How do YouTube "reviewers" manage to get basics SO WRONG? - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / general

author: eti
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 27, 2020, 01:02:05 am
content: Here's some things that both baffle and irritate me about most of these self-proclaimed "tech experts" on YouTube.Okay, so years ago, back in 2007, Apple introduced the aluminum iMac computer. Almost immediately, nearly EVERY SINGLE "tech journalist" (I use the term loosely) began parroting about it's "brushed aluminum finish"; erm, no guys, that's BEAD BLASTED aluminum - were it *brushed* it would look like it been, ya know, BRUSHED, ya know, with LINES and streaks like a BRUSH had been taken to the aluminum.Now, in the age of the smartphone, this ignorance of BASIC information about mass-produced consumer technology, is propagating yet again amongst the technically illiterate - the youngsters of the "Tech channel" types, who fall over themselves in a blind panic to be "FIRST!!!!!!" to release a "review" of the latest device to YouTube (although, how one is able to form a well-rounded, carefully considered, well written and intelligently conveyed "review" with less than 24-48 hours of use under their belt, baffles me no end)... okay, so what NEARLY EVERY SINGLE ONE of these "reviewers" get wrong is something so incredibly DUMB, it blows one's mind as to how this has become common YouTube technology parlance:When referring to device battery capacity, I defy you to find more than TWO of these countless thousands of copycat "reviewers" who refer to battery capacity using the correct terminology - "milliamp HOURS", and not the mass-adopted "milliamps". Go on, go and watch 30 smartphone review videos, and 29 of these will incorrectly say "It's got a 3,000 milliamp battery"Wow... what the? It's one extra word, and missing that one extra word off, makes you come across as technically unqualified for the job you appointed yourself, as a "reviewer".How do people become so oblivious to the fact that some percentage of their audience ARE going to spot these glaring errors in understanding, and discount their opinions on said product, because if you can't be bothered to get basic info right, why would we listen to you?Okay that's all. 😁

author: EEVblog
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: March 27, 2020, 01:21:39 am
content: To be fair reviewers are a) generally not engineers, b) Can't be expected to know every aspect of every area of technology, engineering, fabrication and production, and c) can't be expected to double check every single word they say.Try producing Youtube content and you'll find out it's a high pressure business of continual content.Even engineers like myself will always getsomethingwrong ineveryvideo, guaranteed. If you haven't found a mistake in one of my videos you probably haven't looked hard enough.At some point trying to get everything 100% correct becomes diminishing returns.Not trying to excuse basic mistakes, just trying to explain how and why it happens.Not point getting upset about it, just correct them and hopefully they'll learn.

author: EEVblog
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: March 27, 2020, 01:29:44 am
content: Quote from: eti on March 27, 2020, 01:02:05 amThe only thing that really matters is success. Why would a successful Youtuber care about finer technical details if they are already successful?Most Youtubers are not successful because of their incredible technical skills or knowledge, they are successful because they are personable and connect with people, have a format people like, have a voice or face people like etc.Also, the mass market audience and technical audiences are somewhat different. But even then there are countless technically brilliant Youtubers, they could even be to best and most knowledgeable in the world, but nobody wants to listen to them because they can't articulate well, have a poor presentation style etc etc.

author: amyk
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 27, 2020, 01:31:44 am
content: The majority of "reviewers" aren't actually reviewers, but paid shills or otherwise clueless consumers who don't know more about the product they're "reviewing" than how to take it out of the box and turn it on.

author: SiliconWizard
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 27, 2020, 02:10:31 am
content: I agree with Dave here, it's not that easy especially if you can't afford to spend weeks on a single video, and the example you chose, frankly, however annoying it may sound to a specialist, is relatively minor IMO. How many people out there actually know what "BEAD BLASTED aluminum" is and would that ring any bell to most of the public those videos are made for? Sorry but "bead blasted" doesn't sound like basic information to me.That said, many people on Youtube are certainly not experienced professionals and their videos should be taken with a pinch of salt. It doesn't cost you a dime to watch them, their authors just don't owe you anything. Just live with it, it's the model of those platforms. If you want professional content every single time, you'll have to pay for it one way or another. That may bother you, but again those people don't owe you anything whatsoever, and if you're on some kind of quest to chase the "bad" reviewers on Youtube, I think it would look like you'd be a Don Quixote of the modern days, and you might eventually end up like he did.

author: EEVblog
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: March 27, 2020, 02:20:11 am
content: Quote from: amyk on March 27, 2020, 01:31:44 amBut those "clueless consumers" can actually turn into useful reviewers. Sure they might get some things wrong, but at the same time they might be offering otherwise useful insight to many people.e.g. for a phone review you might only care about one particular thing/feature, and if they give you that info then it's been of value to you.But it's called "Infotainment" for a reason

author: SiliconWizard
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 27, 2020, 02:27:18 am
content: Quote from: EEVblog on March 27, 2020, 02:20:11 amThat's also a valid point, many people are actually looking for feedback from the "average joe" on products, because they can relate a lot more, and thus trust these reviews a lot more than reviews that look too professional / too technical. People out for a mobile phone just want to know what someone just like them thinks of the products, they are not necessarily looking for a "cold" review.And this is actually what companies are looking for and pay for. If they want professional reviews, they'll just pay some agency for that. Youtube reviewers are an asset because they are a form of indirect advertising that's very powerful.

author: bitseeker
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 27, 2020, 04:26:13 am
content: A lot of this boils down to economics. Engineers and other specialists are expensive. In-depth research is expensive. Getting everything 100% correct is expensive (more takes, editing, curating, etc.). Taking too long to produce a video is expensive (lost views, algorithmic penalties, etc.). And so on.Producing good-enough content, quickly enough, so that most people (i.e., not specifically people like us who notice all the details) will watch and return for more, yields better ROI.This applies to the way products are made, too, and lots of products annoy me for similar reasons. Alas, the world is not ideal for those of us who are bothered by such details.

