End Of Year ™ VIDEO Odd-cast
I’ve made an end-of-year video/audio Odd-cast. This is the Video version.
Irrespective of whether you watch the video, I want to offer everyone here my thanks and gratitude for your support and help over the last year and I hope that you’ll continue to enjoy the videos I have lined up for 2020.
Links to things mentioned:
How to make money on youtube (in Mandarin)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6kjFgC2xI8M
TV Tropes tries to explain Techmoan (and does a good job)
https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/WebVideo/Techmoan
Discogs - Weird formats article.
LED Christmas tree gift suppliers https://www.led-genial.de
Just a quick correction to the 'Average View Duration' stats for 2019 mentioned in the video (mins and secs):
Windows 07:28, Android 05:57, Roku 13:13, Chromecast 13:43
(Windows is 27% of views, Android is 35%, Roku 2.4%, Chromecast is 1%)
Many more stats are available - but they mostly add up to ‘stuff just happens’
Clarification:
5 MINUTE VIDEOS - the short videos idea - I’m only going to try making one of these videos every now and then, perhaps one a month or so. The rest will be as long as they need to be.
Comments (95)
Hey, joined your Patreon today, April 2020. Hope you're staying safe and well; it's not how we saw this year panning out.
Thanks for signing up to Patreon. This puts you in a very exclusive group. Yes 2020 isn’t quite how we planned. I keep thinking of the supposed Chinese curse of ‘May you live in interesting times’.
Regarding your YouTube/Vimeo problems, there's a brand new (?) alternative called Floatplane: https://www.floatplane.com/ Here's Forgotten Weapons talking about it: https://youtu.be/bt6hh47fYgo Also with the increasingly unpredictable behaviour of YouTube, it probably makes sense to have backup platform(s) for both creator and viewer alike. "Upload to ALL the platforms!"
Happy New Year to you too! Please take care of yourself, I'm happy to have a few less videos a year if it means you can exercise.
Yeah, that's actually the reason I went with the glixie clock. My regular nixie clock was also bought preassembled from a gentleman from Ukraine. My two favorite clocks are thanks to your channel.
Thanks for this video. I always enjoy these installments. I sincerely hope you have a tremendous 2020! I wanted to follow up on the Glixie Clock. After your second video I went to their campaign page and bought a black one. It came in a few weeks later and I'm happy to report that it works perfectly with zero issues of any sort. My kids love how you can change the colors and so I had Halloween and Christmas colors throughout the respective holidays and it was great. Thanks again for the work that you do. I really enjoy all of the tech that you expose us to.
I gave my spare Glixie clock to a relative and he likes it too - it seems like they sorted out their quality issues. The clock mentioned in this video was an earlier kit that required soldering called the Cronixie. More of a hobbiest device than a consumer product, but still cool.
Just got to this one, as I wanted to make sure I had undistracted time to enjoy it. Comments: Perhaps you missed out years ago with the Techmoan name. Imagine how popular you’d be as, say, PewdiMoan. Or TechPie. You say you’re a bit of a hermit, or introvert. But while some odd bit of equipment is what made me find Techmoan, it’s your personality that adds so much to your videos. I love the long winded ones. I’ll do purple hair if you do. Happy New Year.
If I applied any hair colour people would only see it as I was walking away. Happy New Year.
Happy New Year, Mat! Please, look after yourself. I can't imagine anyone objecting to some shorter videos in the cause of better health. Thanks for all your hard work, all the best.
RetroManCave recently fixed up a similar Philips CRT: https://youtu.be/4pupJ_a73ro Might prove useful? Fun fact about that Rotkäppchen wine: recently saw it in a German TV documentary on ex-GDR products. Rotkäppchen was a "VEB" company (state-owned, communism, all that jazz) which was rescued by venture capitalists and has survived as a private entity. So obviously no 'Trabant' in that bottle. 😃 Take care, and Happy New Year, Mr. Techmoan! To good health in 2020 and beyond. 🥂 <- Rotkäppchen
Yes I've seen that video now - and it doesn't look like a fun job. My plan for the monitor is to put it into storage in case anyone wants to pick it up and do the repair themselves and then after a year or so I'll bin it. I have plenty of alternatives sitting about - including a few nice broadcast monitors that do a much better job. As far as the wine goes - I'm surprised you could read the label in that light - but thanks for the information.
