December 2021 Patreon Exclusive VIDEO Oddcast
I’ve recorded a Patreon update. Unfortunately I didn’t have any extra clips to add in this month to break it up a bit so I’d recommend either watching it in small instalments or putting in on in the background while you do something else. That’s of course if you want to watch/hear it at all.
This has been one of those months where little has happened off screen. However if anyone was interested in hearing about the results of not enabling the comments for a new video for the first few days, most of the first half hour is taken up talking about this.
An audio version is available in a separate post.
There are chapters on the video if you want to jump ahead.
HEXAPUTER info (Big Clive Video) https://youtu.be/7f8jgvvJe-Q
Comments (69)
I quite enjoy reading the comments on your videos as they make me smile. Some of them are just ridiculous and rather entertaining. Of course, I don't take them to heart but I can see why they would be rather frustrating and trying after a time for you. Still, look at the positives, at least it gives some great content for these Patreon video updates! Keep up the good work Matt.
Just for a hoot, I created my own 'click-bait' thumbnail 😂. Who needs lens flare when you can have laser flair? https://ibb.co/yRSJ2GL
I’m pretty sure that would do well. Maybe I should test it for a few days as an experiment.
I wish people would say "Smack yourself in the face" in their outros. That would give me a good giggle every time.
(Not done watching the whole comments ramble yet, but.) I would 100% comment more on videos if the comments on youtube were not such a cesspool. I've had them blocked using adblocker since I started watching youtube, and really never have read one before. I'd say don't beat yourself up replying to everything like that, though I'm sure you're fast enough at it now that it's not an issue. But it is just a troll's paradise on there. Perhaps coming to patreon, logging in, finding the video, then commenting is really what the exclusive should be for supporting you. Might help, might not, but I don't know of anyone that has "The right to comment on this video" be a thing that's only for their patrons.
I was ridiculously excited to see the Wera calendar, since I'd seen Ashens and Nerdcubed on YouTube open one up for their Advent Calendar League 2017. I hope yours is as nice as theirs was! Thanks for this Oddcast -- I really do look forward to these every month. I was legitimately freaked out by the implications of getting a razor in the mail until hearing the real explanation. Which was still a bummer, just not in a homicidal way. Also, I will never listen to Al Green again without thinking of him as a long-winded plant.
I think things are finally moving with the refund to the ebay fiasco. I’d still prefer that walkman though.
Dear Mat, I hear you on the fatigue due to the “event”. I work in IT for a large urban university system, yeah was labeled an “essential” employee so I work whenever and whatever. It wasn’t so bad in the beginning but the lack of structured hours, workplace boundaries (I alternate on/off-site), lack of staff due to personnel that has succumbed to the virus as well as the general dislike for us civil service workers. All that has ratcheted up everyday stress levels. I’ve still got responsibilities in my private life too so the two coupled together have made coping with existence truly that much more difficult. I try not to get down about it but seems like I'm just treading water. not much I can do about it either. I avoid commenting or reading them (comments are too polite a word) because most are just asinine missives that often repeat themselves. I teach part-time and I’ve seen similar behavior in the classroom. 90% of the populace can't formulate the sane, rational thought let alone actually put it into a sentence. Johnny can't think, read, or be thoughtful. Comments on any platform are terrible (like mags, newspapers, etc) and many publications have just turned them off. I think of boob-tube, the kids that wrote the commenting code are long gone and so it just continues to suck to this very day because no one wants or knows how to even begin fixing it. Anyway, IMHO I truly enjoy your content (as others do) and I hope you continue to find inspiration and the perspiration to keep on keeping on with it. We all have our windmills to joust! Apologies in advance for going on too long. Kind regards -est2
Don't apologise - I'm 100% interested in what you had to write. It's good for me to hear things from the perspective of others. It's easy for me to start navel gazing - just being here working on my own - with no one else to bounce things off. In many ways it's what I always wanted, I work better alone, but that lack of interaction can also make someone quite selfish or self absorbed if they're not careful. I'll get back to playing around with something that makes me happy. Even if it doesn't go down well with everyone, I'll be enjoying it while I'm doing it.
