We sat down with the star of one of our favorite channels to go on a journey of discovery.
Read the whole story
Read the whole story
LGR’s Clint Basinger plumbs the depths of retro-computing—and his YouTube comments
- Thread starter JournalBot
- Start date
Recapping a motherboard is very easy. Once you dip into old hardware almost any problem probably has "have you replaced the caps?" at the top of the troubleshooting list.
If you don't own a soldering iron they're inexpensive and there are tons of videos that will teach you the basics. Don't let old caps hold back having a good time!
Upvote
4
(4
/
0)
I propose to you to be part of the solution and make a channel. I know I will subscribe to you and watch your content. For some reason most women I know who dabble in the retro, like the great Quinn Dunki, prefer traditional blog formats. In this case I honestly don’t think it’s a white men cultural monopoly problem, just a very specific niche.
Upvote
3
(4
/
-1)
This video about "Why Do Computers Die?" is a good overview, and mentions bad capacitors:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZahGI6vlkqw
A recapping guide:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SjgWo7mj8-w
Upvote
2
(2
/
0)
Love this channel and have only one request. Bring back the old quick cut soda drinking Intro.
Example review: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vEs5zIRKCbw
Example review: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vEs5zIRKCbw
Upvote
1
(1
/
0)
The problem is maybe partially the Youtube algorithm, in terms of recommends to people. It's not like when people go onto Youtube, they typically say "I wonder what the non-white and/or non-male viewpoint on retro tech is?" It's more that they're looking for a video on a particular item, or a particular retro-tech video comes up while browsing, and they'll view based on interest in the subject matter, not necessarily the host. And watching/subscribing to LGR tends to bring up 8-bit Guy, Techmoan, Nostalgia Nerd, etc, because the Youtube algorithm has detected a lot of previous people cross-viewing those channels, so perpetuates them. It's good for Youtube, since it likely works for getting more views, but it means that creators not already in the "view loop" so to speak don't get promoted as much.
And it's actually hard to deliberately search for outside views on this subject. When I made my previous post listing possible alternative viewpoints on retro tech, I deliberately searched for "retro tech female" or "retro tech girl," etc, and Youtube offered up little in actual relevant results, because creators aren't presenting themselves as "retro tech from the X persective," but just presenting retro tech, and it happens to be from their perspective.
In terms of your examples, looking up PushingUpRoses, I see that she did some videos on her channel with LGR 3 years ago, but I don't recall LGR doing any vides with her on his channel. Sometimes channels do "crossover" two-parters with one channel doing one part, and the other the other part, and each channel promoting the other, and I sometimes find new channels this way. Or sometimes it's even just the same video on both channels. Looking back on LGR's channel, I don't see him posting any sort of crossover with PUR on his channel, so I don't know how visible those videos he did with PUR on her channel were even visible to his regular subscribers.
Also, while PUR covers retro tech and games, she covers a lot more than that on her channel. So if I ever came across one of her videos about retro tech or games, I might view it, and even like it, but I still might not subscribe to her channel, because I don't want my subscription feed flooded with Murder She Wrote episode reviews, for example. This is partly an issue with how Youtube handles subscriptions, only letting you subscribe to a whole channel, and not, say, to a particular playlist on a channel. This hurts Crash Course, since I can't subscribe to get updates on just one subject. Another channel I subscribe to, GameHut, actually created a second channel recently, Coding Secrets, to deal with a split of interest in subject matter. So maybe it's the fact that LGR and other channels are focused on solely retro tech that helps them in that field, while making PUR not as visible in that field, even though she has some videos that cover those subjects.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FJzAhl71YpY
For your other examples, SSSniperWolf is really focused Tik Tok videos recently, and scrolling through 2 years of past videos, nothing that screamed "retro tech/games" popped out.
https://www.youtube.com/c/SSSniperWolf/videos
GirlfriendReviews is at least gaming-centric, although it's mainly new games, with only occasional reviews based on retro tech/games. Also, the channel name may be a bit condescending. If I'm interested in mainly retro tech/games, I may not subscribe.
https://www.youtube.com/c/GirlfriendReviews/videos
iJustine, as you point out, is focused on Apple products, and while that can include some retro Apple products, that's not the same as being a retro tech/gaming channel.