Happy New Year Mat! Looking forward to your videos in 2020...whether that's next decade or not, lol. I would like to say that I think you underestimate your impact on viewers though. I can't help but wonder how many viewers have found things you've reviewed at garage sales or flea markets or on eBay and bought them so they can experience those things themselves. Could be an awful lot of new vinyl/MiniDisc/LaserDisc/whatever afficionados in this world thanks to you!
Thanks for the update. Best wishes for 2020.
Happy New Year Mat. Hope you have a healthy and happy one and all your family too. Thanks for all the content you've created this year, it's provided me with hours of entertainment and lots of smiles !
Happy New Year Mat! Look after yourself - really enjoy all your videos, but make sure you are getting regular exercise - or at least getting out of the house!
Re the shorter videos, by all means, drop the end scroller, or as others have suggested, just flash a few dense pages of names, If shorter videos work better for you and generate more revenue, go that way. I know you will not be able to resist making longer ones when something like the Schaub Lorenz Music Centre comes up. Secondly, I tried Vimeo for a while but their pricing policy killed it for me. One was only allowed so many Gb of video upload per month but unused allowance didn't roll over to the next month. I thought that was really mean, so I moved everything back to YouTube and let my subscription lapse, I am really glad the laser disk machine is going to a video transfer service. These places are so useful, vital even. I recently had some old Video-8 cassettes transferred to DVD (for a friend I might add) and I also have a high-density 1/2 inch Sony Rover tape of my son's christening I need to get transferred. (He's 45 now!) :-) I used to have a BBC Domesday system and that went to a computer museum. I trust your health will improve in 2020; do everything you can to make it do so. A Happy New Year to you, and your family.
I think I’ve done a really poor job of explaining my intentions. It would only be an occasional short video - possibly one a month. The rest would be as long as they need to be. Even the short videos will be as long as they need to be as the subject would only warrant a short video - like the Sears Cassette. As far as Vimeo goes that is my exact experience - it’s especially useless with long 4K videos, given their file sizes.
Thank you for what you do – you're one of the few YouTubers where I literally enjoyed every single video you made. I hope Patreon continues to grow for you, to make you more independent from the madness that is advertising revenue on YouTube.
Waited 24 hours and still want to say it so here goes, a mountain I am prepared to die on. The new decade does not start in 2021. A decade is any period of 10 years. We are celebrating the end of the 2010s, which by definition started 10 years ago in 2010. But 2006 to 2015 was also a decade, just not a named one. This whole no year zero thing was accurate at the turn of the century when people said that the 20th century ended in 2001, because we were talking about the "20th century". But we aren't referring to the 203rd decade,
I’m 100% with you on that, I’ve just seen a lot of pedantic posts trying to say the 2021 thing and I’ve got to disagree and agree with everyone to make sure I alienate everybody. However I’ve got another way to mix things up - ‘It’s always the start of a new decade’. Maybe I should get that printed on a t-shirt, it’ll never be in or out of fashion.
And thanks to you for many hours of interest last year and all the previous years, Mat. And look after yourself, to some of us in the online community (and at least one small German company) you're a national treasure!
Mat deserves a knighthood for services to technology. Sir Techmoan has a nice ring to it.
Wishing you a happy, healthy and views filled 2020. Id like to add my +1 for lunchtime walkS and podcasts as a healthy break from my desk.
Thank you so much for all you do! I hope the new year brings you good health, lots of Patreon followers and YouTube ad revenue, and brings us some even better Techmoan videos. Yes, the videos you make (even the short ones) make a difference. Without you, there probably wouldn't have been a DCC (Digital Compact Cassette) Documentary: your video from 2014 about DCC and Elcaset is how I found your channel (some time in 2015 I think) and it was instrumental in convincing some of the ex Philips engineers to contribute to the documentary, and your videos helped to get the DCC enthusiasts of the world together to finance the documentary and keep the format alive. I will always remember the weekend that the documentary premiered in the Netherlands as one of the best in my entire life. On behalf of the DCC Museum: We couldn't have done it without you. https://youtu.be/P_pfnrGqxwI?t=169 https://youtu.be/TIzU5K76gBA https://youtu.be/t8iAwpqvZHU
I’m as surprised as anyone how that short (and not particularly well made) DCC video managed to light a spark. All the work was done by others, especially Ralf, but it was fun to see where it all ended up.
