I wonder if he's going to LTT's labs venture?
So I hope he’s not joining them. It would be great if he formed his own venture instead.
It's cool to see them try a different format and hope they succeed in bringing proper empirical-mindedness to the top of the presentation.
If I drop into a random page of a random Ian Cutress article, there's a high probability it will be interesting and well thought-out content.
If I drop into a random LTT video and scroll to a random timestamp, it's most likely going to be some minimal content arbitrarily stretched past the 10 minute threshold for YouTube monetization. I can usually find the answer to the clickbait headline with enough seeking around, but many of his videos contain so little actual content that it could probably be summarized in a couple of Tweets. His specialty is expanding it into 10+ minutes of overly enthusiastic, slow-paced talking about it.
The information density is at polar opposites of the spectrum, and that's by design. YouTube favors quantity and clickbait, and it's no secret that Linus is playing that game as aggressively as he can.
Doesn’t mean that entertainment doesn’t benefit from rigorous science and methodology.
In any case people are suggesting Ian join LTT Labs, not LTT.
So do you blame the creator or Google who makes these rules?
This is why I've long since preferred AnandTech to LTT. They employ people like Cuttress, who has a respect for scientific rigor and can go deep into the technological weeds and actually report usefully from them, whereas I feel LTT was limited mostly to surface-level observations when I watched regularly.
I don't see a problem here. The keyboard thing sounds entertaining, so I'll go check it out.
I do think his heart is in the right place and his team is able to produce high quality, both in terms of the content and the production. If LTT is serious about LTT Labs, then they need someone like Ian Cutress, and LTT is one of the few place that would be able make him a genuine offer.
LTT wouldn't be as big if they did highly technical "boring" analysis, they can be so big and influential because they are light, layman-friendly almost at a stupid level.
Youtube is about attracting the crowd and let me tell you something, the crowd isn't very smart for the most part.
The first thing I though before googling it up was that Linus Torvalds got into youtubing.
Linus has literally said that he doesn't like the clickbait himself but it's almost essential to get decent views thanks to YouTube's algorithms. It's true that a lot of their work is more surface-level compared to AnandTech but that's just partly because a. You need a lot of talent that they might not have had, and b. They actually ARE expanding in that direction.
Side note: Tom Scott/Rohin Francis/Veritasium have also started having more clickbaity video thumbnails. Do I blame them? No, I blame YouTube. Don't forget, Linux has a huge team he needs to pay and support.
Plus they have made a big investment into doing even more advanced testing and reviewing. So I don't really agree that they are "all-in". They do it because that's what makes money, but Linus also wants his channel to be a place for high quality journalism.
If you told me ten years ago that BuzzFeed's news site would end up winning many prestigious awards including a Pulitzer Prize I would have thought you were joking.
I think it's a TED talk but I'm not entirely sure. Buzzfeed was an MIT grad product to figure out how far they could go with virality and virality alone. If the project proved succesful, they'd invest in serious journalism.
It's all there in the video I don't have a link to!
Honestly, I don't mind what current LTT videos do. I've spend enough time around tech and doing design work that a lot of the mistakes and situations are familiar. Sure the staff is aware they have to be entertaining and play it up, but a lot of the mistakes are genuine. Plus it makes videos quicker to shoot if you aren't trying to get a perfect take.
It's kinda sad to watch all the big name editorials I used to read as a teenager like Anandtech and Toms Hardware lost their spark and are withering away, and LTT is now becoming the tech review juggernaut.
I hope there will always be a place for Anandtech's and Tom's Hardwares in this world, though. Text content with decent illustrations can't be adequately replaced by video.
[1] https://twitter.com/LinusTech/status/1486918784401088515
This just isn't what the tweet shows? Unless you are counting AdSense as sponsors? That doesn't seems to make sense.
You seem to be saying LTT is beholden to their sponsors? There is always an argument to be made there but misrepresenting: floatplane, AdSense and other sources that I don't see how you can call sponsors, which make up another 33% seems very disingenuous.
Unless I am misinformed about how AdSense works.
Yes, I am going by Google's own definition of AdSense which describes them as "sponsored links". If revenue from sponsored links does not count as sponsorship revenue then to each their own.
>You seem to be saying LTT is beholden to their sponsors?
This is such a massive jump I have no idea if it's even worth responding to it. I have no idea how posting a link to a literal pie chart directly from a source can be construed as saying that said source is beholden to sponsors.
If there's anything disingenuous, it would be the idea that not mentioning floatplane which makes up a mere 4% of revenue is a form of misrepresentation. That said I will defer to Hanlon's razor on that one [1]
LTT's sponsored content is clearly marked and for videos with an ad read, the writing staff isn't informed what companies will get a spot in the video while writing. Seems like pretty solid editorial independence to me?
If [sponsor X] has done five high-dollar 'product showcase' videos in the past year contributing [Y] in revenue, and a separate review of [sponsor X]'s product is coming up, does the writer and/or editorial staff have any possible filters (whether or not intended) to protect the revenue stream for future 'product showcase' videos from that sponsor?
I tend to give LTT the benefit of the doubt, but that's why I say it's a tightrope. Once you have paid content (in any form), and not just ad spots, it complicates the relationships you have with your audience, and with your sponsors/advertisers.
I dont mind LTT, the problem is just it is way too dumbed down. It is part of the reason why Hardware discussions, even on HN is pretty average to say the least.
May be people just dont like reading long and detail review but instead only want short form video.
Heck, even if they where hours long, some stuff is just better suited to be read than watched.
Given the level of respect he's shown Cuttress in the past and the timing, combined with how excited he's been on WAN Show about the person he was finalizing a deal to hire to lead these efforts, there's probably a decent chance Cuttress is the hire. That's all speculation at this point, though.
And i see no problem with LTT and their approach to hardware, it is entertaining but make no mistake, that they know what they are talking about.
But let's see what LTT is up to.
LTT Labs is their attempt at producing more investigative and informative content that is less rooted in entertainment like their main channels are.
I've been reading Anandtech for ~20 years. It has stayed virtually the same [1]. Linus has turned his venture into a giant media and entertainment house. I hope LTT labs is completely different but it is hard to imagine it given Linus' vision and business interests.
[1] This aspect is basically unheard of these days. Hard to find anything that stayed the same ~20 years, they refined their vision instead of slowly destroying it.