This looks like it might be true, based on comparing to the only other "big" general tech reviewer I could think of: Linus Tech Tips. MKBHD has 12.1M subscribers, over Linus Tech Tips having "only" 11.9M subscribers. However, Linus has a lot of alternate channels, so that might disperse his audience a bit. Also, MKBHD is, like Linus, more of a "general" tech reviewer. Both may review retro tech occasionally, but I don't think I'd consider either a "retro tech" channel:
https://www.youtube.com/user/marquesbrownlee
The others you mention (Flossy Carter, SoldierKnowsBest, Lamarr Wilson, UrAverageConsumer, TechMeOut ,DigitalRevTV, JimsReviewRoom and Dave Lee) are all either "general" tech channels, or specifically about certain tech, but not retro tech. Again, the original post was complaining about "retro computing content" specifically. You've yet to provide an example of a channel with a non-white, non-male host that is specifically specialized in presenting retro-tech.
So tech coverage in general is maybe pretty diverse, but that doesn't really address whether retro tech specifically seems to not be as diverse.
I think LGBTQ is maybe less of a hurdle in terms of original exposure to tech content growing up, and as you point out, is less visible on Youtube if their channel is focused on their interests rather than themselves.
Upvote
4
(6
/
-2)
He's done a crap ton of LGR Plays videos with her.
https://www.youtube.com/results?search_ ... inguproses
Upvote
2
(3
/
-1)
OK, further back, 5-7 years ago. I'm not sure I was watching LGR back then, and I didn't scroll that far back. Do you think not having any recent crossovers maybe affects her visibility?
Upvote
0
(1
/
-1)
Maybe because it's a niche within a niche of a niche? I'm south asian and I love "Indie rock" music but I'm under no illusions that I'll ever find many people who look like me at an Arkells concert . Trust me, I've gone to a ton of them, and I've looked, but it's always a sea of white people. Doesn't bother me because it doesn't affect how much I love the music.
Not every niche has to be super diverse, and I don't think there's anything wrong with that.
Upvote
6
(7
/
-1)
I dunno, she has enough visibility on her own, she doesn't need a man to hold her up. I've been watching LGR since the pop can intro and the title card for "thebasingers.com" at the end, which is why those videos came to mind for me.
Upvote
0
(1
/
-1)
Why do you think that is? Do you think there's something about Arkells that specifically doesn't speak to South Asians, or is it about culture and different levels of exposure to different things? Would you not like to see more South Asians discussing Arkells?
I guess it depends on what the reasons are for why there's a lack of diversity.
To take your ethnicity for example, is there a reason why a South Asian wouldn't be interested in retro tech from the 80s and 90s? Is it cultural? Did South Asians not use tech in the 80s and 90s? Did they maybe use different tech? Would that experience with tech be worthy of sharing, and even possibly of interest to those who didn't directly experience it?
One of the more interesting retro-tech Youtube videos I watched in recent years I discovered due to an Ars article, from a Russian Youtuber that found and dumped some "lost" NES Konami educational titles.
https://meincmagazine.com/gaming/2019/08/ ... emulation/
The video itself in in Russian, but has professionally-translated English subtitles, and is about a Japan-only release:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1rnf13b3dG4
His channel looks to have other interesting videos, but they're in Russion without professionally-translated English subtitles, so they're more difficult for me to watch, less accessible. I think if there was someone from a different ethnicity/culture who could speak on their experiences in an accessible way (in English, or at least English subtitles), there could be an audience for that.
Upvote
0
(1
/
-1)
No because music isn't always about race. I don't want to go living my life completely defined by how I look. People who are non-white, non-male, non-straight are not a monolith of just what makes them different. Just like people who are white, male, and straight, we might be interested in the same things. Not everything has to be about how we are different and we DON'T always have this unique perspective.
Based on the YouTube landscape, I'd say retro tech is something women are generally not interested in, and the ones who are are also interested in Murder She Wrote. That's ok, and it's ok that you don't like Murder She Wrote, either. If you are a woman who is interested in retro tech, make a channel and share your love. That's what's awesome about YouTube. It takes practically nothing and no equipment to make a YouTube channel, and still be successful. VWestlife has a successful channel, and he still occasionally makes videos shot on a Sony Hi8 and edited on a Pentium 4 Windows XP box. I'm pretty sure BBishopPCM is still using VHS.
lol, bro, we invented much of it.
Upvote
1
(3
/
-2)
That's ok. When I'm watching videos on the Atari 2600, I want to be recommended more videos about the Atari 2600, not videos about consoles made before the 6th generation presented by lesbian bi-racial socially conservative Vietnamese-Ghanian hosts. All those other consoles are not relevant, especially the ones that are not 2nd generation. It goes both ways. If I'm watching videos about BLM, I want to be recommended more videos about racial justice. Not an MKBHD video just because the host happens to be black.
