I know I haven’t wrote anything for almost a year; it’s embarrassing. So much has happened during that time; I finally graduated and got a job where I could put both my tech and humanities skills, and started a home skincare routine and starting to feel the results, both physically and mentally (less acne on period days, some fading scars, feeling good from self-caring).
Sadly, I also had to say goodbye to the Moto M. The battery replacement I did fixed absolutely nothing and by 4 months, the phone kept restarting itself. I thought 2 repairs in less than a year would be a bad sign for things to come, and bought a Xiaomi Note 7 instead (I prefer a pure Android experience, but I thought I need to try a Xiaomi at least once in my lifetime. I mostly enjoy it). On the brighter side, I finally have a new laptop, surrendering the beaten-up, 6-year old Samsung to my mom as a work computer, and finally learned to dual-boot Xubuntu into a 64-bit system (P.S.: L, if you’re reading this, sorry for my failed attempt of doing the same to your brand new laptop back in 2017).
On to the point: I’ve been spending the early months of this situation we’re living in (feel free to fill in with your preferred term) by watching the back catalog of many YouTube channels instead of writing anything of value. I guess I did this because of my feeling of fatigue and uncertainty, both coming from inside and outside myself (re: the news). I knew they said I should be using this spare time (I honestly think I’m even busier during this than usual, though – that’s why this blog’s been collecting dust) to learn something new, or at least crack open a book, but I like to fool myself that binge-watching these channels enriched my knowledge in various topics. And so I decided to go meta and write about things I watched instead of writing my new ‘findings’ as I originally intended when starting this blog.
About the channels: Some of these channels are really popular, maybe even influential in its subject; some are quite obscure. I will also pick some videos from each channel that I enjoy the most.
Techmoan
Topics: audio & video formats, hi-fi, gadgets, tech history
This might be the most popular channel on this list (by the time I’m writing this, it has exceeded 1 million subscribers). I’ve also heard of the so-called ‘Techmoan effect’, when previously unpopular piece of old tech went up in price after he covered it.
The creator, of this channel, Mat, mainly talks about old or discontinued audio/video formats, their players, and other gadgets both old and new, like pocket cameras and slushee machines. It’s the videos covering the formats that I enjoy the most. Almost every video starts with the history of the format/device itself, like its release date, original price, and the story of its development, sometimes when and how it’s marketed to the public and whether or not it went well (mostly not). I found it highly educating on the journey of developing and marketing a piece of technology, and also why haven’t the general public heard of more formats than cassette, CDs, DVDs, Blu-Rays, vinyls, and VHS – listing only from the top of my head – although in term of features they’re leaps and bounds from the more popular formats available at the time.
Picks: It’s hard to choose. All of Mat’s videos are well-made and happened to be about things I’m interested in (most of the time), but his explanation of the VHD video format is the one that got me hooked on the channel. But if there’s a media format that’s almost synonymous with his name, it might be Minidisc, and his video about the Minidisc is a 45-minute love letter to the format. I also can’t resist slightly old and obscure gadgets, like Sony Data Discman, a proto-ebook reader that uses the Minidisc format (for a modern child like me, it looks like a very small, very thick portable DVD player with keyboards)
LGR
Topics: softwares, games, computers, and other hardware (mostly from the 90s, some modern)
This is another popular channel, with a somewhat lighter in tone than Techmoan, complete with a smattering of witty jokes and puns. It covers quite a wide variety of topics, but never strayed too far from the 90s and early 00s computers, softwares, and games, and other gadgets. Sometimes he also reviewed newer games, like The Sims and its never-ending add-on packs.
What I enjoy the most from Clint’s videos is his enthusiasm. Even when I’m watching one of his videos about things I’m not really interested in (or have no idea what he’s talking about), I can’t help but also feeling happy. I’m not really interested in DOS games, arcade machine PCBs and 90s graphic cards, but there’s something in how he showed them that pulled me in. I also found Clint’s voice and his selection of Jazz soundtracks very soothing. Maybe I could listen to his videos when I have trouble sleeping.
Picks: My favorite video of his might be the one about Microsoft Bob. I’ve seen screenshots and editorials decrying it to be the worst, but I’ve never seen it actually being used before (it’s not so bad, but maybe it’s better suited for children and old people). I also like how he sacrificed his time (and possibly sanity) for playing that weird but legendary ‘educational’ game, Adventures of Ninja Nanny and Sherlock Sheltie. He also reviewed this mysterious PDA/laptop thing from Turkey.
