MKBHDs for Everything • Hacker News Board

Re: MKBHDs for Everything

#101

Post by SllX » Wed, Apr 17, 2024, 6:17 AM UTC

sourcecodeplz wrote: post #42

pcurve wrote: post #21

I really like MKBHD's videos, but he should've picked a different title for the video. Frankly, I feel it did way more damage to him than what he did to Aipin or Fisker, which were already universally panned.

Absolutely! This product is building a NEW CATEGORY, of course it is not going to be perfect on first itteration.

A bad product isn’t going to build a new category. Windows tablets had a 20 year history in one form or another before the iPad walked in and put tablets on the map.

If there’s a new product category to be had here, Humane aren’t the ones building it right now.

Re: MKBHDs for Everything

#102

Post by [deleted] » Wed, Apr 17, 2024, 6:17 AM UTC

nindalf wrote: post #87

n42 wrote: post #80

Earlier quoted context omitted.

regardless of your original point, which I happen to agree with, that title is as clickbait as it gets. it is a title designed to make you click to find out what product he's talking about. pretending it's not clickbait is disingenuous. I don't even care that it is clickbait. that's the game every YouTuber is playing. but, it is unashamed, by the book, clickbait.

We have different views of what clickbait is. Clickbait, in my view, is writing checks that your content can’t cash. MKBHD didn’t do that. He plainly said this was the worst product and then calmly explained why it was the worst product. The content completely fulfilled the promise of the title. No hyperbole, no exaggeration, just an honest review based on his weeks worth of use. He clearly says in the review that it…

[deleted]

Re: MKBHDs for Everything

#103

Post by al_borland » Wed, Apr 17, 2024, 6:20 AM UTC

cmelbye wrote: post #57

paxys wrote: post #49

This entire controversy is so stupidly overblown. MKBHD posts a fair and thorough review of a shitty product, which is exactly in line with what every other reviewer has said about it as well. One guy tweets about how he wasn't fair, and how he has a responsibility to not write bad things about companies because of the size of his viewer base (wut??) Now the entire internet feels the need to come defend MKBHD, thus a…

The guy was specifically talking about the video's headline, which was written to be clickbait like everything else on YouTube because that's how MKBHD pays his bills.

It’s the opposite of clickbait. The title saves the viewer from having to watch the video at all, as it says everything someone really needs to know in that single line. It’s a bad product.

I find it silly that people are pointing at MKBHD for the downfall of a company, instead of the people who ran the company and decided to launch when the experience wasn’t good and the value proposition was poor. Releasing early to ride the AI hype train was a risk, and this time it didn’t pay off.

People are also still free to try it for themselves if they were excited for the product and think MKBHD is wrong. While Marques doesn’t call the iPhone a bad product, he is very clear that he prefers Android, yet the iPhone is still outselling Android in the US, his prime market. That’s at least some proof that the market doesn’t blindly follow him and appreciates the perspective, without taking it as gospel.

Re: MKBHDs for Everything

#104

Post by SpecialistK » Wed, Apr 17, 2024, 6:21 AM UTC

slg wrote: post #13

your_challenger wrote: post #3

The only argument against MKBHD could be the YouTube title he chose. But if a "company" with many hundreds of people can't handle a title and goes under, it never deserved to exist.

>The only argument against MKBHD could be the YouTube title he chose. I clicked through to that Vassallo guy's twitter and that is exactly the argument he is making. He isn't defending the product, which he admitted he has never actually used. He isn't defending the company. He isn't even arguing against a single thing said in the body of the video. He is solely objecting to the title for being "sensationalized" as i…

I watched the review and then saw the tweet (or a response to it) later in the day.

The main takeaway I had was "who the hell is this guy telling Marques what he can or cannot think about this product?"

The video was not a bait-and-switch. He was generous with criticism but fair in describing how it was supposed to work and what he wanted from it. So for this random Tweeter to suggest that Marques was being either dishonest in his "unofficial mental ranking (the worst)" or should have been dishonest in minimizing his critique is so patronizing and itself dishonest.

Re: MKBHDs for Everything

#105

Post by sph » Wed, Apr 17, 2024, 6:22 AM UTC

wavemode wrote: post #41

People are upset at a product reviewer for reviewing a product. Classic example of why "Person On Twitter Is Angry" being considered newsworthy, or even faintly noteworthy, is one the worst things that has happened to modern discourse.

I mostly blame people who take the angry Twittersphere to share it elsewhere, making it spread. Journalists of any niche are particularly good at it, and in this case the author.

I don't read Twitter, because I do not care of its drama, but the author did its best to spread it and stoke the fires thanks to their blog.

Re: MKBHDs for Everything

#106

Post by KeplerBoy » Wed, Apr 17, 2024, 6:23 AM UTC

mrtksn wrote: post #94

paxys wrote: post #49

This entire controversy is so stupidly overblown. MKBHD posts a fair and thorough review of a shitty product, which is exactly in line with what every other reviewer has said about it as well. One guy tweets about how he wasn't fair, and how he has a responsibility to not write bad things about companies because of the size of his viewer base (wut??) Now the entire internet feels the need to come defend MKBHD, thus a…

It feels like some folks have a sense of entitlement for customers and success and for some reason they project it on companies they like. Maybe they feel like someone from the pack was attacked?

If you're in it for the mindless entrepreneur mindset and vc-backed openai-api wrapping bullshit, your pack definitely got attacked by MKBHD. Folks assumed that everything associated with AI will turn into gold.

Re: MKBHDs for Everything

#107

Post by al_borland » Wed, Apr 17, 2024, 6:24 AM UTC

paxys wrote: post #67

Gigachad wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think also part of what makes it so bad is the mismatch between expectations, price, marketing, and reality. If you bought a pair of $10 headphones from ebay and they suck, it's not shocking. But when you have a $700 device, with hundreds of millions in funding, and a ton of marketing about it being the smartphone killer and the future of computing, yet the device is total junk, that makes it worse in a way than ot…

$700 device which requires a $25 monthly subscription to use, let's not forget.

It’s like buying a whole smartphone and service, but only getting the voice assistant. Who wouldn’t think that’s a bad deal?

Re: MKBHDs for Everything

#108

Post by sph » Wed, Apr 17, 2024, 6:25 AM UTC

MichaelMug wrote: post #45

The drama tweets are just an ad. You kind of want to find out who "Daniel Vassallo" is, and of course he's selling a subscription.

One thing I love is that Twitter has made logged out accounts so useless, when I clicked on his profile it was just random tweets and I saw nothing about his course.

Twitter doing a great job at promoting its paying users. Ridiculous.

Re: MKBHDs for Everything

#109

Post by thih9 » Wed, Apr 17, 2024, 6:28 AM UTC

> MKBHD is not the market. He significantly influences the market. If a single person can affect the stock price of a company, we usually restrict what they can say or when.

I’d agree with that sentiment if mkbhd was spreading misinformation; to my knowledge, he isn’t, his influencing is based on good reporting. I see nothing wrong with that.

Re: MKBHDs for Everything

#110

Post by nopinsight » Wed, Apr 17, 2024, 6:29 AM UTC

The key conclusion of this article lies in the last section, "AI and the Sovereign Individual," which argues that AI will significantly expand the power of certain individuals in many other industries, similarly to how the internet enabled figures like MKBHD to extend their reach and influence in the media.

Interestingly, none of the top 10 top-level comments in this thread discuss this point.