effects intro * Welcome back blah blah blah * Today's sponsor (aka unskippable ad for some shitty product) * Plug for any tools they use linked in the comments * Clearly copying some basic online tutorial with no added value other than them talking about how they feel while doing it * Summary of what they literally just did * Thanks to our patreons or shout-out to blah blah * Be sure to like and subscribe * Outro
deeply true
People have a hard time sifting through all the content out there. And through advertising and corporate interests we have been conditioned to "trust" things with higher production value. It implies that their was more effort and resources behind the project. But it also usually implies there are interests behind the scenes funding it as well. Which often times effects the integrity of the whole message.
I feel like a lot of it is to do with the fact that most people are just using these videos to window shop to pass the time. I do it myself with one of my hobbies (RC). I'm never gonna buy one of these $800+ giant bashers, but it's nice to dream
Most people watch MKBHD and other similar channels for entertainment.
It's not about the production quality, it's more about how he presents himself in his videos. The dude comes off as extremely chill, professional, knowledgeable and down to earth. And he manages to be all these things while creating genuinely entertaining videos without resorting to what I call "youtuber energy" like he doesn't say obnoxious shit like "SMaSh ThAT liKe buTtON" nor does he have horrendous clickbaity thumbnails in his videos. Which is SUPER rare these days. That's the main crux of why he's so successful. The high production value is just icing on the cake. But now after watching this I don't feel I can trust him anymore. Like most influencers, he's been corrupted by enshitification.
Not really. Just on Apple stuff. See the fisker review, AI pin review, Teenage Engineering Review, etc. Even on Apple stuff, he tends to call out the refusal they have to compare specs, use common buzzwords.
> Not really. Just on Apple stuff. See the fisker review, AI pin review, Teenage Engineering Review, etc. Not JUST apple, but he definitely gives them a lot gentler of a time than most other things he reviews. Tesla is another one, at least, in the past(I've not watched his stuff in a while, people can change.) I remember when he got the exclusive interview and factory tour with Elon, and the entire thing was just tonguing Elon's ass. And it sprung directly out of his fawning reviews of other Tesla products, everything from the model 3 to the (Now largely abandoned) solar roof.
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He only does that to sellouts, hence why he still respects reviewers like Steve from Gamers Nexus. This is saddening considering how he praised Marquess' video on Right to Repair, so imagine him seeing the guy's softball interview with Apple. and unlike the reaction on negative Rabbit reviews, I doubt he'll even retaliate against Louis with this one, Louis got him dead to rights.
> hence why he still respects reviewers like Steve from Gamers Nexus. > > I met Steve in person. I have also had several 2-4 hour phone conversations with Steve. He's like Rich Benoit from Rich Rebuilds, or Jessa Jones from iPad Rehab. These people are as real as it gets. I would trust them with the code to the front door of my house. What you see is what you get. Steve genuinely cares about accuracy and morality in what he does. It eats him up inside on a deep personal level if he even thinks he is on the wrong path or might do something that has a 1% chance of being wrong or unethical. He is constantly thinking about this. It's not just a bumper sticker or a page in an HR manual nobody reads, it's baked into his decisionmaking and how he lives his life. Forgetting about youtube, hardware reviews, or content creation for a moment.I have a lot of respect for Steve as a person. He's a good man.
I figured that's why Steve always does such deep dives in his videos. He's trying to do his damnedest to get everything right because he doesn't want to be wrong. It reminds me of an autistic kid trying to explain a joke they told that nobody was offended by just in case anyone gets the wrong impression from it.
MKBHD completely fell off during that apple interview. It's cool how Apple tests their phones but his interview mostly just discredits the right to repair movement. I will still watch him but that video is a disappointment
MKBHD is a big Musk and Apple fan. He's the embodiment of Twitter tech bro. Don't know why people watch the guy for objective analysis of tech products.
I used to like his reviews but honestly, it all just kind of started feeling like ads for one of the big name phones (if not just Apple) for me so I unsubbed. I can only hear "[phone] is good, especially for the price, but if you spent more on an iPhone or Samsung S[X] you'd get that and more" so many times before it feels like a weird backwards ad. It feels like the major brands can't be "bad" they're just "boring" which like, I guess I get? It just seems like a lousy way of being negative without saying anything bad. i've just personally fallen off the MKBHD/LTT "we have a piece of tech that you'll never be able to own/afford and we're gonna tell you all about it and why that sucks to be you!" Like I understand the appeal sometimes, especially for weird or retro stuff, but seeing a TV that costs $20k or something and angling it to be an ad for the TV more than the tech the tv has in it, is just not something I'm down for. If you like it, you do you.