VWestlife
Topics: audio and video, hi-fi, radio, computers, electronics, gadgets
I guess VWestlife covers the widest topics of these channels, from in-depth comparisons of AM/FM radio receivers, cheap gadgets/vinyl records/cassette tapes he found on charity stores, to fixes he did for a very low-end laptop riddled with malware. The channel itself is a rarity among the glossy channels mucking up your feed. His videos reminded me of old-school Youtube videos: it has no introduction, not even a greeting, the editing is minimal except for some reaction clips inserted every so often, and he never put his face in the camera nor have I heard him saying his own name; I even have no idea what he looks like until a few months ago, when I found one of his few non-tech videos. Production aspects aside, the straightforwardness of it all makes it very refreshing and sincere. He never said more than he need to, and that’s how I would make a video, if I ever will; I don’t like showing my face, and my voice sounds like shit, so don’t hold your breath.
(I also still have no idea if he really is a fan of Westlife though, as the name and profile picture of his channel indicates. I’m partial to Take That myself.)
Picks: His video about fake solar panels on calculators is probably the first video that I’ve watched (instead of solar panels, they’re simply black plastic films). I had no interest nor knowledge in calculators or solar panels whatsoever, but this info now always came up to mind whenever I saw a cheap calculator. I also really enjoy the tour of his personal FM radio station, from Winamp all the way to the antenna. He also did a video on copy-protected Sony Music CDs (a major scandal back in 2005-ish), and tested whether they totally work (they mostly didn’t, but are still annoying).
Honorable Mentions
I didn’t watch these channels much anymore, but they have some good content. There are some other channels that should be on this list, but I’m too tired to write about them. I also had to drop a channel – a local one, sadly – since he started using clickbait tricks on his titles (new challenge! try to make a title without using the word ‘this’).
OSFirstTimer
This might be the channel I have on my subscription list the longest; even on its dormant years, I’ve never unsubscribed from it. As the name says, the owner of the channel challenges his mother, Diana, to do simple tasks on various operating systems both past and present, such as creating a text file and changing the desktop wallpaper. Some newer videos also showed her trying to use old programs, like an early version of Photoshop, and trying to play vintage games. It’s quite fun to see her navigate through various flavors of Linux and versions of Mac OS and Windows, and getting better and better at doing the tasks through the years (watch the videos when it’s the father attempting the tasks, and you’ll see what I’m talking about).
Overall, this channel’s videos are interesting in showing how an average person interacts with various types of user interfaces, including those they’ve never experienced before. Using myself as an example, I think I’ve had a good grasp on most UI elements after fooling around with various programs on my family computer since I was 7 years old. Can’t find out how to do something on an program? There might be an option on the menu bar. Can’t find a menu bar? There might be a button on the top left/right corner, and you’ll find the list of options. No button? Maybe right-clicking can do the trick (Can’t do a right-click? Maybe use the Function keys…). But would an Average Joe, who didn’t spend his developmental years tinkering on a computer, will think the same? Or someone who only ever used them in computer classes at school, and never touched them again? It’s quite an interesting question.
Smartwatch Ticks
This channel can be described simply as ‘an enthusiastic grandpa shows off his large smartwatch/band collection’. I don’t watch his videos that much now, since I’ve stopped looking for a smartband, but I like them for two reasons: 1) the thorough explanation of the wearables’ features (which could take more than 20 minutes or much more to explain for each), and 2) the variety of his collections. Unlike more popular channels covering these devices, he never discriminates on less-popular brands, and that’s great – being a fairly new type of gadget in the market, you can still see smaller manufacturers trying on quirky designs and features, such as the one which is basically a 2.8-inch Android phone on a wristband, and a smartband that hosts a pair of Bluetooth earphones.
Conclusion
I guess I like vintage tech now, although I have no hands-on experience/major interest in them. Maybe it’s like watching a professional gamer play a game instead of playing them yourself; it’s much easier – and cheaper – to watch someone buy and tinker with old gadgets and software rather than doing it myself (e.g. buying 100 Minidisc players from Japan, with no guarantee that even one of them still works. The only things I want to do that are closely related to (semi) vintage tech are 1) fixing my family’s almost-20-year-old, barely used Samsung Cassette/CD/VCD player, and 2) buying an iPod, the click-wheel version.
Next up: some movie channels. There are only two of them, actually. But lots of longform videos also worth mentioning.
Nochka's Weekly Tech Findings 