Techmoan VIDEO oddcast-lite November 2022

Your videos & oddcasts are gold, the family loves watching. We hope you had a great and well deserved holiday 😊

Mat, as your tropical holiday concludes I hope you're braced for the cold 🥶. In my neck of the woods we have single-digit F°(🤬) weather next week. Stay safe and good travels home.

I’m definitely getting a John Hammond vibe on your 2022 photo !

56 here, and feeling pretty much the same. Hope you enjoy/are enjoying/enjoyed your holiday. Love the channel, happy to support it at whatever frequency you post. It's always worth the wait.

I also really enjoy your "shorter, throw away" videos. Even for someone who understands the difference between Line Out and Headphone Out, it's enlightening to learn any more tidbits about anything you're willing to share.

Mat, remember that most of the in-depth YouTube creators don’t do one a week. There is a place for the daily/weekly “vlogger” type as well as those making more considered videos. Most of the former are not working alone. The YouTube creators I watch who are working mostly alone and producing careful, well researched videos, you’re lucky to get one or two a month. Have a lovely holiday. Like others here, I’ve never been on a cruise, and I feel like I’d get cabin fever pretty quickly! But I know many people love them, and I hope you have a good time.

Post some video from the cruise, so we may all enjoy your time off vicariously, it'll give you some more 'fun' edit time! ;-)

Enjoy your vacation!

Your channel is one of my favourites, whatever the schedule - yourself, Big Clive, Dave Jones, Fran & electric Mike.. Here's a question - I always view you videos directly on the Patreon website - I assume that since Youtube still serves the videos, this isn't costing you ad revenue (however tiny an mount)??

Many of my favorite channels only post new videos once or twice per month at most so I’m good with quality (and sanity) over quantity. 👍

Yes, I've also wondered about that EV channel (and others, too!) I suspect at least some of them are independently wealthy and are doing it for fun (that's certainly the case for Kyle Conner, given that his view count is very low, yet he personally owns a Tesla Model S Plaid, Rivian R1T, Audi E-tron, and several other cars costing $100,000+)...

Have a great holiday.

Mat, don't get too hung up on schedules! To be totally honest with you, I wasn't really aware you had a schedule as such. Neither am I supporting you on Patreon based on a per-video ratio. A new release from you is always welcome and if it helps views and revenue to release on a certain day each week, then fine, I guess there is a valid reason for doing so. Neither do I perceive huge differences between your longer, researched, scripted super productions and what you have in the past called cheese sandwich videos. Again, if the long "super videos" make you more money then fine - you know what you have to do. But pace yourself, I don't see a huge downside in m missing a week or having a ten-day delay between videos. Enjoy your cruise with Mrs Techmoan! Don't break your neck trying to make stuff to release while you are away. That will just stress you out more and make the break less effective. We all need a break and we'll all be here when you get back. Send us a postcard. :-) S.

Swanning off on a cruise …what are we all supposed to do in the meantime? I say we defect to …to err..to erm ..well just don’t be too long or enjoy yourself too much . Have a good one

I really like hearing about how YouTube works behind the scenes.

My brother in law has a YouTube channel called “CraftedBricks” which is about Lego. Very professional and well made. He sustains it as a hobby while maintaining full time work. Naturally he would like to make it a full time pursuit but it is what it is.

Once per fortnight is perfectly fine. I hope you enjoy the new schedule. I’m a little surprised that it’s even an issue of concern.

Bon voyage! And I'd be happy with one video a month, done by a relaxed Mat. :)

New schedule sounds way better AND healthier, so totally agree with that, and enjoy your break!

Enjoy your cruise, and have a break. Great to hear from you. Stay safe.

Enjoy your well-earned holiday!

I've never been on a cruise - I've never even been on a boat/ship before in my life, come to think of it. Do you have a long road trip to get to a port? I'm reminded of long road trips with family to airports, because my sister always booked them and she shopped for the absolute cheapest fare all the time. 😩

You definitely deserve some holidays. At least some time off and forget about feeding the algorithm. For me at least, I am not reconsidering anything on being a patreon. My contribution is small but if you wouldn't post anything for a year, I would not stop it. I really appreciate what you do and not only I've learnt something on all your videos but it has been a positive experience in my life, helping getting into hi fi, learn about technology... With regards of being recognised... I bet it is plain awkward. I went to a conference organised by some YouTubers I am patreon of (grammar?) and sure I wanted to say hi... As a coincidence we had the same hotel, so I stumbled upon them on the reception. It is weird and in the world of YouTube, meeting a viewer you must have a small cog in the back of your head prompting "is this one of the commenters too"? Jokes aside it has to be weird meeting a stranger that knows way more about you than the other way around. Thanks for the brief on channel money nitty-gritty. I really appreciate it, not only as informative but also, as a patreon, I think is only fair to understand the problems and challenges. At the very least it might avoid some requests. Enjoy the holidays!