I know that Dave Jones of the EEVBlog is using LBRY now. I don't fully understand the whole crypto thing(actually I do, just not how it is supposed to work long term), but LBRY seems to work pretty well.
I think my main problem with people putting their content in all different places is I need now need someone to produce an aggregation service that presents them all in one place for me...
First priority, please do take care of yourself. Take more walks, pay attention to your heart and other assorted organs. We all want Techmoan in our lives as we head into the future...with or without a flying car.
If short videos are better for YouTube success, have you considered making two different edits, a shorter one for YouTube consumption and a full version for us Patreonites? Or maybe try to split up a full video into different sections for the YT people with short attention spans? Thanks for your always-entertaining videos. See you next year. Have a good one!
The short videos will only be every now and then - perhaps one every month to six weeks and will only be used when there’s a topic that only deserves a short video. I’ll continue to make every other video as long as it needs to be to get the story told. Then everyone should be equally happy or dissatisfied.
Presumably the glass is coated with Indium Tin Oxide (ITO), which is used in LCD panels and other applications where you need a clear conductor. I’ve seen a sculpture with “floating” LEDs in a pane of glass somewhere before but you could clearly see the positive/negative sides- not nearly as seamless as the piece in this video. very cool.
I'm a fan of the long form Techmoan videos, although the short ones are enjoyable as well. I realise this may be extra work, but how hard would it be to make two edits of your longer videos? Think along the lines of an ADHD Edit for the public at large, and a Director's Cut for patrons. If it's too hard to edit material out of a particular video (such as your 45RPM Format Wars video a couple of months back), maybe offer it over several parts to the public, with the full fat version for patrons. It'd also mean patrons would see the whole thing a good fortnight before the hoi polloi). ;) HNY to you, Mrs Techmoan and the other Moans.
My god. The part where you talked about how staying inside has not been good for you makes you sound like a bit of an addict, especially when you said that you keep trying to find the next big hit. I don't blame you for wanting to get out more. Perhaps walking videos? Honestly I might watch those. As for the patreon thing, take a page from Applied Science perhaps, and just leave up all the names for a few seconds? Happy New Year to you as well!
I watch Techmoan and a few other channels almost exclusively on Roku and that's really because it isn't like they are some videos I was sent to or just ran across randomly, they are the videos I sit down with the intent to watch all the way through like any other television series. I watch YouTube on multiple devices but there are definitely channels I will put into watch later with the intent of checking out the next time I'm on the couch.
I look forward to seeing some short videos! Whether or not it's good for attracting casual viewers, I like the idea of having a video about exactly one thing rather than several loosely related things because then it's easier for someone searching for information to find a video about exactly the thing they were looking for — or to share it and be able to say “this is about that thing I told you about” rather than saying “skip to 7 minutes in…” (and the video having a more general title/thumbnail).
I agree 100% - in the past there have been videos within other videos. Take for example the bit about DAB radio quality in a video about a hifi. I took the DAB section out and it’s done well on its own. So it’s really that kind of thing I’m thinking about. It’s not about making things shorter or dumbing them down, it’s about keeping things on topic.
Another option here could be FloatPlane... It may fit what you are looking for and as they are still doing active development on the platform they would be willing to discuss, and see if the platform works for you. https://floatplane.com - made by the folks at LinusTechTips Kind of a Patreon style funding video platform, I am not 100% on how to describe it
Just a thank you from me for the half a decade or so I've been a subscriber. I think the first video I ever saw of yours was the TEAC open reel cassette one. It's been great buying and using (with various degrees of success) similar devices to ones you've reviewed. My best purchase has probably been either the Phillips 7" reel-to-reel or the Sony C7 Betamax recorder, which is built like a brick... er... something house. Happy New Year and all the best for the next decade!