When I first got into YouTube around 2008 the joke was always to never read the YouTube comments because they were just a cesspool of nonsense and you should always find where the video was posted on Reddit or Digg and read the comments there. So I'm always a little bit surprised to learn that anybody actually posts or reads them. Personally 99% of my YouTube viewing is on my AppleTV so I can't even see the comments and just in the past few weeks did they even add the ability to read the video description on AppleTV. Comments on YouTube have always seemed just like an afterthought on the platform. They're just there because when YouTube was invented everything on the internet needed comments. Eventually news sites realized that having comments on every article was neither productive nor useful and so they got rid of them. Meanwhile sites that were successful in fostering dialog like Reddit had comment systems much more akin to forums with multi-level comments and voting systems. YouTube still seems like it's stuck in the 2006-era of commenting. Where the feature exists but they've put no effort into actually making it useful for conversations.
Yes you're 100% right about this. The comments feature really does come across as an afterthought - and an out of date one at that. Couldn't agree more.
I like the Techmoan Boutique Bakery! I find your videos to be very nutritious. I would certainly be interested in a video about those cheap radio-with-cassette-with-black-and-white-television thingies. I didn’t know about them, I knew about the 1970s music centres and the 90s/00s mini sets (not sure if that is the correct English term), and I guess that’s the market niche they occupied.
It's a boulangerie, don't you know. 🧐
It's funny Mat, I actually enjoy reading the comments of your videos. I usually find them interesting or informative or funny. Maybe it's waiting a few days until the creme of the crop comments rise up to the top? I do have a bit of disagreement on the "adding stuff to ultrasonic record cleaner" - I think it's reasonable to ignore the instructions to not add anything else, and the people recommending in the comments to add stuff usually had some scientific or practical experience to back it up.
I guess you're right. Algorithm or not, if people are interested in your content, they'll stick around. Was kind of nice seeing you accept your subscriber numbers and just embrace that your people have found you.
There was that scene in "Groundhog Day" when, after being trapped in that daily loop for weeks and weeks, Bill Murray's character realizes that if nothing he does today will have any effect whatsoever on tomorrow...well, that's the ultimate definition of freedom and he doesn't have to care about anybody else's rules any more. Maybe this is relevant to YouTubers. I'm certain that there are some channels where posting at 2 PM GMT on Tuesdays instead of 11 AM EDT on Thursdays makes all the difference in the world, this month, until the rules change and now there's just no point unless your thumbnail is predominantly yellow with something purple in the background. But there seems to be a lot less stress involved when your channel is the kind where you just do your thing and it all seems to work out.
I did once feel that putting my videos out at the weekend might have given people more time to watch them. I an image of someone on a train commute scrolling through YouTube on their phone and seeing that I'd put out a 20 minute video about an old tape format whereas another channel had uploaded a 15 second clip of someone falling off a skateboard and I could imagine which they'd choose. I can imagine them thinking - I'll save that longer video for another day, but that day never comes. I suppose nowadays they'd just be on Tiktok - so the 20 minute video is never in contention.
I just wanted to say that I really enjoy these Patreon recap videos every month.
Did you try adding any isopropyl alcohol or detergent to the water?
Absolutely fantastic as always, and Covid has worn everyone I know down. It feels like it's been 10 years long already.
My aim is to stay here for as long as you are making videos.
Ditto. ;-)
Never change, Mat. I *love* this boutique.
otally understand about the comments. Totally agree with everything you said. I agree about the editing thing. I’ve had a number of offers for that. I have told every one of them the same thing. It would take MORE work for me to coordinate with a 3rd party to do the editing than just to do it myself. As for the 2 razors thing. That’s bizarre unless somebody in the postal service is the one committing the fraud. Also I don’t know about that seller, but I don’t pay for shipping insurance. For one thing, it is a nightmare actually getting them to pay up. They (the parcel companies) have fine print in those contracts to place them blame on you in just about every way. The only guaranteed way to get them to pay is if they actually lose your package and it never gets delivered. It’s such a hassle, I learned long ago that it’s better for me just to not pay it. I have to replace about 1 out of a hundred packages I ship out. And it’s cheaper to do that and much less time consuming than paying for shipping insurance. As for having “plateaued” I may be in the same boat. But then again, it’s hard to say. The main reason is, I get about 3,000 new subs every month. Of course, I lose some every month too. For some channels, 3,000 subs would be huge. The point is, I think when we compare that relative to our total subs, it seems small.
