Channel9, please be concise | Hacker News Reader

Channel9, please be concise

6 pointsqueryly3 comments

Channel9 is an excellent source if you want to keep informed on the latest Microsoft stacks. But I would love to offer some friendly suggestions.

1. Developers don't have a lot of times. Instead of 30 minutes session, a 5 minutes quick video is more effective.

2. We know you are all developers and wouldn't hold you to the same standard as show biz hosts. Please stay away from the "funny" jokes and small talks in your presentation.

3. Maybe offer some description on the content of the video so that people can quickly decide if it is worth the time.

Thanks.

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I disagree with points 1 and 2 completely.

Point #1 - That just isn't true. Developers as a group have no more or no less time than anyone else, obviously. A 5 minute video may or may not be more effective - it depends (a) on the topic, and (b) the people delivering the message. To make such a generalization is just wishful thinking. I wish I could learn "Evolving software engineering practices" in 5 minutes but, unfortunately, that takes longer.

Point #2 - That is your opinion. I'm of the opinion that the people doing the content should do what they want. I enjoy differences. Not every video has to be packaged the same way or have the same flow.

You seem to have conflated "What I like" and "What the world needs".

- http://channel9.msdn.com/Events/Visual-Studio/Connect-event-...

A big topic can be easily broken down to small chucks. It's just easier to consume that way. I don't think they really took time to condense the content to focus on the essentials.

I really want to enjoy the jokes/small talks, but they are really flat and not funny at all.

C9 has a lot of different types of content. Forcing everything down to 5 minutes would cut them off at the knees. Certain types of content just take longer, like the "The Future of C#" (6.0) stuff, there's just a lot of content to cover...

You cannot really compare it to business marketing videos where they're only trying to deliver the core features of the product and little else. These videos actually have legitimate content, and when some of them are 1.5 hrs long it has to be broken up by some small talk/banter, etc.

Personally I just want quality content. That content could be 5 minutes or 35 minutes, I often just leave it on in the "background" (to the side) while I am working on other stuff anyway.

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