Thanks for your hard work. Are u planning 8 track quad next year? I love my set up. Glad pateron helps. I like getting videos early and the background videos to.
Yes I’ll definitely get to it. I’ve been working my way up to it by buying a new AV amp with discrete surround inputs.
Speaking as a "name in the credits" person, I'm always amazed that you manage to crank out a video weekly, especially with the high quality of yours compared to many other YouTube Channels. I think I'd be just as happy if they were only every 2 weeks, if it meant that you were staying healthier and happier. Have you considered doing slideshow-style patreon credits, instead of scrolling them up the screen? I reckon you could flip through them a lot faster. Wishing you a happy 2020!
I’m seriously thinking about the slideshow idea. I’ve got an idea how it might work. The scroll does take a bit too long for comfort.
Please do take some time to take walks, care for your health, and enjoy life. I prefer quality over quantity and smaller and/or less quantity of videos will not matter to at least myself. I very much enjoy the work that you do and in some odd internet type of thing, consider you a type of friend. May the new year bring you health, happiness, and prosperity.
On the shorter video thing, there is something to be said about people having short attention spans. There's a podcast that is the number 1 podcast, at least in the US, by Mike Rowe, that is on average 5 minutes per episode. It's great and to the point. I think your thoughts about doing more shorter videos could really help a lot. This is just my opinion, obviously. Admittedly, I have a fairly short attention span. I love the short form. But no matter which direction you take, I'll be watching your videos all the way through. But I also have YouTube Premium. You'll get the ad revenue automatically from that, I think? Anyhow, Happy New Year! Look forward to all the new videos in 2020!
Yes YouTube premium gets included in the revenue - they divvy it up somehow and it ends up about 12% of the monthly income from youtube, which doesn’t seem bad all things considered.
Hey Mat (can I call you Mat? It seems weirdly informal) - just a note to say thanks for what you continue to do. I think there are effectively two YouTubes - there's Megastar YouTube, populated by the PewDiePies of this world who are massively popular among a certain demographic but incomprehensible to everyone else, and there's Niche YouTube, which carries on the spirit of what YouTube was originally intended to do - letting people who are passionate about things share their expertise. I have learned more than you can quite believe from Niche YouTube and it's very dear to me, and I'm glad you continue to be part of it. FWIW, I think my favourite video this year was your work on the 45rpm format war, which I almost found myself recommending back to you on your own Patreon a few days later when I completely inexplicably got you confused with Big Clive. Have a great new year, take a break if you need to take a break - and as always, thanks for reading.
I was happy with the format war video too - it took a lot of time and effort, and even if it wasn’t a mega hit, I’m pleased with how it turned out. I’m glad you mentioned about some very popular things being completely incomprehensible though. The last time I felt I had a fair understanding on what was going on with most things was about 15 years ago.
I don’t care if your videos are long or short, I watch em all. Glad to be a supporter, here’s to a great 2020.
Really good to see you looking much more upbeat at the end of 2019 than at the end of 2018 (at the end of 2018 you seemed a bit burnt out; this year you seem to be already looking forward to things you can do in 2020). Thanks for the updates, and all the videos throughout the year. Best wishes for 2020! Ewen
I don't think you have ever made a video I didn't like (long or short) so I'm more than happy to support you and I always hope for your videos to be a success. The little star badge looked fantastic, I reckon I will check those out and the power glass tech is very promising for glass displays in the future. Happy new year!
I think video99.co.uk can repair this monitor for you.
I think the cost of any repairs would be a lot more than the value of a fully working monitor like this - if anyone wants it in its current state they are welcome to it, but buyer collects.
Happy to support you and thanks for putting out awesome content! And yeah, I'd rather see you be successful and be able to continue to enjoy your content than worry about seeing my name scroll by at the end of every single video.
Love your videos and have for a long time!!! Glad to support the great content that you produce! Hopefully your health improves in 2020 my friend and Cheers from Canada!!
I‘m a loyal follower of your channel for about two years now, and never regretted becoming a Patreon 👏🏻. Looking forward to all the brilliant videos we will get from you in 2020! Happy new year, Mat!
How about a Fitbit review? (Or other activity-tracking widgets/apps.) Happy New Year!