Yes the sub numbers are very similar here. I think to attract a large new audience you need to reach that audience, but if YouTube just shows your videos to existing subscribers then it’ll never happen. I’ll just keep going until it doesn’t make sense to carry on.
Holiday in Spain, late 1970's bottom of the hotel pool; boombox in the deep end. Just sayin' never say never. Wait, no TV in it, OK.
I had a thumbnail guy try to sell me a different video. Not really my style either. My approach to repeated comments is to put the answer in the pinned comment. Then if there are any more comments saying the same thing I ignore them. If they can't be bothered to read my pinned comment, I can't be bothered to reply.
Do you get pinned comment hanger-oners too? The Remoras of the comment world.
I have the same Wera calendar this year, wanted to get one last year but the tools were a bit useless. My reason was it represents decent value for these otherwise expensive tools and they're good quality. Lidl made a calendar a few years ago that made a nice little socket set, I kept it in my Smart Roadster and now it lives in my MX-5. Anyway, great update and I'll have a warm sausage roll.
I see your logic regarding leaving the comments up. You should go one step further and slip in deliberate troll bait, like "LCD Display" at least you'll know what most of the comments will be ahead of time.
There are plenty of triggers along these lines. If comments really do count for something I could really poke a hornets nest.
Youtube is an incredible experiment in anti-Pavlovian conditioning. Instead of rewarding when something has been done correctly, just reward at random. In the words of Ross Scott of Accursed Farms, when he talked about Youtube's demotization system: "You can't hit the dog and then not tell it what it did wrong; all you have then is a scared dog."
I have a Xenyx Q502USB sound desk for internet DJing. I play vinyl records and CD tracks. The compressor on the microphone is excellent.
It does seem surprisingly good for the price.
Mat, I super appreciate this monthly chat you do. I relate very much to your frustrations and general attitude and point of view about the behind the scenes of being a “niche” creator. Beyond your excellent work covering things I find interesting, you’re a terrific wit! I come from the same generation as you. I rarely leave YouTube comments. I rarely read them. I watch your videos on my TV using the link you provide. I recognize I’m probably in the minority of your viewers who do this, but I like to watch Techmoan as a “TV show.” In fact most of my YouTube browsing is done in using my AppleTV app. If I do leave a comment on YouTube, it’s usually on a friend’s channel and a joke. And compare the comments you get on YouTube to the ones you receive here. I imagine the level of stupidity is much less! Here is where you have an actual community of invested fans who pay you for your work. No CPM’s, no algorithm, we’ve found you, we recognize how special your work is and we are happy to pay each month for early access and your wonderful bonus chats like this. I would LOVE to do more on YouTube, but I feel like it’s just not my medium. Beyond their flawed copyright system, I haven’t found success with people on YouTube interested in buying what I’m selling! 😂 I should probably try more. My biggest success with YouTube has had nothing to do with a YouTube channel. It’s been selling a script to them when they were buying original TV shows and serving as an Executive Producer/Writer on one of their original series. Both were pleasant experiences. As for me running a typical YouTube channel? I’ve yet to crack the code and I’m not sure how interested in I am in trying? That’s why I greatly admire you. You’ve managed to carve out your space on YouTube, stay true to your voice, seem to avoid the “click to subscribe” nonsense that just feels so awkward, and you have a nice YouTube audience that hopefully leads people to this Patreon. I think it’s wonderful you are able to make a living doing what you enjoy doing. That is the dream. It’s still a job and comes with its frustrations every day (something I think is hard for most people to understand) but it’s a remarkable thing you’ve done and I bet it sure beats working in an office. I’ve been very lucky to also make a living doing what I love. What I am trying to do is see if I can earn more without having to go through the traditional Hollywood “system.” With each dollar I take through the system, more people’s voices weigh in. Some of the voices are helpful, some of the voices are… let’s just say “exhausting.” For me, Patreon is an oasis for creativity. I get do my thing, no notes. It comes at the expense of a budget, but those budget limitations have their charm and offer me total creative freedom. It keeps me sane while I do the other stuff. My “job” is crazy. It’s essentially asking networks, “Hi, may I have $15-30 million dollars for my TV show idea?