In a series of events that bring to mind the saying, “people who live in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones”, Linus Tech Tips dissed some YouTube competitors and got blasted with examples of their general incompetence and bad work environment.
It was apparently not at all difficult for Gamers Nexus to compile a 44-minute exposé of LTT factual inaccuracies and malfeasance in retaliation for an LTT person stating,
“The difference between us and somebody like Gamers Nexus or Hardware Unboxed is we test new components, new tests every time. Every project that we do has new data”
GN also included allegations of LTT being a toxic workplace from a former fan-turned-employee.
Reading this I experienced a kind of déjà vu when the Pwnage Stromerbreaker mouse “review” came up where LTT’s Short Circuit spinoff claimed it was “not a smooth mouse” and it turned out that they made the newb error of not removing the protective plastic film from the mouse feet before the testing. It was because of similar flawed stuff by LTT that I stopped watching anything they do.
Since Gamers Nexus is all about gaming hardware and I haven’t done a gaming PC build in sixteen or so years, I know little about the channel. I think I might have watched him review a mouse or two when I was doing my search for a perfect mouse. So I have no opinion on it.
LTT has a lot of devoted fans who are coming out in defense of the channel. I don’t think they’ll suffer any long term damage. It’s all about entertainment and they do entertain their followers.
Was there really a need for a 44 minute video about this? I don’t believe this isn’t Steve doing it in part for the popularity and out of spite that he’ll have competition. He comes across as very smug and condescending.
From what I’ve read, there was no malice in what happened at LMG and that is was just miscommunication. The conclusion of the Billet Labs waterblock was still valid as it provides marginal gains for significant inconvenience and cost.
That’s not to say that LMG shouldn’t be criticised for inaccuracies and not correcting themselves properly, but this just seems like it has become a character assassination.
Anyway, LTT has for most of its existence been about entertainment. If you want facts, then at least double-checking elsewhere is what you should do. Complaining about this is like complaining that Top Gear/The Grand Tour is not giving you accurate enough information about cars; the point is to entertain over inform.
I’ve only ever watched either channel a few times researching specific hardware purchases, and for that, I found the GN videos much more informative. That people watched these channels purely for entertainment hadn’t even occurred to me =P
It probably should have though. My kids are obsessed with watching Minecraft streamers. My daughter watches streamers for the game far more than she actually plays it.
Okay, now I regret creating this topic. It was not my intent to cause upset or outrage among LTT fans on this board. Could a moderator please lock or delete it? Thank you.
Ian Cutress (formerly of Anandtech) put out an in-depth analysis (~90 minutes) which takes into account the nuances of everything happening. Long story short, he places blame all around.
My takeaway is that Gamer’s Nexus and Hardware Unboxed did not do due diligence and not only owe LMG an apology, but should publicly admit their slip in integrity.
Anyone with half a brain knew that hiring her was an utterly stupid idea. And it’s not surprising she left relatively quickly (you could tell many of the staff didn’t like her).
“I was expected to post three tweets, two Instagram posts, and two TikToks per day,”
My heart bleeds.
The allegations could be serious (though there are no details in that article) but timing of her making them…
If they were serious enough, then there is this organisation called the police she should have gone to.
Interesting take. Or it could be that she still wanted to work in the field and was worried about what impact LTT could have on her career. How much content have you created in this manner, Tams? I wouldn’t be so quick to dismiss. There are other allegations that other articles went into, but those would be dismissed as well, I presume.
It’s all good. I think all the major YT streamers are a little ridiculous, but mainly people get into trouble when they get LARGE.
In fact, the only YT streamer I have consistently listened to and liked is Lisa at Mobile Tech Review! She is amazing and I listen to almost all of them.
Edited to add. I take that back. I also always watch and love Brad Colbow.
The only thing I disagree with on Ian’s take is calling people “f*in idiots” for suspecting the timing of the allegations. There was no reason to resort to personal insults.
In our discussions, let’s try to steer clear of making the discussion personal (unless you are genuinely curious about Tam’s streaming experience). The reason being is that it often derails the flow of conversation towards constructive analysis.
Definitely, and if I crossed that line, I apologize. I just genuinely don’t think people appreciate the effort that creativity takes. I have written my first novel (128k words) and people will just be like, that’s easy, right?
Uh, no. No it wasn’t.
(In other words, I didn’t mean it specifically towards Tam personally. It was more that he might not be aware.)
To come out with the allegations when she did. You can’t deny that at least part of it was take advantage of the (mal) attention LMG were/are getting.
As for how much content like that have I created:
It’s not my job to do that; it was hers. Not only that, she was well paid to do it, and it’s not like most of the content on any of those platforms is high effort (even from big companies).
Linus has always felt like a child at the CEO helm of his own company. His energy is great and it makes for great content, but when shit hits the fan, the shit goes everywhere. It was interesting to hear Linus integrity when he mentioned that corporations should not cheat their customers and do the right thing (I think WANShow criticized a controversy for a computer case kickstarter), but then he buckled when it came to his own house.
That being said, I don’t want LTT to fail. I know Linus stepped down from his CEO position a few months ago and I’m glad he can put more of his energy into the creative aspect, while Terran t.ard wrangles Linus. I’m curious (and hopeful) to see (if) LTT can rise from the ashes.