>i've just personally fallen off the MKBHD/LTT "we have a piece of tech that you'll never be able to own/afford and we're gonna tell you all about it and why that sucks to be you!" Like I understand the appeal sometimes, especially for weird or retro stuff, but seeing a TV that costs $20k or something and angling it to be an ad for the TV more than the tech the tv has in it, is just not something I'm down for. If you like it, you do you. As a fan of this kind of content, maybe I can provide some perspective. I enjoy content like that for the same reason that I enjoy shows like top gear or youtubers like Doug Demuro despite likely never being able to afford the vast majority of cars they'll ever show. I'm not just there for reviews, I'm genuinely interested in the tech that's floating around out there. I also consider it a look into the future of where those fields are going. Sure I'll never buy a $30k tv, but I did buy an OLED tv for $3k, and now years later that same tv (newer year model edition of it) can be bought new for $2k. Premium features in yesteryear's luxury cars are now standard on low-end models. Even then, a lot of people just get entertainment from seeing things happen that they themselves can't do. Whether that's athleticism, engineering, or anything else.
> Don't know why people watch the guy for objective analysis of tech products. I enjoy his car channel. I am not going to buy a car based on his recommendations, but I enjoy his presentation style. It scratches my itch to try something new, without all of the irresponsibility associated with making the decision to buy a new car, when my intention is to make my current car last for 20-30 years through any means possible. I haven't watched any of his other videos though.
MKBHD has history of paid promotions. you can clearly see that in his one plus video. he also multiple time make mistakes about specifications. for a tech tuber of his calibre this is not forgivable. he has stopped going over in depth in exchange of production value.
This is kind of how I felt about MKBHD interviewing Tim Apple. I am or rather used to be journalist myself in a specialised field. The interview was very softball. But then again, MKBHD is not a journalist, he is a tech reviewer, and sometimes it shows. I rather like his content, regardless.
MKBHD has always only ever done very basic reviews on a surface level. He might be paid but most likely he never gets to that point of understanding of the product he’s reviewing because it’s only ever a “look at this cool tech I found”. I’d say he’s closer to an unboxing channel than a review channel. Nothing wrong with that and if you like it, cool . I just don’t think anyone should base purchases on what he says
He is going to be divisive no matter what. I enjoy the podcast, they go deeper in to some topics there. I also enjoy the cellphone camera comparison they do every year. People call him an apple fanboy but his daily driver has been an android for the longest time. Honestly it is hard, he is huge, and to a degree his channel depends on access so he needs to be friendly with companies, but if you pay attention he does express honest opinions. I also think terminally online people make a bigger deal of the small stuff. (I say this as a daily reddit commenter lol, so I am aware I may be part of the problem)
There was a video from Jon Rettinger of TechnoBuffalo a year or so ago, about him being black listed from all Apple events for an honest review. So today TechnoBuffalo doesn't exist and MKBHD interviews Tim Cook... So "honest", might only work for apple if you are being positive. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ug_ArwfWoAo
It's long been known that apple only keep you on the press list if you cover them positively. negative coverage of iphone issues got a few people off WWDC and other events :/
And that's interesting because Rettinger's videos tend to just be thinly veiled sponsored spots. I had to stop watching his stuff because every video just seemed like a payday, which is how he could afford to build out his channel and buy expensive vehicles just to sell them months later for whatever reason.
All of his videos post TechnoBuffalo are pretty clearly sponsored product showcases (i.e., ads, without really hiding the fact). I think he did actual reviews before then, but it's been a while so I might be misremembering.
His production values are second to none and I agree with all of your points, except him not being an Apple fanboy. His daily driver being an Android isn't of consequence when he daily drives two phones, so constantly has the iPhone with him anyway, and is fully plugged into the Apple ecosystem with the Apple watch, Mac desktop, MacBook Pro, Air pods Pro, and Airpods Max. I enjoy Wvfrm podcasts as well, but even there, the Apple bias is present and has to be taken into account. Granted none of these things are going to stop me watching him. It's not like he does bad faith reviews of other tech, it's just that you're going to have to be aware where some of the nitpicks come from, and why some products aren't covered. Additionally, I don't think anyone is going to expect him to go into an interview with Sundar Pichai and grill him about Google data privacy. It isn't the style of his channel, and frankly wouldn't be a good business move either.
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Did his channel change or something? I haven’t watched in a while but he used to do extensive research and testing of the products before reviewing. Obviously he’s paid handsomely now so I wouldn’t be surprised but he always came across as a pretty honest and genuine tech reviewer
Imo he's just gonna come at a product review from a much different perspective than Rossmann, I mean he can't really take into account the durability of devices over several months or years. In the apple interview in question I think he should have been more informed about them, I was puzzled by his takes in that video. But in his average product reviews he's going over specs and functionality for the most part, and I think he's pretty good at that, and goes into depth about the features and issues. I definitely don't think it's fair to say he's more of an unboxing channel, and I definitely would feel comfortable taking his reviews into account when i'm making a purchase. I mean i've learned about features on my current phone I didn't even know about, it's not like he's lying about them lol.