“ And I’ve been very lucky! They often say, “Well, we’ll give you.some money to write your TV show idea and if we feel it can make us money, maybe we’ll give you the millions of dollars in budget you’re asking for.” And what’s the best case scenario? They DO give me the millions of dollars to make a thing, which I’ll work insanely hard on, only for it to be released into the world and judged in one weekend by a Rotten Tomatoes score? Fun! I’ve then probably only spent years of my life working on something I hopefully think is good and will have made some money in the process, but too many green splats on a website and it’s gonna be much harder to get the next thing made! Patreon is a way to blow off steam and make some money just doing ME. The limited resources I have at home and the ideas in my brain? I see that as a gift too. Cut out the middleman, go direct to the people. And while I can’t make a big TV show or movie here, I can at least use my other skills as a broadcaster and highly specific pop culture talker… and make some entertainment that’s fun for me while I navigate the stupid 50/50 odds of a crazy business. There’s also honestly a part of me that ONLY wants CERTAIN people to even watch my stuff! I liken my Patreon to a “secret club.” If you know me and you like me, you’ll sign up! You will hopefully have a blast and stay subscribed. I get to do something that’s totally MINE and my interaction with dummies in the comments is limited, if not non-existent! I try to share some free things on my social media platforms and a podcast feed where I give out free stuff, but I’ve found the biggest challenge is in doing Patreon without a solid YouTube following is promotion. First, some people just don’t seem to understand how Patreon works. Patreon also doesn’t make it easy to offer “gift subscriptions” which I can pass along to friends and dare I say this word… “influencers.” I know there’s more people out there who enjoy my work, would be willing to pay… and still have NO idea I have been running a Patreon filled with cool stuff since August of 2020. I also know, there’s ZERO chance of someone who doesn’t already know me (the majority of the world) who are going to sign up. Now that I’ve been running my Patreon for awhile (which I jokingly refer to as my streaming service, FOGELNEST+) I do have an enormous library of things I can pull from, turn into shorter YouTube videos and I guess see what happens? Long story short - this chat today has given me inspiration and put me in the right mindset to deal with… future dumb YouTube comments. Even the most successful people will focus on that one bad review or one lousy comment, tweet, whatever it is. That’s because our brains are jerks. The trick I think is to not let ourselves be jerks back to our brains. Sorry to rant, I just greatly enjoyed what you had to say, related deeply even though we do very different things and I am inspired that you haft built such a lovely audience of people who do pay you for your very hard work. You are just an excellent broadcaster and you do it on YOUR terms. That’s an amazing thing and the dumb comments are a super annoying occupational hazard. You handle it all with such grace. The videos you make are terrific AND you’re a class act.
It's very generous of you to spend your time writing this and there are many things in here that ring true and work to clarify my thoughts too. I feel a bit of a heel in not responding with a similarly well thought out missive. As for TV viewers, that was something I looked into just the other day and for my channel 23% of viewers watch this way. I think that's likely higher than the average and it's probably an indicator of an older audience and it's possible the 4K videos might play a part too. Your point regarding only really wanting certain people to view your content very much rings true and I'm looking forward to a day when Patreon launches its own video service. If done right, this might be the missing piece.
I did have an hilarious comment, but I've turned it off to show solidarity.
Don't worry, no one would read it. ;-)
IMHO most Youtubers asking viewers to post e.g. which one they prefer don't actually care -- like you, they know the comments are generally a wasteland -- but getting people to comment increases their engagement numbers with Youtube.
But the big question is…what does more ‘engagement’ achieve? The follow up question to the response to that first question is ‘can you prove that?’
The comments on the ultrasonic cleaner - the experts did not realise you "read the flipping manual" and did what the manufacturer suggested.
I do love the way you turn round at the beginning as though we’ve just casually wandered in to your studio. Merry Christmas Mat. Happy to be part of the boutique.