Have a great holiday, Mat. You deserve it after the year you've had. As for moving to a fortnightly video schedule, that's completely understandable. The last thing anybody wants is for you to burn out because you're pushing yourself too hard.

The people who complain the loudest about stuff like this are people who have never created anything. They are only consumers, they add nothing to the world. They have NO idea how long it takes to forge something until you feel it is finished. Whatever 'finished' may mean to the person making it. Stop feeling so beholden to these toxic shitheads. I've been a patron for years and years and have never reached out to you or posted anything here. Most people that watch you are the same. Don't tailor your life to the vocal minority of assholes. It will drive you insane. It's never enough for them. Just consume, consume, consume. Your videos are going to be watched for hundreds of years because they are so informative and most of them are absolutely timeless. Some college kid is going to do research paper on 20th century wire recorders in 2525(If man is still alive) for their Magnetic Media 101 class, and watch your video. They will be majoring in Tech History, with a minor in Pokemon.

Enjoy your holiday, Mat! Well deserved.

You're doing the right thing. When you stressed that you weren't learning anything, I became entirely onboard. It's clear, at least to me, that your value in this sphere is about comprehensiveness and sharing of knowledge in weird tech things, and your love for such things means you do go and answer the questions we're all asking about a product. It's also clear to me that you sometimes find weird stuff like your karaoke tech and that strange gambling handheld machine and you're intrigued by it. Considering your viewers are very similar to you, probably, you learning new things and finding more stuff to talk about, including weird shit like that, is key to continued success, as it's what keeps people coming. Maybe not the karaoke videos, though I do like them, but you know. Other people are talking about burnout and giving you more time, but they're missing it I think. You're not doing it for you, necessarily, but the quality of the channel. Though obviously it's also for you. Haha Whether you realize it or not, I think your standards have increased, and each video you make sure to put in that effort. I don't know, maybe you are slowing down, but I think you're actually just making better videos technically, which takes a bit longer. If we want any more wonderful things like the weird dead formats retrospectives, you need the time to do it, which means as your videos get better, you have to have more prep work. Totally normal. Worth it. As long as you occasionally do some low effort videos. Maybe more camera reviews where the footage itself is the review? I like the camera reviews. But it doesn't matter. Line out and fixing mini discs are cool too.

I started a new job March of last year and finally got around to taking some time off. One of the channels I've been watching just announced he doesn't have the time to keep making videos so he's quitting YT altogether. Put the camera down for a while.

You and your wife enjoy your holiday, you've had a hell of a year so time for a break!

I do enjoy your work Mat. Keep up the good work. Stay safe, Random though some are!

My favourite YouTube channel, so I will absolutely continue to match and be a patron.

Twice a month also good for me. I'd rather you had a slightly easier schedule.

Two videos a month. Sounds .OK. when bits start falling off- .you have to slow down a tad lol .have a nice holiday.

I just want to emphasize that a drop in content pace wouldn't change how supportive I am for your channel! If it was twice a month with one of them a 'saturday vid' I'd still support at the same level

Hope you have a great break! I'm probably a weirdo, but I actually dislike channels that have way too much production value. I tend to like the simpler, less flashy channels. One of my recent finds was Beko1987, a channel about vacuum cleaners, with zero production value - like I can barely hear his voice over all the banging around he does with tools. But, it's entertaining and I'd rather be watching that than stuff that is overly produced

Have a damn good holiday, you deserve it! I often use National Holidays for their coach trips, though you can be a bit of a long time travelling! I was planning on one before Christmas, but, well, medical stuff got in the way! The only streaming service I pay for is YouTube Premium. I have 0% interest in all this Marvel superhero stuff, and would take you talking about MiniDiscs over Guardians Of The Iron Hulk Man or whatever any day! I've never even heard of Julian Ilit (Eyelet?). Is that his channel name? Funny how in a decade of watching tech videos, he's never been recommended to me! Update: Just found him. Looks a bit too technical to me!