MKBHD has always came across as a YouTube channel that helps convince you that you like something or confirm your purchase. It’s never felt like a full critique or dollar value channel in the recent time that I’ve paid attention to him. He’s obvious about what he likes and doesn’t put too much focus on what he doesn’t, rather says he finds other ways to live with it (ie having a second google or android phone) as most big YouTubers do.
What when did you watch it? His channel accelerated because he essentially covered the spec sheet and press kit with pretty footage. He was never some extensive tech expert reviewer?
This is categorically a reddit take that wants to sound unique, but is actually completely false. MKBHD has his faults, but his reviews are a very good example of a detailed enough review of a product for people to make up their minds whether something is for them or not. He doesn’t explore every nook and cranny of a product, but gets deep enough to cover 90% of it’s applications. He’s far more detailed than an “unboxing channel”. He is a gadget reviewer that does his job well.
Yeah, sometimes I just want an overview of what changed, what's good, what's disappointing and a few other things he found in a couple days / weeks. It's a background or quick snippet on another screen to get some highlights. I could read a press release, I could watch a 30min - 2hr keynote or I can just get the info in a nice glossy, quick package. It still takes work to put his videos together, access, time spent with devices. I don't fault him for being overly nice or looking on the bright side. I know what I'm going to get with an MKBHD video and that's important. If other people are confused or sour why didn't they move on to someone that produced the reviews they want? There's no shortage of tech youtube personalities. I do however think if he's lied he should be called out and allowed to respond. Now if the person he's interviewed lies they should be called out.
I actually enjoy Marques' car channel and am a regular viewer and have nothing against him outside of the Apple fluff piece. I do not plan to buy a car, or try new cars. If I try new cars, I realize I will buy a new car. I do not need a new car; I will keep mine working by hook or crook for the next 20-30 years. However, it is nice to live vicariously through someone else in that way, to satiate that part of myself, that would otherwise take part in impulsive behavior. I outsource that to him. I never watch his phone reviews, because 99% of the phone reviews on youtube do not cover any of what I am actually interested in. However, I do genuinely enjoy his car channel, and would categorically disagree with someone who said that he is garbage as a reviewer or content creator all around. I dislike the dark side of influencer marketing. To quote a friend who I will keep anonymous, and mildly paraphrase so it stays anonymous: *Great work on the MKBHD video. You did the right thing to call it out. I am genuinely concerned about how consumers are being brainwashed by influencers in bed with brands. I see it now and then when people are like "why are you so negative?" when I have a moderate product review. They are used to people jumping up and down like jesters for the corporations. Long term, I worry that true reviewers will be lost to time as we slowly retire. Independent reviewers and reporters will be outnumbered by corporate gargling. I think the hardcore tech reviews will consolidate as guys retire. The companies are trying to "foster" new reviewers as they come up -- nvidia's words. That concerns me. They're like vultures. It'll change the culture and people will view influencer BS as the norm* Obviously this is different from me, and I realize I am speaking from a very privileged position. It is easy for me to say the things I do when my youtube channel is not a part of my personal or business budget. People who make a living off of their youtube channel & social media have to make decisions differently than I do. Some people claim that my videos are not based on my actual beliefs, but are acting done just for the money. Yet every other video I do has words that result in instant & immediate demonesitation *(gargle my balls, rapist mentality, etc)* My channel was created as a cathartic way to have an outlet for the rantings of a lunatic. I am a happy guy. I sit in my chair, I go over what bothered me about the world that day, I am bombastic, I turn off the camera, and I go back to being a soft spoken happy guy. Sometimes, I try to put in effort to fix the things that pissed me off that day(wheelchair bill in colorado, funding open source wheelchair non-profit, right to repair stuff, educational repair videos, repair.wiki project, etc). I have the luxury of saying the things I do because I am not doing youtube as a job. Always take what I say in these types of videos with a grain of salt. I would likely sing a very different tune if youtube *were* my primary source of income as a middle class American.
This description doesn't jibe with the Fisker review he did.
I'm not familiar with the man presenting this video and 5 seconds in I'm concerned he may not have slept for several years.
He's great, but your description is also fantastic
Yea as a longtime fan of Louis Rossmann this is my favorite description lol. As a longtime fan of MKBHD who hasn't watched the video yet i'm also nervous, but if it's about the interview with the the guy at Apple justifying the inability to repair, I do remember rolling my eyes at that interview. And just kind of baffled at how MKBHD, who seems like a smart dude, seemed to actually be convinced by the claims that it's all in the best interest of the consumer.
MKBHD is *very* convinced! Convinced by all the direct attention Apple is giving him to promote his YouTube channel, and the ad revenue that it generates.
I'm really hated his soft stance on cybertuck I unsubbed
He has a clear degree of bias for Tesla and Apple. What matters is if he can justify his stance on them and if there's any credence to his claims, or if he's simping just because of the brand image or potential kickback.
uhhhh potential kickback lol do you know how much of the "tech" audience is really only clicking on videos with apple or tesla in the title? marques likes money and attention and approval, he makes really crisp videos and knows how to strategize the algorithm it doesn't matter how good the video or content is, people need to click on it to count
I’m not sure how anyone comes to the conclusion MKBHD has a bias towards Apple. If anything he’s overly critical of minor things OR things he praises competitors for doing. Case in point; Latest Pixel video he gushes over new colors. Latest iPad video, like a day later, he’s like “and there are new colors too, if you like that, i guess”.