Funny you should mention the keyboard items - on my usual haunts auction site, saw a Portatone PN-101 Piano Calculator. Saw a Optonica Turntable RP-114VL; plays both sides of a record and programmable; but I think you've made a video about something similar. And what exactly does a Harman/Kardon Auto Lift T45C Turntable do?
Oh, 'have you tried using Borax or Gojo' in that ultrasonic cleaner? <-- bandwagon comment 🤪
Re the price pedants, say it costs about a monkey and get them to do some real googling, maybe they'll learn something too. I think thumbs-up and thumbs-down helps the viewer more than the channel. If you thumbs-up something you get more of that type of thing on your home page. Thumbs-down, or dislike as they call it now, gives you less of that sort of thing in your home page. As a creator, thumbs-down/dislike isn't an insult, it just means that the viewer doesn't want more videos like that. Still hurts though. 😀
I really enjoy your monthly updates, you seem a decent, down to earth guy with a dry sense of humour. My humour is also quite dry, I found it a good way of not taking myself too seriously. Anyway, thanks for continuing to do these odd-casts.
Anyone who takes them self seriously isn’t someone who should be taken seriously.
I thought everything in the US was either $9.99 or $99.99... 🤔 https://youtu.be/wnbTem-8q8U
Technology is such a quirky thing. When I was a teenager in the 90's, I never thought that one day I could take out my 'pocket computer' and take a picture from my apartment balcony, and immediately send it a quarter of a planet away from me. Inconceivable. But I can. In the same vein, an item that was common just 10 years prior to my earliest remembrance of such things (the TV/Radio/Cassette console) is ridiculous/strange to me. If I ever get into the YT gig, seriously considering disabling comments. And that coffee... sitting there... I would have downed it and had another coffee an hour ago. 😂 Thanks for this update. These videos are a treat to sit back, watch, and relax to.
The popular theme this month among the YouTube creators I watch has been the ever changing algorithm. I was curious if you were young to mention it as well. I like your attitude towards the "almighty algorithm". Keep your boutique channel just the way it is. Merry Christmas to you and the Mrs!
One of those crappy cassette TV things would look cool in a thumbnail. No charge for this advice.
I can see that. Maybe I should pick one up just to pick it apart.
As an American "19 dollars 99" doesn't bother me. It sounds very English to me, but it's very obvious what you mean. And we do say "19 99" for "$19.99". Plus, your audience should know that you often deal on multiple currencies, pounds, dollars, Euros, yen. I think it's fine. Anyone complaining is just being a jerk. But "around 55 dollars" is a good workaround. Just to add something, there's a court case that one studies in a law school contracts course that relates to this linguistic quirk. A junior employee of a company was trying to buy a surge protector, expecting to spend between $50 and $200. He got a quote for a very nice model for "fifty-six twenty", assuming it was $56.20. It was actually $5,620. The surge protector was delivered and installed, the invoice arrived, and a lawsuit ensued. The result was that the contract was invalid due to the misunderstanding. https://www.lexisnexis.com/community/casebrief/p/casebrief-konic-int-l-corp-v-spokane-comput-servs
I first started watching your videos from your own website when you set it up. I didn't become a Patreon till a few years later. Regarding YouTube and algorithms I turned notifications on to all. Now I am considering deleting some of the people I watch occasionally and sticking with my Patreons only. That should upset Youtube. I am also a Patron of Big Clive but apart from that only one other. I do like the YouTube Just have a think and Retro Mac Cast but little else. I have learned over the years to become more selective about what I watch and you are still my Favourite Mat. Keep well and have a good Christmas. I did make a comment on your recent Youtube post about the recoded live interviews on Radio that some stations put out but it was only about making selective edits about interviewers asking famous people why their records are so crap. A bad joke I know but the video you put out did make me laugh the second time I watched it. Regards again.
Just a thought as you mention Space 1999 occasionally and other 69/79s sci-fi. How about a ‘how fictional past ideas came to reality’ vid or has that been done to death in YouTube
It’s an idea - but one for someone else unfortunately as most of my memories are shot or absent.