Upvote
-4
(1
/
-5)
LGR has separate channels for making sandwiches, and an "LGR Blerbs" channel for crap he doesn't want to devote the extensive hours of research that go into a typical episode. This is standard practice in the YouTube creator community.
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCz9uUF ... -ZihoKsbPg
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCw_Sxd ... rScT4Rlj8A
It's up to PUR if she wants to focus on retro tech. She doesn't. Because hey, maybe what I've been saying all along, that's not her main interest. Yet she still managed to develop an amazing channel with a thriving community and lots of subscribers.
Again, most of these complaints about diversity in the YouTube retro tech community are mostly coming from people who aren't that familiar with YouTube.
Upvote
-2
(0
/
-2)
I don't see that as a problem. There's a thriving community of Hindi-language and Bahasa Indonesia content creators talking about tech, and I don't expect them to translate their videos just because I want to watch them. There's a huge world out there outside of the Anglophone Internet. They're speaking to their own audiences, and they're happy speaking to their own audiences. They don't need to cater to me just because I don't understand their language. Here in North America, there's a lot we wouldn't get, even if it were subtitled.
Upvote
-1
(1
/
-2)
In addition to Nybbles and Bytes, the algorithm put FranLab (vintage electronics), Randi Rain (vintage toy repair), and Octav1us King (retro video games and toys) in my feed, so maybe the problem is the things you train it with by watching.
There is nothing more insufferable than people whining about representation who aren't even members of the community being complained about. This field is always going to be overwhelmingly male because it caters to predominately masculine interests and is about things over thirty years old, to a time when marketing for toys and electronics was more gendered than it is now. The only way to tilt that scale is to make content yourself, because no one is under any obligation to do it for you.
Upvote
1
(3
/
-2)
I edited and expanded my post above yours, but I think to often people make these assumptions, but don't think about why there's maybe less interested from a particular group. I mean, it used to be stated a lot by people that "women are generally not interested in video games" or "women are generally not interested in computers," etc. , like it was a genetic thing. When digging into it though, you find there's a lot of cultural/societal influences that could include actual discrimination.
Now, maybe there's no easy solution, or the only workable solution is time, where as more women, PoC, and LGBTQ experience "modern" tech, they will still be interested in it when it eventually becomes "retro" tech, and the diversity will increase. But we should at least acknowledge the disparities exist when we find them, and not try to claim the disparity isn't there, people aren't looking hard enough (why should they have to look harder than with white male hosts?), or that the disparity is just "lack of interest."
Upvote
-2
(2
/
-4)
Well, the issue is that the Youtube algorithm is a bit of a viscous circle. I watch was Youtube recommends, and it tends to recommend based on what I previously watched. The only way to inject new recommendations is often to seek it out. Sometimes this means it starts recommending crazy stuff because I watched a one-off video on a subject I'm otherwise not that interested it. And other times it means that unless I'm searching for a partiular subject that maybe a female hosted channel covered, I may not ever get recommended a channel I'd otherwise be interested in.
Thank you for the suggestions though. I've added a few new channels to my subscriptions, so maybe that will "tweak" the Youtube algorithm for my account.
Is this about mhungry or me? Because mhungry identified as a woman, and I don't think I identified myself at all.
Upvote
2
(2
/
0)
Getting a like out of me and I haven't even watched it yet
I like 8-Bit Guy just a little more, because while LGR is great for learning about the commercial history of all these old machines, he gets down to the brass tacks on how those computers actually worked.
I feel like LGR is fun and entertaining, while I gain functional knowledge from 8-Bit Guy.
Just don't take too much notice about what he says if it's not a Commodore 8-bit or an IBM PC compatible. As an example, every single one of his (Timex) Sinclair videos captures none of the nostalgia and manages to be full of technical inaccuracies, as if it were just yet another model he had to tick off the list. He's also trying to make a modern day C64 compatible to teach programming, seemingly oblivious that it had the worst BASIC available for home computers at the time and now is even more hopelessly outdated.
On the other had Clint freely says in many videos that he didn't have one back in the day, yet he manages to restore them if necessary, show off the main features which made them special, explain a bit about the back story, and play the defining games for that system. That's why I've got a lot of time for his videos, he brings out the fun in a system that maybe both he and you've never seen before and shows why you might want to emulate one or get real hardware.
Upvote
3
(3
/
0)
You'll note that I mentioned that the women who are interested in retro tech are also interested in other things that other women are typically interested in like Murder She Wrote, because they are... women. So if someone is not coming in your feed because you're a man and they make content that appeals to other women plus they happen to be interested in retro tech too, I don't think you can fault YouTube for that. Maybe there's a supermarket makeup finds blogger out there who also has amazing content about retro tech. Alas, I will never know.