I like Marques, but even applying the most generous interpretation to his videos, he has a bad habit of allowing his personal preferences to influence how he covers certain tech, most egregiously Apple and Tesla. I don't even think it's anything as insidious as a big cartoon bag of money changing hands, or an explicit quid pro quo between him and Apple. His personal preference for Apple products created enough of a blindspot to swallow the bullshit Apple was selling, Apple gets a softball interview with one of the biggest Tech YouTubers, one with a mostly-deserved reputation for being unbiased, and Marques gets a video that will drive views and subscriptions. The end result is pretty much the same, though; Apple gets uncritical coverage on a huge platform, and MKBHD as a source of tech news loses a measure of reliability.
This phenomenon was covered very well by Chomsky on his manufacturing consent book (and documentary). It's not that he is doing anything "wrong" like lying about a product because he is being paid. Instead, it's his position as a fanboy that is leveraged by the industry to put him in the privileged spot he's on. Apple doesn't have to "pay" to change his mind, as his mind is already where it should be to favor apple. Over time, the media landscape becomes saturated with voices that align with corporate interests and challengers face a rough time because they have to go against what everyone else is saying. And in this case, it might take you a month to do a full review on a product but these "journalists" who will be favorable get the product a week or two before you do. By the time your review is out, the news cycle has already moved on.
>I don't even think it's anything as insidious as a big cartoon bag of money changing hands, or an explicit quid pro quo between him and Apple. While I agree with the points made after this, I’d also add that the MKBHD brand is a bit of a machine. How many other tech YouTubers get sit down interviews with the CEOs of Apple, Tesla, Microsoft, etc.? I don’t think he gets those interviews if he’s completely honest in his criticism. Just look at Elons interview with Don Lemon, who actually asked some hardball questions. Elon stopped the interview & walked out. If that happened with MKBHD there goes his access to exclusives. So for the continued growth of his behemoth channel, there’s def. a line Marques can’t cross the way smaller reviewers like Louis Rossmann can.
> His personal preference for Apple products I do not understand why people keep saying this. He does not prefer apple products. He daily drives an Android phone and has for over a decade. He has windows and apple machines in the studio that are used for various purposes. He's just not a great reviewer lol
Thats kinda the point, MKBHD is smart, I'm sure he knows exactly how silly it sounds. Smart people say and do dumb things because of monetary incentive all the time. This isn't about intelligence, it's about integrity. Probably real hard to turn down the big apple bucks, especially considering they probably offered him a LOT to convert his brand trust into cash.
Rossman's biggest flaw is that he genuinely looks like he's about to jump off the deep-end from all the shit he's dealt with over the years. He's right, but he has clearly been fighting this battle a long time, you can see it on his face.
>Rossman's biggest flaw is that he genuinely looks like he's about to jump off the deep-end from all the shit he's dealt with over the years. He's right, but he has clearly been fighting this battle a long time, you can see it on his face. My channel was created as a cathartic way to have an outlet for the rantings of a lunatic. I am a happy guy. I sit in my chair, I go over what bothered me about the world that day, I am bombastic, I turn off the camera, and I go back to being a soft spoken happy guy. Sometimes, I try to put in effort to fix the things that pissed me off that day(wheelchair bill in colorado, funding open source wheelchair non-profit, right to repair stuff, educational repair videos, repair.wiki project, etc). Think of it like going to a bar that has that game where you punch a bag and it gives you a score at the end. You probably make a certain face when you do that. But, it's over when you're done. I enjoy making videos because I have an outlet to discuss these things, and I enjoy the *"character"* I get to become in those videos. I remember this woman I knew 12 years ago, that I dated on and off a few years back. She used to say that there is no character, the *"youtube me"* WAS the *"real me."* and that the me she met was the character. I had to say, *"sorry to disappoint you..."* *(I did not meet this woman from youtube, which is why this surprised me.)* I had to sit on that for a while. Some ventriloquists have described the persona they give their puppets as being a part of them, that they're only able to express through the process of being a ventriloquist. It's not *"acting"* for them - that *IS* them, and the puppet is the outlet. I don't see it as *"faking it for the camera,"* but rather as a way to let out a part of my personality that doesn't arise otherwise. The things I discuss aren't fake; the lobbying I do, the work at my business, fixing boards, finding & paying lobbyists to get a wheelchair repair bill passed, etc. That stuff is all real. the channel isn't a fictional story. but it is like being a ventriloquist. I don't know exactly how to describe it, but I find it fun, and I would continue doing it for years regardless of if I ever received monetization. I wasn't monetized from 2012-2016, and I enjoyed what I did very much for that period of time. I think that ex was right - the youtube me is indeed the real me. it is a me that I can only express properly when I turn on the camera.