Funny that you mention a pigeon landing in your analogy about superstition - as you were describing it, all I could think of was that famous experiment where they discovered that pigeons could also develop superstitions in exactly the same way https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8AzjDs8aF7g
Good link. I was thinking of an episode of Taskmaster from a year or so back where the person had to get from one end of a path to the other without a buzzer sounding (or something) - the path had different coloured stepping stones and there was some audio aspect as well…my memory fails me on this. However it was interesting to see the way that some people conflated unrelated things into a theory as to what caused the buzzer to sound. Every time they went back to the beginning of the course the potential theorised reasons for the buzzer sounding got more outlandish. It feels very much how people tell me what I need to do to appease the YouTube algorithm without having any insider knowledge to back up their ‘facts’.
There is a reason why in forums the standard rule is "search before you post", since nobody does it... Funny, the Prinz TCR 25 you show in the end: I use to have a very similar one (it had also VHF), got it with a blown-up trafo, when it was basically already out of fashion... But you're right: the cassette deck was crappy, the TV reception was good, but the image quality crappy, it was more like a gimmick. But funny to see it again :-D
Watching some footage of the 1981 Royal Wedding I was surprised how many people in the crowd had TVs similar to the Prinz. Of course back then they were the only way to see the service inside St Pauls while standing outside to see the processions. As for the Hovercraft analogy it was a good one. On a school trip to Paris we took a full size coach across the channel in one, years before I ever went on a plane. I have to say it was like 35 minutes of turbulence though.
Excellent as always, Mat. A good few laughs in that and a lot of interest. Oh yes - and Merry Christmas - whether you want it or not! :-)
What is a pie of French dick? And when can I order one, will you send abroad?
TL;DR: As a Chromecast user, YouTube really doesn't provide the tools to watch who you want to watch, when you want to watch, without relying on the algorithm or manually creating a playlist/queue each time. Apologies for the long comment, it made me think 😂 Regarding YouTube comments... It's really the worst interface for users to read other people's comments. Everything is focused on making your comment quickly, engagement etc (I do try to read pinned comments and the description) As a Chromecast user, what I particularly hate is the interface makes it very difficult to leave a comment *after* watching a video. For me, part of the reason I leave comments is so the algorithm favours a person's videos when I have autoplay switched on whilst doing something else, like cleaning or whatever. I've noticed, when I subscribe to someone new, I really need to like, comment, and watch a number of their videos before the system acknowledges I like the thing. You think it wouldn't be that hard, as things like RSS have existed for almost as long as the web. But a subscription never really means you want to subscribe, just that you want that YouTuber to appear in your feed. I've even found playlists don't work properly anymore; you used to be able to click anywhere in the playlist, and it would play the rest of the videos. Now, it by default goes straight to the algorithm. So you can't start halfway without starting the entire playlist. That being said, since I've started with Patreon, I've found it easier to prioritise those videos when I get a notification. Really YouTube is geared to just keep drip feeding you whatever it thinks will keep you engaged with YouTubers, and ultimately advertisers.
Have to say your dry humour and lack of ‘like comment subscribe guys!’ and silly thumbnails is why you’ve got such a decent following - feels different to the usual YouTube videos. The more passive engagement on comments and views is probably opposed to the more genuinely engaged folks who share your videos with friends and subscribe to patreon. Am I righty In thinking you’d get more revenue from YouTube ads than monthly patreon?
The revenue varies quite a bit throughout the year - I should talk about CPM fluctuations sometime…but yes when it’s added up YouTube earnings are more than Patreon donations.
Mat, have you tried putting abit of detergent or isopropyl alcohol in your ultrasonic cleaner? Just joking....
Wouldn't mind betting your eBay seller has used a cut price fulfilment service and that's who's sent out the wrong item. The cut price places give you a discount if you don't claim for lost and damaged parcels so he won't have any recourse to insurance.
AHH good, have you in the lounge chatting again.. been a while! Had a friend I've not seen in years message me asking if I did your updated intro as he's a huge fan of yours... Which was very funky! Somehow he recognised my style even though I just recreated the one you had! Either way made me happy. YouTube comments are a pain, posted a video of my son when he was about 4 talking about his plants Vs zombies game figures and someone years later ripped him apart on the names and details he described! He was FOUR! So I avoid comments. Anyhooo.. back to watching your latest chat
I still want to drop your intro in every now and again, I just get lazy and copy the one off the last video.