Wish you nice holidays! Good to be out again, I know from experience! Take care, I'll enjoy 2 videos per month as much as 4. And very interesting stuff about business models. And actually: personally I like a lot of those "one man shows", like Technology Connections, The 8-bit Guy and you of course. More to the point and more my style than a lot of high-budget commercial productions.

Oh! Forgot to add - your insight into YouTube-o-nomics was helpful - thank you!

Twice per month sounds good to me! Also, enjoy your vacation!

As a wise man once said, “It takes me all night to do what I used to do all night”. From a fellow older gentleman.

Enjoy your well deserved break! Our chinese takeaway is amazing, sadly its also in the midlands. best to you and the family.

As always, half-an-hour or an hour with you is time well spent - I've never really thought about the You Tubers' business model, but your description was very interesting. I assume some of the longer established people, such as your good self, initially started their channels as a hobby, or at least talking about their hobbies, and then were pleasantly surprised to find they could do their hobby for a living. I wonder if you've ever felt like you've made a rod for your own back in that regard? Personally, once I was able to retire, I never missed working for a huge corporation for a single minute, but it did have the advantage that if you had a month where nothing went right, you still got your pay cheque and pension contribution. Have a great vacation and don't worry about us, we'll still all be here when you get back - I hope you regard that as a good thing!

Two pieces of excellent news: Mat’s having a decent holiday (enjoy!), and the “video a week” treadmill is slowing down to allow time for rest. 2-3 videos a month seems way more sustainable from other creators, and I’d much rather have sustainable. (My pledge is definitely “per year” not “per video”, fully with the expectation there’ll be *way less* than 52 videos per year. 35-40 per year seems a lot more sustainable, and less rushed.) Ewen

Mat I will still keep supporting on Patreon regardless of how frequent your posts are. Have a great holiday. Best wishes.

I hope you have a very enjoyable vacation! I agree that lowering the amount of videos per month is a great way to give yourself more time and a breather. I hope the almighty algorithm shines kindly on you. I once tried rigorously to get out a video once a week or so - it sucked all the fun out of making content.

Top blether as always. Hope you have a great holiday. I've always been curious about the economics of YouTube. I'd naively assumed that people use professional crews and equipment once their viewership justifies it; maybe they believe that if you produce content of sufficient quality, views will come and costs will be covered. I've often enjoyed great videos and been shocked at their undeserved low viewing numbers. YouTube seems to be a voracious beast and not a very fair one. You've decided that it doesn't always need to be fed and that's got to be right for your health and sanity.

Hope you have a lovely holiday!

Big fan of the idea of going bi-monthly instead of weekly. Haven't heard of a single youtuber who regret doing this switch, it seems that getting rid of the burden of having to produce simpler videos that they would never post or are unhappy with because of the weekly schedule was a major upside to their channel and content.

Thanks for the update and all the vids as always Mat. Enjoy the cruise and don't think about YouTube one bit. You deserve it. One question on my mind is which camera(a) are you taking along? Just video or a still as well?

I like the youtube car reviews for one specific reason. There seems to be a channel doing car reviews from every viewpoint. For new cars you can generally find a reviewer who has similar opinions to you and gives the information that you want to see.

What I pay on Patreon is for the quality, not for the quantity. Enjoy your cruise!

Look at me, I'm in tatters I been shattered Shattered Really happy to hear you are able to get away with Mrs Techmoan! Your short videos, throw-away as you say, are just as good as your more elaborate productions. Feel free to substitute those for the bigger productions as you see fit.

Mat, throw me a bone, which Chinese was it? My local has gone right down hill and i haven't found a decent alternative yet 🥺

Sounds like a great idea to me. Having only recently joined Patreon for yourself and LGR I've come to realise the commitment required to create a high-quality video every week - and indeed the way that YouTube pushes for constant content. Taking more time makes perfect sense and I look forward to the outcome! Enjoy your holiday! BTW - enjoyed the joke about some people complaining if they won the lottery that they hadn't won it twice, spot on! Your puppet YouTube comments videos come to mind

Good idea. Take more time to do what you want. Don't be a slave to a schedule (then it's too much like work). And do what you want to do, then your passion will come across on the videos.

Ironically the "professional" YouTube channels really turn me off. If I wanted that kind of stuff I'd just watch TV. I really love the one-man channels where you can kind of imagine them putting the video together. It seems more "real" to me. VWestlife is a great example of this.

