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MKBHDs for Everything

stratechery.com

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Re: MKBHDs for Everything

#111

Post by dumbo-octopus »

al_borland wrote: post #103
cmelbye wrote: post #57

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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 t…

I personally have never once seen evidence that he "prefers" Android in any capacity. He has voiced opinions on things Android does well, and he has done the same for iOS. Anyone who thinks he has a personal preference one way or the other is very likely projecting.

Re: MKBHDs for Everything

#112

Post by kumarm »

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…

People underestimate the financial gains involved (If $ is all one aspires for) in intentional bad takes like that one guy on social media.

Glad you pointed it out and his crappy course.

Re: MKBHDs for Everything

#113

Post by sph »

paxys wrote: post #65
UI_at_80x24 wrote: post #63

I had never heard of MKBHD before now so I had to look it up. They have a youtube channel: www.youtube.com/@mkbhd Described as: MKBHD: Quality Tech Videos | YouTuber | Geek | Consumer Electronics | Tech Head | Internet Personality!

He is the most prominent tech reviewer in the business today.

Not everyone is part of the same herd. The author could have done a good job at spending two words expanding this acronym and who's behind it. It is referred prominently in the title, and then assumes you know who Brownlee is, as he is mentioned with his last name.

A person that never heard of him would not be able to equate MKBHD with the name Brownlee.

Not everyone lives on social media like you or I.

Re: MKBHDs for Everything

#114

Post by dumbo-octopus »

ncallaway wrote: post #100
n42 wrote: post #88

Earlier quoted context omitted.

To be clear, I have no issue with anything here, except that someone would think a title like "The worst product I've ever reviewed" is not clickbait. Clickbait does not mean bad. It does not mean I don't like it. It doesn't mean evil. It means it is bait designed to make you click. And clearly, if you look around you, it's working.

I think there are two different definitions of clickbait that people are operating with. One definition (maybe close to what your definition might be) is "a title written with the intent of getting people to click on it". I think the other definition that many people hold would be something like: "a *misleading* title with the intent of getting people to click on it". So, if someone thinks of clickbait as requiring s…

"A title written with the intent of getting people to click on it" describes every title ever. What professional whose livelihood is dependent on people interacting with their work would possibly ever title their work in a way that dissuades people from interacting with it? Clickbait needs to be something more than simply "an interesting title" for the term to have any meaning at all.

Re: MKBHDs for Everything

#115

Post by sph »

elevatedastalt wrote: post #31

I find it hard to trust any of these reviewers. You can't become a popular reviewer without having massive conflicts of interests. I could never understand why MKBHD was a thing, for example.

He is a thing because he is not afraid to say that a $700 pin that's less convenient and clunkier than the phone in your hand is a waste of your money, for example.

"Why is he a thing"... Does people have to justify their existence to operate?

Re: MKBHDs for Everything

#116

Post by al_borland »

sneak wrote: post #32

You don’t own your own reputation. It’s never irresponsible to tell the public the truth. One might even argue that it’s irresponsible to suggest that people get in the habit of self-censorship simply because they have an audience.

There are reviewers I stopped following, because it became obvious they were just reading whatever a company’s PR team sent them. They never had anything critical to say, it was a paid spokesmodel position. There is no value in that.

The one thing any reviewer has is their credibility. Without that, they have nothing. MKBHD retained his credibility here, and no one should fault him for that. If he compromised on that, why would anyone follow him? His alliance should be to his viewers, doing right by them, not the companies. It’s up to the companies to make a good product that someone like Marques can confidently recommend and say good things about.

So many people think people should change once they have a large platform, but they got that platform because of who they are, why would they change?

Re: MKBHDs for Everything

#118

Post by Youden »

wodenokoto wrote: post #93

I found the article long winded and a bit unfocused. But what appears to be one of the main points is that stratechery and MKBHD are both successful because they speak the truth, and they can speak the truth because they are online. I quite disagree. MKBHD is more dependent on corporate sponsorship than reviewers were back when consumers had to buy a magazine in order to get access to a review.

MKBHD, as far as I've seen, doesn't receive sponsorships from the companies he reviews but rather from purveyors of accessories like Dbrand.

And merch. He seems to have a thriving merch offering.

Re: MKBHDs for Everything

#119

Post by hobofan »

Intralexical wrote: post #71

> Hard to explain why, but with great reach comes great responsibility. Potentially killing someone else’s nascent project reeks of carelessness. > First, do no harm. Brownlee's not a doctor. …He's not Spiderman, either, for the record, or at least that we know of. And "Humane, Inc." isn't his patient, or even a person.

Journalists (and I'd argue that MKBHD falls under that even) definitely have responsibility in their reporting.

Apart from the hypocratic oath, there are also the 4 pillars of journalism, one of which is "minimize harm". Bringing that one up feels like a recent trend whenever people see legitimate criticism that they can't really argue with, and it's an easy one to bring up as in every truthful reporting about people that have being lying there is at least the lier being "harmed".

Re: MKBHDs for Everything

#120

Post by al_borland »

dumbo-octopus wrote: post #111
al_borland wrote: post #103

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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 t…

I personally have never once seen evidence that he "prefers" Android in any capacity. He has voiced opinions on things Android does well, and he has done the same for iOS. Anyone who thinks he has a personal preference one way or the other is very likely projecting.

He carries both, because he needs to stay familiar with both, and there are some things that the iPhone does better (in his opinion), like video, and of course there is iMessage.

He has said countless times that his main phone, and primary number, is on whatever Android phone he is currently carrying.

I’m an iPhone user, so I’m not projecting, trying say he prefers my preferred platform.

Here he is talking about using 2 phones, with his main number and 75% of usage being on the Android. That seems like a preference to me. That doesn’t mean he thinks the iPhone is bad, but it’s his special purpose phone, not the ‘default for everything else’ phone.

https://youtube.com/watch?v=QGbfOd_pVvc

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