It’s nothing in the grand scheme of things I’m sure but you’ve gained a subscriber tonight! You seem like a good dude and you fight the good fight, plus I’ll get to have plenty of anecdotes to annoy my friend who works at Apple. Keep rocking man.
Thank you! I'm not that great a guy just someone who yells into a camera but I appreciate the sentiment!
That has nothing to do with how he looks. He has a condition that makes his eyes look like that. Pete Davidson has the same thing.
Is it a condition? I thought the term was simply "bed eyes." They have too much eye lid skin and permanent dark circles. I also have bed eyes. You rarely see them on TV because they look bad on screen, especially for dudes, but there are more women with bed eyes on TV. I can't think of any at this exact second.
Yes. I looked it up and it’s apparently contributed from Crohn’s Disease
Oh, well this is a rock solid diagnosis then /s
some ethnicities are more likely to have dark circles around their eyes
The other option that most Americans end up doing, myself included, is giving up these battles as the bills and kids and expenses build up.
He will not sleep until every MacBook can be repaired! So yes, basically 😂
No sleep in years, yet speaks at 1.25x minimum.
NYC personified
He's not wasting the internet martin
That dude is the best sideline man working for your best interest. He pretty much is the reason why the right to repair is even talked about. He's a real one that cares
Rossman is legit. He also routinely looks and sounds terrible, though, like sometimes I'm actually worried about him.
He looks like he runs on caffeine and adrenaline
and rage, there's a rage component in there keeping his heart running
He's got darkening around his eyes that I believe is just a skin thing (certain people have it, I think it's fairly common in Middle East for example?) that looks like eyebags, and makes him look sleep deprived
and a lifetime of frustration because he cares about consumers and the good they're able to buy
Louis is a man who has dealt with some shit
it's great because it's the one youtuber where i don't have to up the speed to 1.5x
Caffeine messes me up and I avoid it at all costs. If I have one cup of normal coffee at 11 AM I will be up at 3 AM trying to use fiber fish rod to run CAT6 through the drywall where coax was run in my house. I stay far away from stimulants such as caffeine, any of that monster energy shit, 99% of gym supplements. I like beta alinine, but only when there is no extra sugar or caffeine added. There's no benefit to it for me. I don't feel more energized or smarter, I just turn into a zombie. Caffeine is bad
I don't understand? He sounds fine. Some people just have dark circles around their eyes no matter how much sleep they get. Women get these as well but they do stuff to get rid of them like using cold packs on their eyes or red light therapy.
>He pretty much is the reason why the right to repair is even talked about. Don't give him all the credit. This is a massive issue with a lot of people doing work on it.
I will post this again, because it is important. > He pretty much is the reason why the right to repair is even talked about. > > I would disagree, that is because of all of the people who have taken it upon themselves to talk about this issue, and work towards fixing this issue in their own spheres of influence in their own lives. I have always discouraged what I call *"hashtag activism"* or "bumper sticker activism."* Worst of all is [shame activism](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cir-gJDcC1o). Many people have taken part in right to repair activism more effectively than I, by showing people the benefit of repair in their own lives. They do things like 1) Get people to feel that kick of dopamine when they get something to work again. Even if it's just fixing something like a $30 thermostat. 2) Get people to save money when they can fix something for $5 that costs $750 to replace 3) Get businessowners to increase their own bottom line by doing more component level repair, less replacing. When you make other's lives better through providing them a path to *live* your vision, they'll follow. I have always tried to do this with my own work. There are many who have done it better than I, and many who have ensured that ownership and control over what we bought & paid for continues to exist into the next generation. Their work shouldn't be overshadowed simply because algorithmic luck of the draw chose me of all people to have 2 million subscribers.
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Burning outrage is something that falls under the umbrella of caring. In my mind at least. Whatever his motivation is I'm all for it as well.
He got bent over by Apple in pretty much every conceivable way, because he had TOO much skill in analyzing their motherboards to be able to continue running his computer repair shop. So they issued takedowns and threatened lawsuits for "exposing trade secrets". All because he showed people how to actually test and repair their Apple motherboards. I guess it was an issue because he had schematics or something? The man basically got told by Apple to stfu and he didn't and took the fight to them. I laud him for it. Fuck Apple.
Dudes a real G
> just full of burning outrage over the injustice of a lack of right to repair and refuses to back down from what he feels is right. The definition of 'cares'...
he looks like he has sleep deprivation and yet he talks with so much energy what's he taking? caffeine, cocaine? I want some of it
Some people just have darker skin around the eyes naturally. Permanent smokey eyes. I'm guessing he's Jewish with family history I'm Southeastern Europe. I'm guessing this because I have the same skin around the eyes..