author: EEVblog
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: March 27, 2020, 08:39:48 am
content: Quote from: bitseeker on March 27, 2020, 04:26:13 amThis is how I've managed to make 1500+ videos in the last 11 years. That's more than one video every 2.6 days for 11 years straight, not counting my other channels.

author: Howardlong
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 27, 2020, 09:18:57 am
content: It’s not hard to spot the “influencers”, a term I use in a derogatory sense. There are only one or two tech reviewers I give house room too, mobiletechreview is probably my favourite as she goes into a reasonable amount of technical detail in around ten minutes, and her many years of experience shows. Her reviews are presented in a consistent way, you know you’ll know whether RAM and/or SSD are soldered in for example.Unboxing videos I don’t much see the point of, except to see any problems getting started, but most “influencers” gloss over such irritations, choosing to fawn over their thre day loaner unit. I even did an unboxing vid a few months ago precisely to show that things go wrong.The biggest problem is that almost none of these “influencers” have the devices long enough to use them as their daily driver, so you don’t ever get to see longer term irritations or problems.While I’m not a great fan of Linus Tech Tips, their boss does tend to choose a particular device of the many reviewed and then use it for several months afterwards: not sure if he’s still using it, but the Dell XPS-13 2-in-1 with 10th gen quad core CPU has been his daily driver for a while, as it has been mine, it’s almost perfect, 32GB RAM for VMs, small and versatile form factor, really decent processing power, 4k display is gorgeous. SSD & RAM are soldered in though, wankers!

author: exe
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: March 27, 2020, 09:33:39 am
content: Quote from: eti on March 27, 2020, 01:02:05 amI'd argue that the only sensible metrics for capacity is watt-hours. Esp. when it come to laptops where batteries can have different voltages (7.xV vs 11.xx vs 14.4V, depends on number of individual elements in series). Also, there used to be batteries with different chemistry (li-ion vs lipo, etc) and different voltages, not sure if it's still the case.

author: engrguy42
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: March 27, 2020, 09:56:43 am
content: I tend to agree with Dave. Youtube is not about facts and learning, it's about entertainment. That's what people want. Period. They don't care about data and facts and details (for the vast majority of viewers around the world), they care about feeling good and being entertained.And what people seem to not realize is that youtube content creators don't owe you ANYTHING. What they produce is FREE. You pay nothing.And just like you have absolutely no reason whatsoever to show up at your job if they never pay you, youtube creators have no reason to create anything unless they get money in return. And since viewers only care about entertainment, they have to be able to entertain and get views and all that crap.Just think of how many successful and REALLY knowledgeable engineer-type tech folks are on youtube. The ones who can entertain AND provide real info. Well, aside from Dave there's....umm....well, I'll get back to you on that.So be thankful that you get free stuff (and keep in mind it's the only part of the universe, along with software, where you actually get "free" stuff), and don't feel entitled to get what you want and demand perfection and criticize everything. ESPECIALLY if you don't do all the "click on the Like button" and "subscribe" stuff that MIGHT help the creator get an additional 0.00001 cents for his effort.And BTW, also keep in mind it takes something around 1,000 likes for a video to get only ONE $1.00 US. So if you want tech stuff to continue on youtube, even if it's not perfect and might not be entertaining enough or you might disagree with the content, support the channel.Personally, I don't think this youtube business model for real tech stuff is going to last much longer. Tech plus entertainment don't mix. Unless someone figures out how to show how to bias a MOSFET and show a cat playing piano at the same time, or do it while dancing to the latest Beyonce song. Oh wait, is she still a thing?? Anyway, we'll see.

author: Brumby
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: March 28, 2020, 01:17:12 am
content: Quote from: engrguy42 on March 27, 2020, 09:56:43 amAlthough I do understand your point, I can't say I agree with you there - at least not in regards to videos that are presentedasreviews. People ARE after information. The entertainment value assists in engagement.However, the real elements that are of value do not rely on pedantry. As long as the information conveyed is understood, then the difference between "milliamps" and "milliamp hours", for example, is essentially irrelevant. Same for "brushed aluminium" and "bead blasted aluminium" ... it's aluminium, with a textured finish.As for getting things "wrong", yes, I've noticed Dave do that several times - but the information conveyed is still good since (for me at least) the mental 'auto correct' process handles it - and he is forgiven (sometimes earning a wry smile).You can spend an inordinate amount of time chasing down pedantic points - or just roll with them and take away the information that is contained within them.

author: EEVblog
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: March 28, 2020, 04:30:14 am
content: Quote from: Brumby on March 28, 2020, 01:17:12 amYoutuber creators have two types of audience, regular subscribers and random one-off viewers based on searches.For sure the one-off viewer is just searching for a review of a phone, or a tutorial on how to do something, were even crap content or annoying hosts don't matter provided the viewer gets the info they are after, then they never watch again or subscribe.But to actually build and maintain a large audience is largely (if not almost wholly) based on the entertainment and engagement part.

author: bitseeker
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 28, 2020, 05:23:43 pm
content: Quote from: EEVblog on March 27, 2020, 08:39:48 amYeah, it's quite a pace to maintain.

author: joeqsmith
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 28, 2020, 05:54:20 pm
content: Quote from: eti on March 27, 2020, 01:02:05 amI make countless mistakes when making videos. It's rare I would ever try and correct my mistakes and just assume the audience is smart enough to follow along. You should try making your own content if you feel you have a lot to offer. Personally, I'm not in it for the fame, money or chicks. I like to experiment with electronics and basically just make some videos about them that I figure people may want to see.As for your battery life example, here's mine. Show me yours!