I get a kick out of seeing my name in the credits ... but ... I also get a kick out of seeing my name in the credits of Wintergatan's videos. Ever seen his patron list? Think 1000 patrons per screen and about 6 screens. Yeah. So it's OK with me if you feel you need to make your outros shorter. I certainly understand why. I'm not a patron because I need to see my name in the credits, I'm a patron because I like your videos.
Fantastic vid..always enjoy the wrapup/oddcasts! :-) Is that a Sony ICF6800 Shortwave radio in the background? - I'm guessing thats going to be part of a future vid? Thanks for all your output this year Mat...Here's to 2020, flying cars, purple hair etc!! :-D
There are a few things floating around in the ‘studio’ that I hope to get to show soon.
Can you not scroll the Patreon list much MUCH faster? Have you seen the credits on the end of American TV shows. Totally unreadable.
I could, but it might be a bit of a slap in the face.
I really hope you have a great 2020, Mat. I can't thank you enough for all the entertainment you've given me this year as well as all the useful information. Just got some Aftershokz headphones so I can listen to stuff without my wife accusing me of isolating myself! I would never have even thought of getting them if it wasn't for your reviews. Short videos, no problem, as long as you sprinkle in the occasional full length one. I do have a personal suggestion for you though, although I know you'll hate it (but read right to the end!) - Join a gym and get a Personal Trainer. I am a few years older than you and retired after 30 years of sitting at a desk and was carrying too much weight and not doing enough exercise. I hated going to the gym, but decided to give a Personal Trainer a try, and it really has changed my life. An hour a week for a few months, I lost 10kg in weight, reduced down two sizes of jeans and generally feel much better and healthier in myself. Most gyms offer a free taster session, so maybe risk an hour of your time and give that a try? Otherwise, have a great 2020, and keep those wonderful videos coming. Thank you, Mat!
Don't worry about the short videos - I'm only aiming for the occasional short video - perhaps just one a month or so. I'll see how that goes as an experiment. As for the Gym and a personal trainer, it's perhaps a step too far for me, I know it would be beneficial, but I'm just not comfortable with that kind of thing. I'll try forcing myself to turn off the computer and going for walks to start with. The diabetes is always a barrier to more vigorous exercise as it results in hypos, so baby steps.
I love the Chinese pronunciation of "Techmooaaaan". Funny that they mentioned the puppets in the video, you should add "The Moans" as plush toys in your store. ;-) The explanation of your channel on tvtropes.org is perfect, but I like yours too: "... I don't really know what I do..." LOL Well, It works for me! I wish you all the best for 2020!
Thank you for your videos! Take care, and have your self a grand 2020!
Thanks Mat! You may not think you have any advice about how to do well on YouTube, but you've helped me get better on YouTube this year with your Patreon videos, so thank you! Happy New Year!
Hi Matt! I absolutely don't think that most successful video was random. First of all, it had an intriguing, catchy thumbnail ("That is not a cassette", AFAIR). People see that and think, how can THAT be not a cassette? They think it's a clickbait, start to view that and eventually find out it's not a clickbait at all. It's a well made video, so it keeps them from turning off all the long, and in the end they get a satisfactory dénouement. It's no wonder it's more successful than the others. It has all the needed elements of a successful novel.
It was a fortunate convergence of events, that’s for sure. It’s difficult to recreate something similar to it - it's more luck than good judgement.
Yourubers that just talk empty roasting stupidness have 15-20 million subscribers and they get 100.000wiews in one hour. YouTube is soon just for kids. Time to change platform like Vimeo?
Happy New year! You could look at/into peertube for your patreon only vids(or in general). https://joinpeertube.org/ It's a decentralized video sharing platform. You can join an instance and upload vids. Some have limits on storage others don't. For instance you could join https://peertube.co.uk/
Happy New Year, Mat. Cheers to your health.
The term you were searching for is "inflection point" :P That feeling that YouTube is due for a large shift in whatever. I'm still glad I put a buck towards you here and I assume most of that makes it through credit card processing fees and blah blah blah, but yeah I wish you luck navigating 2020 for YouTube and life in general \o/
I don't think I'd ever have come up with Inflection Point - so I'm glad I stopped trying to think of the right term. But you're right, that fits. You'll no doubt have noticed the Employee/Employer mix-up too - Speaking is hard.