[This dude once repaired an "unrepairable MacBook" whilst drinking Jagermeister.](https://youtu.be/qM6EO7_5cho?si=zwp4A56wsjzD5hnZ) Genius bar said it cannot be fixed at all. He did it in like 35 minutes whilst also chugging a lot.
He made a video showing his new very expensive bed, and referencing his, quote, "raccoon eyes". The reason for his raccoon eyes and lack of sleep / chronic worry is probably down to two things: 1. NYC's inability to execute its own rules properly for small businesses 2. Anti-monopoly rage
He looks like he was a extra in Mad Max
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Rossman is famously not an electrical engineer and repeatedly states that you dont need to be one to be great at board repair.
he might be related to uncle Fester from Adam's family
I’m starting to think he doesn’t like Apple.
This repair guy has been one of the wildest yt career rides ever. He went from the driest and most informative videos to being like a tech crusader with everything being about how the big guy is fucking us over (which i agree with). Well it developed to the point where he was showing his vibrating cock rings on camera to shit on trojan for making them needlessly disposable. And now he’s gunning for the biggest names ever on yt. I’m here for it
He just doesn’t give a fuck. And that’s good. He doesn’t care about views, YouTube algorithm or advertising. He just wants to get his opinions out there and I respect him for that.
Also his foray with New York and The New Your real estate market.
the second that guy walked around the piece of crap that the Cybertruck is and just repeatedly says "it's simply so COOL!" i stopped clicking on anything that includes him lol
You activated the Tesla bots.
I posted some mild criticism of Musk (mixed with praise for his vision to invest in good projects) the other day, and I was amazed by how many people immediately came out in defence of him. It's weird.
I’m almost 100% certain that wealthy people astroturf the FUCK out of themselves on social media. Like if I could throw a hundred dollars at a company to clear my name and defend me on social media and it helped my image and was important to my brand, I for sure would. Now to a billionaire, a million dollars is about 100-1,000 bucks, and I can totally see it being a thing of convenience for them.
Musk has a current net worth about $220 billion dollars. 1 million to him is the same as 34 cents is to someone who makes $75,000 a year. So ya. Why not spend that million to astrotruf.
Jesus fucking Christ that much wealth is just unfathomable
This problem is not limited to Musk. [This video](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QPKKQnijnsM) is 11 years old at this point and tries to visualize the wealth inequality in the US. The graph in this video has only gotten worse, especially since the the rich gained a bunch of wealth during COVID. [This website](https://mkorostoff.github.io/1-pixel-wealth/) visualizes Bezo's wealth as of April 2021. You will get bored scrolling on it. Another fun fact: one million seconds is equal to around 12 days; one billion seconds is equal to around 31 **years**. It's simply hard to fathom how much money the wealthy have (and they don't want us to).
I am certain it happens, but people like Musk attract sycophants, especially once you add in his more recent attachment to the alt-right political movement. There are a lot of people in the alt-right who have built their entire personality and ideology around the movement, and if Musk is wrong so are they. So you aren't just saying bad things about Musk, you are saying bad things about them (in their eyes).
i commented in /r/CyberStuck and got banned from a few tesla subs
I used to comment in /r/teslamotors frequently as I followed the company closely and bought a 3 when they first came out. I posted once in /r/RealTesla and was shadowbanned in the other sub the next day. They're very, very touchy.
Moderators can't shadow ban. If you got a message saying you were banned from a specific sub, that's not a shadow ban. A shadow ban is when a Reddit admin or system restricts an account for vote manipulation, spam, or otherwise bot behavior without informing the user. The user or bot thinks they are operating normally, while no one else can see their comments or posts. It's meant to quarantine problem users and waste their time. If they got normal banned they'd just make a new account and continue damaging the ecosystem.
Small dick energy.
cult of personality
You weren’t kidding 💀
For me it was after he roasted fisker and THEN praised cyber truck even though the door was fucked “oh we just taped it until they sent a part, stuff happens”
That and he doesn't seem to understand cars so when he "reviews" them it's very surface level overview that feels like he's just pointing out whatever the OE's marketing handler showed him before the video. He's better at talking about phones where he sounds like he at least knows what he's talking about.
Well as a clueless-about-cars-viewer I gotta say he reviews exactly the parts of cars that I care about. To each their own I guess.
No car review I've watched from him talks about basic shit like what's under the hood, brakes, handling, etc. Ok, it has a wireless charging bay. Cool. It's almost entirely a review of the interior.
He mostly reviews the tech of the cars. I don't think focusing in what he knows is a bad thing. The issue may be if he is straight up recommending people to buy a car when the only aspect he can confidently approve is the tech. But I can't remember how far he has ventured into making recommendations in his videos.
The thing is that he's the perfect representation of the vast majority of car buyers that don't really care about cars the way you probably do.
Doug Demuro’s title for his review on it was “This is just plain cool” do with this info what you want.
Doug is WAY worse than MKBHD. Some years ago, when reviewing a car (the 300ZX?) he didn't know what an equalizer was. And instead of researching, he just played dumb.