Few YouTubers who have an engaged community do just one thing. Even PewDiePie who is mostly famous for Minecraft does pranks, life vlogging, and crap like that. And if you're a woman talking mostly about women's issues, you're going to mainly draw a female audience. No surprise there. The women in the community who are intensely focused on tech are very well known in the community, like iJustine and Fran Blanche. There's no discoverability problem here.
if 30 years from now there aren't female YouTubers talking longingly about PS4s, MacBook Airs, and Galaxy Notes, you'll have a point. But 30+ years ago, there just wasn't a critical mass of women playing Genesis, VCS, or using VIC-20s, so it's no wonder that most women today don't care. These devices weren't marketed to girls, and life in general was a lot more strict about gender roles. They simply don't have the same memory of those things that men do. That's not the fault of YouTube or its algorithm. I see lots of female YouTubers talking about handheld Nintendo consoles though, because Pokemon smashed so many demographic lines. We'll probably see all kinds of people talking about the Wii sometime in the future.
I'm not denying anything, it's obvious there are few women or other minorities talking about retro tech. I'm saying it's ok though because it's a niche of a niche of a niche from another time. I wouldn't expect many African-Americans in coal-rolling videos either, or Britons in videos fetishizing handguns, just like I don't see many brown people at Indie Rock concerts. There's a niche out there for everyone, and sometimes the demographic that is drawn to a particular niche skews based on gender or race, and that's perfectly ok. Cricket is huge among certain South Asians, but am I upset there aren't more Filipinos or Black Americans who are into it? Hell no, that's ridiculous.
It's ok white guys, you're allowed your niches too. You're not being racist or sexist for liking certain things more than people from other races do, as long as you let us join too. And I've never felt unwelcome in the retro tech YouTube community, which means things are all peachy as far as I'm concerned. Inclusion doesn't mean everyone has to like it, it just means that you shouldn't keep people out because they are different. And that's just not a problem on YouTube as far as I have seen.
Upvote
0
(3
/
-3)
Especially true on old hardware, where almost everything is through hole and not tiny little surface mount flakes. It can be tedious to recap an old computer (some boards used dozens of them), and some boards will be so damaged by corrosive electrolyte that it may be more trouble than it's worth to fix it, but it's not particularly hard, and you will probably never have to do it for a very long time, if ever again, if you use high grade components like those from Nichicon.
Upvote
1
(1
/
0)
I've lost so many hours of my life watching those videos. I think maybe the whole series is on there? I love it when it randomly appears on my feed and then I blink and 3 hours went by. I never watched that show when it was running because it was before my time, but it also looks like it was regional thing anyway? One of the coolest parts of the show for me is that the inventor of CP/M often co-hosted. That gives that show so much street cred, lol.
Watching Stewart Chiefet's wardrobe change over the decades is hilarious.
Upvote
1
(2
/
-1)
I love this guy. Agreed, he has a tone that's very different from almost all other YouTubers I can think of. If you're interested in his videos, I'd also recommend bbishoppcm, lmull3 and TheMaritimeGirl (there's a transgendered retro tech YouTuber for you). Not in that order.
They all have the same level of passion with the same low-key, arguably "low production values" style. You can tell they're in it just to share this neat stuff they found, not the "engage" the audience or make money from their channels. That's why copyrighted music is sometimes found in their videos, they don't really care if a video gets demonetized.
Two other's in a similar vein to VWestlife I really love are Terry Stewart (aka Tezza) and Jason's Macintosh Museum. Jason is such a lovable dork, lol. Sadly, neither are active any more. Tezza in his last video said he went through his entire (EXTREMELY large) collection, so he has nothing else to produce, but I hope they are both alive and ok.
Upvote
0
(2
/
-2)
There's a few videos where he films in his very full storage locker. I think the 1st 486 build, he pulled some parts out of there.
Upvote
2
(2
/
0)
So you're saying men can't be interested in Murder She Wrote? And are the women interested in Murder She Wrote necessarily interested in all the other content on her channel?
As pointed out, Clint has a separate channel for his food reviews, which maybe works if you're popular enough and post often enough on your main channel to move stuff over. And maybe I'd be interested in some of these other channels if they split off their different content to other channels. It'd just a shame that the choices for those who cover a variety of content are to either split their subscribers across multiple channels, likely affecting their visibility in the algorithm, and thus revenue, or to lose potential subscribers only interested in a single topic they cover. What would be wrong about being able to subscribe to specific playlists on a channel, for example? Why isn't a good idea for Youtube to make it easier for me to find and be reminded of the specific content I want to watch?