I can imagine Mat, walking around the decks of the cruise liner, mentally working on the script for another video. Mat! Stop! It's not allowed! You must not think of YouTube at all? Enjoy the break 🙂 Techmoan twice a month is still worth twice what any of us pay.

Lucky you 😂 because I'm already paid as patron to December 2023 - so I have no need to evaluate anything (and nor would I want to). Incidentally, a couple weeks ago I was messing with the cartoon app again (uh-oh 🙁) - and I created these 'masterpieces': https://ibb.co/RCDCQVd https://ibb.co/1q1dxFx https://ibb.co/4djgLp0 https://ibb.co/vY7nb4N Have a safe and virus-free 🤞 cruise - relax and soak up the Mediterranean sun 😎.

I know that feeling! "Ugh I'm... getting old." Sounds like a great idea to learn new things and rejuvenate your curiosity. Enjoy your trip, and take it easy when you're back!

Thanks Mat! Three weeks on a cruise will be just the tonic. I like the idea of building in some space to read some new stuff. We are all hoping for a “weird audio tech found on cruise ships” video on your return. Just on your point about the extravagant videos with only 30,000 views. Could it be they have rich backers who are pump priming in the hope of getting big? Or could it be the content is repurposed for other platforms and revenue streams? FB/Insta/tick-tock?

You have more than earned the right to scale back a bit. Trying to churn out content consistently is a mentally draining process.

Thank you very much for your hard work and enjoy your holiday!

People spend time and thousands of euro on new content, and I waste hours on YouTube watching old adverts from the 80s. Enjoy the holliers Mat, if you do prerecord any videos just don't mention who the British Prime Minister is and people will be none the wiser.

Wow, Techmoan is aging even faster than a US president!

As long as I can support on Patreon in some ways having two videos per month sounds better. I'm sure I'm not alone on here in liking the depth and breadth of videos - whether you're telling the story of how you used a format or getting into fixing something the draw for me is that you're interested in it and your take is interesting. Talking of making money another YouTuber I'm a patreon of has pretty much decided to stop trying to please YouTube and reply upon Patreon entirely, since the way the algorithm works and the way people view things means more in depth content doesn't tend to pay for itself for them (I'm sure you'll probably know who I mean and that I'm explaining it badly). On the other side of the coin your name was dropped by Linus Tech Tips in a video about HD VHS tapes - I'm sure that one mention won't mean too much but you name is out there so, with any luck, if you keep on turning out quality content it will be noticed and mentioned driving people to the channel. Edit: Damn, another edit (first one was due to pressing enter at the wrong time) hope you have a great cruise and get to relax a bit! Another edit: I just realised I dropped the name of a channel who doesn't need subscribers and not the one who does - I was typing about Fran Blanche who seems, hopefully, to be making Patreon work for her.

I love the cut at 16:35 - Aaaand the coffee is gone 😃 love your work, enjoy your holidays :)

I am only just getting into the video - but - if I was a mutant, X-Men style - I'd like the power to share/send you life energy. Like Rogue, except in reverse. Or maybe that wraith in Stargate Atlantis who gave Sheppard back his life energy. Whatever, I'm a weirdo. 😑 Edit: chalk this bizarre comment to 'she's completely lost her marbles.'

Your thumbnail shows some mad photoshop skillz! Either that or you have to spend a lot of time in the make-up chair before shooting the update video.😃 I watch a few car review channels and I've often wondered the same as you--how do they keep their channel going on so few views. There is one channel in the US called The Fast Lane Car that not only has several presenters, but really it's a whole network with different specialized 'sub-channels' making videos on EVs, off-road vehicles, motorcycles, pickup trucks and more. I enjoy the channel, but I wonder how they make it work. They do go on press junkets to the big auto shows, etc, but they also buy vehicles for video reviews and sell them on afterward. Hope you have a good holiday and that your new schedule works out for you as well. Also hope you'll present some holiday videos when you get back.

Mat - you're a good looking chap so my comment is couched in those terms. But in your 2022 image on the video thumbnail, you do remind me quite a bit of the Architect from Matrix Reloaded. Concordantly! Ergo! :-)

Having time to reset between projects is vital. During the first period of the pandemic I had to grind out videos for classes I teach, and even though my videos are a fraction of the complexity of yours, it was exhausting. Here's to a more sustainable tempo for the future. Cheers.

When your hobby becomes a job, it becomes a drag like a job.

Dude! Have a great vacation, and pack the microMV! BTW - Rocking the "Richard Attenborough" of electrons on the right!