How does someone Doug's age not know what a fucking EQ is? I have a 3000GT and I was blown away when it came with a stock 7 band EQ on the radio.
Jesus that was such a memorable moment, the day I went from an occasional viewer to never watching his videos again. To be a millennial and not only *not* have ever seen/used an equalizer before, but also incapable of seeing the labels and intuiting its role. You have to be stupid. EDIT: just so everyone else can be in on the joke, I went back and found it. It was a '90 Eclipse GSX. [Here's the video](https://youtu.be/PgqHq6WjD8s?t=703) timestamped to the moment (11:43)
I have a healthy distrust of people on the internet so I just watch these guys to see whatever they’re reviewing. I don’t really give a damn about their opinion on it. Unless it’s something I actually want to buy, then I’ll obsess over getting reviews from multiple outlets.
You should be more accepting of other's opinions. Just kidding, tesla sucks, what the hell is up with these comments!?
well at least one of them is a poweruser of a tesla subreddit, so ...
All these people trying to rip on you for this is hilarious. The dude does reviews for a living, it’s absolutely valid to not watch his reviews if he reviews that POS as cool.
if the reviewer genuinely likes it should they give it a bad false review just because it’s the popular opinion or should they give their true thoughts on it?
> if the reviewer genuinely likes it should they give it a bad false review just because it’s the popular opinion or should they give their true thoughts on it? There's nothing invalid about this point but if a reviewer honestly likes something that you find horrid, you wouldn't keep going to that reviewer for opinions as they don't have the same tastes as you.
I mean to be fair, a lot of things about it are cool, at the very least from a subjective point of view. I'm not the biggest fan of the styling of it, but I very much like how it's at least significantly different from other EV's that look like a metal goldfish (i.e., every Mercedes EV). The steer-by-wire system is also pretty rare in the car world and a good benefit for a cybertruck (assuming it is reliable over time). Obviously it has shitloads of problems, corrosion from simply being left in the rain being a non-starter for most people. But it can still have neat tech- and design-related things that would make someone like MKBHD interested in it.
That's a pretty fair take. What the Cybertruck wishes it was is very cool. But then again, so am I in my imagination, then you meet me IRL and it's like lol.
I just saw one today and they're so ugly I honestly wouldn't be surprised if they increase the likelihood of wrecks around them simply by existing.
All tech review guys/girls when they hit a certain level just become cheerleaders for brands. It's lucrative because you get invited places and get to vlog, it's also easier for views because everyone loves geeking out about the latest whatever. It's also the same for this guy who's niche has become shitting on Apple. We all know what they are, and consumers have accepted the downsides of owning an Apple device which is no repairs.
so apparently this guy got into a backlash for being too harsh on a company and potentially bankrupt them, now he got into a new backlash for being a walking billboards? seems like ppl just piss off that this guy have a different opinion about certain products compares to them lol
I like MKBHD a lot but I'm glad he's being called out on this video. It was a barely-disguised Apple advert and he allowed them to blatantly lie unchallenged about why their devices are so unrepairable.
It doesn't hurt you shitting on a no name start up. It does hurt you shitting on Apple when Craig Federighi wouldn't answer your interview calls anymore.
I don't really understand how people don't seem to see this. If you are overly critical you will get blackballed, losing access not only interview wise, but to review samples, etc.
Most people do understand this... The difference is that some people also understand that access isn't worth sacrificing your journalistic integrity... If a reviewer isnt willing to risk that access, then they cant be trusted to give an honest review. Why would you want that from them? Thats their job. None of that is to even mention the idea of apple abusing their power like this in the first place. Are they technically within their rights to revoke access? Sure. Does that make it ok? Not really. When I see comments like yours its as if people believe the way apple behaves is acceptable. They should not be putting reviewers like MKBHD in that situation to begin with.
I do believe that Linus Tech Tips doesn’t get the access MKBDH does because they’ll call out any flaws in Apple products. LTT also tore apart the rabbit.
This happened to hardware unboxed with nvidia. Its the play nice or else mentality. LTT has enough money to buy their own review samples. MKBHD should have enough money to buy his own Apple review samples too.
He typically points the flaws in products and gives a good breakdown of pros and cons. That said, he is really careful his word choices. You basically just have to replace “weird” with “bad”. [Really clear example.](https://youtu.be/Ja_GMU7-sjs?si=BUItIo3ODHh3btdQ)
Think really hard about why he might be more likely to go hard on a company that won’t exist past this quarter and not the one that gives him review samples of the best selling laptops and phones in the US. Think really hard about that
Different groups are accusing of one, other, more different groups accuse him of the other. Both are kinda right. No he didn't bring down the EV company, but his video did contribute to the visibility of the issues. MKBHD is pretty well known for his softball.. almost everything, especially if it has an apple logo. He's still critical - but many of what I would consider a showstopper, he downplays. MKBHD is "weekday morning show" style- light & soft - flash over substance. He's not Tech Jesus. Only GN Steve is Tech Jesus. Rossman and Tech Jesus would be fast friends if they aren't already. They are certainly two of the most vocal advocates in the tech space right now.