So it's not a flaw in the Youtube algorithm that it's not delivering you content you'd be interested in, because of factors external to those videos themselves?
PewDiePie is, apparently, a "personality," and people watch him, and subscribe to him, because they like him, no matter what he's doing. I tend not to subscribe to channels for the "personality", but for the content and subject matter. For example, I'm subscribed to LGR, but not to Clint's other food review channel. I like the guy fine, I just don't care about food reviews.
So you're admitting the lack of women reviewing retro tech (or at least solely or mostly retro tech) is due to systemic discrimination in the past.
That's quite a shift from your original response to mhungry, when you said, in response to her saying the same thing:
So you've gone from telling her "you're just not paying attention" to admitting the situation is exactly as mhungry described.
Upvote
-5
(2
/
-7)
In terms of tech the thing that affects her visibility is she ran out of Adventure games to talk about. Almost all of her retro Tech stuff was talking about those Sierra games, or their creators. I still sub (I got like 80 subs), but I don't care about the 80s/90s TV shows she switched to that much so I only watch 1/3 of them.
As for why this is I'll mention the basics:
1) Pipeline. In the 80s in particular tech was very white. You had more Asians than the general population, but Asians were only 1.5% of the general population back then. Men weren't as dominant then as they are today, but women were a minority, and they were a smaller minority in hardware roles.
2) Class. For Retro Tech work you really need a climate-controlled workshop, which means you need a lot of extra space. LGR has an actual storage unit, plus his house. And 8-bit-guy just did a video on the studio he's building in his back yard.
3) Gender Roles. Cis-Het white dudes get away with having a hobby that involves re-capping motherboards in ways that everyone else can't. PUR is actually a good example. Her tech videos are about the titles she liked, and the creatives behind them. She never really brought out a piece of hardware and started talking about it's sound chip. She's much more interested in the social aspects of gaming, which is kinda the definition of standard American female gender role.
That said, if somebody has the name of somebody I should try I'll put them on my to-watch list.
I've seen both SSSniperWolf and GirlfriendReviews on this thread. They look more like gaming channels, and a lot of the games are way too modern for me.
Upvote
3
(3
/
0)
Well, if it bothers you that much, step up to the plate and create the content you want to see....maybe other LGBTQ people will be inspired?
Upvote
2
(2
/
0)
Your you tube video on the Amiga 500, you rant on how a ntsc Amiga could not play European Amiga games. As a past owner of an Amiga 500 ntsc, I can say you gave out bad info. All that was needed was an upgrade to a fat Angus. The original 500 did not come with them the later models did. You could been like me upgraded yourself.
Upvote
0
(0
/
0)
It wasn't so long ago that I would've made a mom joke here, but I like to think I've matured a little since then.
Upvote
0
(0
/
0)
LGR has always been one of the better sources of media about old tech and games, and his insights are usually enough to be a great source of entertainment on their own, the subject tech not withstanding. I am excited when he reviews modern boards and peripherals that are used to interface with older machines!
Upvote
5
(5
/
0)
My fave YT channel. Tho I recall much of the vintage gear "in person" due to my age, I still enjoy seeing those oldies in all their glory, rather than in a landfill. Btw. Clint's voice should be insured for big bucks.
Upvote
0
(0
/
0)
Civvie is one of my fav youtubers, basically the Plinkett reviews meets MST3K, but for retro FPS games rather than films. It's also nice to see a popular gaming youtuber who not only doesn't constantly parrot alt-right crap, but actively mocks it. ("Oh gawd, I can't post this - I'll have thousands of edgy teenagers sending me the Pepes, then I'll get kicked off youtube and have to go to one of those *other* video sharing sites where they allow white supremacist shit on the homepage....").
Another good one I haven't seen mentioned here: Chyrosan22 / "Thomas' Keyboard Reviews." He does reviews of mostly retro mechanical keyboards, and tends to go quite in-depth - E.g. not only does he have separate videos on he model M and Model F keyboards, but also separate videos on the AT and XT variants of the Model F.
Upvote
1
(1
/
0)
For me it's that the content is detailed enough, but the main selling points are the laid-back yet enthusiastic delivery coupled to Clint's apparently modest ego and his general avoidance of click bait.
I suspect hell will freeze over before he posts a video titled something like "10 crazy facts that will surprise you about the TRS-80" or "We fixed the C16+4 — Commodore will hate this!" along with a photo of him pulling a face.
Which nowadays is refreshing.
Upvote
2
(2
/
0)
What's wrong with white men? You're not racist AND sexist, are you?
Upvote
-3
(0
/
-3)