Mat, no one will mind if you take time out to look after yourself. Health comes first.
How about you make 6 minute videos of retro keep fit equipment. Clearly I’m a genius. Thanks for your output over the last year.
I'm thinking of some kind of electric shock thing in a wooden box with lots of brass fittings.
Happy New Year, Mat! I really enjoy your videos. Thanks!
I love what you do. Happy new year!
DextersLab2013 has taken apart his CRV 5000 Video Processor Unit as a response to your video, which I found very interesting. Both of them.
Thanks a lot Mat, have a great 2020! And yes, a good review is most probably the best advert a company can have, very nice of them to send you the presents, good job! By the way: don't worry about leaving out the Patreon list, even as if I am now on it, I usually skip it ;-).
So tempted to post before I've finished watching the video as you mentioned a bugbear of mine, must resist temptation... Happy New Year Mat. All the best for 2020.
Hi Mat, leaving off the patreon scroll at the end would not bother me in the slightest. I eager wait for content to appear and always.enjoy it (even the wife watches occasionally and likes them too). Hope your Christmas was great and hope 2020 is even better for you.
Originally from Sweden, but live in China for 15 years. If you want translation and/or explanation of that Chinese video let me know. Basically they goes through your channel with numbers of subscribers and views etc etc. Also explains what products you are presenting. In then end they go through lots of other platforms and they have services to "help" influencers to be successful. Especially funny regarding YouTube since its blocked in China... Of course they never explain or even realizes how much work it takes to create good quality content and how long time, years and years, it takes to build an audience... Oh well, well...
Thanks for the info - that’s pretty much what I thought it was. I definitely think the first job would be to find a time machine to start doing it all a decade ago.
Mat.. definitely take more time out and walk. Your health is much more important than anything else. I don't know if you have a fitbit or anything like that, but I recommend it. Between walking and tracking my steps, tracking my food with the app, eating less and eating better, I was able to lose 115 lbs in 8 months (I was over 300 lbs). You don't need be that drastic, but just a couple 30 minute walks a day and you will feel better (mentally and physically). Listen to some music or put on some podcasts and the time flies. I wish you all the best and look forward to seeing what you'll have for us in the new year. (I hope that didn't sound preachy, I didn't mean it to. Just wanted you to know if you wanted to get fitter and more heathy, it is not hard and that if I can do it, you can too. Good luck.)
My main problem is that I used to walk to the train and from the train to work and around the shops at lunch and back the other way in the evening. I probably walked 4 or 5 miles a day. Now if I go walking I’m not working. I need to re-jig things quite a bit.
Tell you what, I think I can say on behalf of all us Patreons that if you want to make short videos around the 5 minute mark, and need to leave out the Patreons list, we're totally fine with it. Our names are on so many videos already and that's really not why we're here, right? We want to see quality content, more than getting that little snippet of fame. ;)
Yeah I'd be totally fine with it. Everything else would blow up the video ridiculously.
A very interesting sum-up! And yes, I'd like to know more about the Elcaset. With twice the width and speed of a normal CC, it should sound pretty good. Happy new year to you! :-) <3
While nothing is more satisfying to see than the run time on an upcoming Techmoan video is 20 - 30 minutes, your plan to put out short videos sounds like it could be the better way to go. Anyway, take care of yourself and have a great 2020–whether you get a flying car or not.
Semi-related to a topic in the video - I recently signed up for Nebula (through CuriosityStream) - I think your channel would be a good fit there - no idea how beneficial it is for creators or what their process is like, mind. Thanks for doing these yearly updates; I enjoy them :)
Another year of enjoyable content Mat, thanks for keeping us all continually entertained, stay well and all the best for 2020!
Thank You Mat for this video and i wish You an happy new year. I haven't forgot the Atari Video Music project ! I hadn't time to put it together yet, but it will be my project for the next month, and i will ship it to you :-D
Take as long as you need - or longer, but I’m also looking forward to seeing the results. If it works well we’ll have to look at ways to re-publish the instructions.