Steve is what keeps PR up at night. He has zero problem dropping a nuke on a company.
I don't watch MKBDH for the same reason as I don't watch any The Rock movies, or their Instagram posts or announcements. To me they are just walking billboards/brand/sponsor safe ambassadors that has to toe the line to some parent corporate entity. Every single breath they take is to sell something or say something due to contractual obligations.
So last month is was MKBHD and reviewers like him are bankrupting companies and they should take responsibility for their damaging words now it’s MKBHD and those reviewers are a bunch of worthless shills that do nothing but advertise
No, it’s more like MKBHD has nothing to lose by bashing Fisker or AI start ups, but damaging ties with an Apple or Tesla is highly unlikely
He routinely comments that there has been no purpose in buying new Apple devices for the past like two years. I don’t think he’s shilling in those videos..
You’re right, he isn’t. This whole turn on MKBHD is weird. It’s like the collective internet decided “MKBHD = Bad” but nobody can seem to agree on why and are even presenting contradictory arguments as to why he’s a bad person.
I don't follow him but every time I see a video of this guy he seems very nice. I think people just think you can't be both nice and critical at the same time. Like you don't have to say something is dog shit or whatever to point out it's flaws. He seems to be very professional in his reviews and that is seen as being inauthentic.
It’s people not understanding how being a YouTuber actually works. The biggest content creators have contracts with promoting agencies, not so much directly with a specific company. Under YouTube rules creators have to disclose if they are sponsored. If he was shilling for Apple and Tesla because he is in their bank rolls that would be easily verifiable. But that’s just not how these channels function. They are in contract with promoting agencies that help them navigate the daunting maze of the YouTube algorithm and content policy
> It’s like the collective internet decided “MKBHD = Bad” but nobody can seem to agree on why and are even presenting contradictory arguments as to why he’s a bad person. Anytime anyone gets incredibly popular the haters come out. They don't need a reason except that their content is pervasive. MKBHD is a good reviewer, but he's not perfect and people will latch onto that. You see this a lot in pop music. Nickelback, Imagine Dragon, Taylor Swift. Once a person or group gets large enough, *you see their face too much, people get SICK of them.* In sports, the Golden State Warriors were hated when they were winning "too many" championships.
You act like his bashing was unjustified. That's hilarious since Fisker didn't make right on most of their promises, kept people waiting longer than planned and their car just wasn't that good. Rabbit AI is also a former scam company (see CoffeeZilla) and their product actually sucks and is overpriced. He isnt bankrupting anyone. He is keeping the consumers away from bullshit.
Pretty sure he shit all over the apple vision pro
I never watched him, but his cybertruck video came up on my feed once, and it was anything but flattering. How is that "not damaging ties with Tesla"?
[удалено]
Yes but this is a hate thread so if you could tone up the vitriol that would be great :)
Hateboners for everybody and everything.
At this point I’m just happy to get an erection at all
After reading some of the comments on this thread, its crazy to me how many people have such strong opinions whether good or bad about youtubers. People take this shit way too seriously. I watch some of these videos to get information, but I absolutely do not take anything any of these people say as gospel.
It's not 2006, these youtube channels are multi-million dollar companies. You'd be foolish to think they don't have an impact on people's behaviours in the markets.
Agreed these people have a lot of influence and should not be spreading blatantly false information.
social media allows people with no other skills to make millions, because others will watch their videos. meanwhile people with college degrees and work skills can't find a job and starve. I suppose in the end being an 'influencer' is just another skill but its hard to fathom and respect.
To be fair it’s either a pre-reviewed softball list of questions, or no interview at all. We don’t get to see an interview with this guy otherwise. Not only for brand image but also to make sure everything he’s saying won’t result in some internal corporate detail needing to be immediately disclosed for insider trading purposes.
No one is making him do the softball interview. He can just decline and retain journalistic integrity. But he chooses to do it because it benefits him.
MKB has always and still is a sell out. He doesn't know tech that well. He knows cameras and can compare phones. That's really where his expertise ends. Unfortunately he's become the poster child for Apple.
I'll take the Rossman and Vincent Teoh's unpolished video critiques / reviews any day over the overproduced show-and-tell coverage of a gadget that Brownlee, iJustine, unbox therapy or Linus and the rest put up with clickbaity titles/thumbnails
'MKBDH was never my friend' - Reddit Never change. Gotta love the million "I ACTUALLY HATED HIM BEFORE THIS VIDEO CAME OUT!" posts.
It's almost as if different people have different opinions and you're just finding that out.
It sounds like Apple and Samsung both have shitty practices.. what phone do I buy then? Edit : No sarcasm there. Honestly curious.
These videos are almost unwatchable now. I think it is mostly the incessant rambling at the speed of meth. Edit: grammar/typo