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Reply 60 of 133, by krcroft

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The thread's gone a bit meta, which is also an interesting.
- should he be judged or not judged?
- is he an asshole or an honest Joe just sharing his follies?

Being judged is at the the heart of the social media game. Youtubers who excel in their niche will generally succeed, and 8-bit guy's grown a million+ following and surely cashing 5-figure checks every month (good on him - he's earned it and is growing interest in retro computing!).

8-bit guy's shtick is that he's the retro guy who will take you on a retro software and hardware journey. If he doesn't treat his niche topic with the expectations of his viewers.. damn right he will be judged harshly, and that's entirely fair.

Youtube channels live and die by sub-count and ratings, and surely this speed-bump will make him reassess how he wants to portray himself amidst rare retro hardware in the future.

Reply 61 of 133, by Procyon

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Treasure warehouse: We send you this unique priceless artifact for you to do a video on.

8-bit-guy vandalizes it.

Next time they can send it straight to ISIS. 😂

Reminds me of when MJR did a video on a very rare orange xbox, only he had the decency not to drop it. 😂

Reply 62 of 133, by Jo22

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Just watched the video and expected the worst.
Then I realized that essentially he only made a naive mistake in jump starting the PSU.
- Paper clips were used much later in ATX age, where shorting two pins on the ATX connector caused a low voltage circuit to power on the PSU.
The other notable things he did: Modifying four screws, and leaving a few scratches on a PSU case.
Considering that we on Vogons do not value old PSUs, either, is this so bad?
I mean, how many threads are dedicated to replace venerable AT PSUs with cheap ATX ones? 😉
What me bothers more is that he used no soft underground for the monitor. A towel, pillow or a piece of cardboard. Warmed up monitors should never be moved or exposed to vibrations.

"Time, it seems, doesn't flow. For some it's fast, for some it's slow.
In what to one race is no time at all, another race can rise and fall..." - The Minstrel

//My video channel//

Reply 63 of 133, by The Serpent Rider

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Jo22 wrote:

Considering that we on Vogons do not value old PSUs, either, is this so bad?

"Muh hestary". No to mention "blasphemy" of unboxing old computers (few comments under that video)!

Tetrium wrote:

You are basically saying that noone should complain about this or something, which is simply untrue.

Not really. I'm just pointing out that it's not as horrible as some would want to paint it.

I must be some kind of standard: the anonymous gangbanger of the 21st century.

Reply 64 of 133, by Silanda

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I like the 8-Bit Guy's videos, so this one is really disappointing, and perhaps eye opening in all the wrong ways. It was unnecessary too; he could still have done a video showing the system, the internals, etc, and just said he wasn't going to attempt a repair because he didn't want to risk further damage. IMO when it comes to repairing rare items, if you don't know what you're doing, leave it to someone who does. My main beef is not just that he doesn't do that, but how unnecessarily careless and either lazy or rushed he appears in general in this video. The whole thing has an air of "I don't particularly care about this, but I need to get a video out", an impression reinforced by him mentioning the two hour car journey and "wasting time on the power supply problem". Oh, and apparently not caring enough to order some security bits and the correct type of fuse.

I wouldn't be irritated if this was just some common hardware that he'd bought with his own money, and nothing of value was lost. However, this is apparently rare hardware that he likely wouldn't have had access to if he wasn't a high profile Youtuber with a reputation of being some kind of authority, and there's no indication that he actually paid for it. He didn't fix it, make any real attempt to, or even really give any indication that he would have been capable of doing so. Instead he carelessly further damaged a rare piece in ways that could have been trivially avoided.

As for the PSU, that could have been easily avoided if he'd just paid attention to the colour of the insulation on the wires that attach to the monitor. They're not random, they're Euro mains colours, which he would have discovered had he simply Googled them. Had he done so he probably would have realised that there was potential for a dead short between live and neutral, and the paper clip trick was unwise. Besides, while ATX PSUs can be shorted to fire them up, they're shorted in a specific way for a specific reason that's not going to apply to most other PSUs. Applying the same method to jumpstart something which isn't an ATX PSU, and shorting pins where you have done no research to determine their function, you have no clue what the underlying fault is, and there could be mains voltages involved, is reckless rather than naive IMO.

If I can give him credit for anything it's that he posted the video. I certainly wouldn't have, but then again, maybe the revenue is worth the backlash.

Reply 65 of 133, by appiah4

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kolderman wrote on 2020-09-28, 10:47:

I don't think he's an asshole. I think he's special - as in on the spectrum special. It might explain a lot.

I'm not so sure, anyone who bothers enough to make a video about how to best conceal-carry firearms is more probably an asshole than a spectrume case.

Retronautics: A digital gallery of my retro computers, hardware and projects.

Reply 67 of 133, by appiah4

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Errius wrote on 2020-09-29, 09:45:

Oh come on, he's just American

American or not, if you can bother with carrying a firearm and posting videos about how to conceal it best, then you are most likely not even near the spectrum. Plus, he has worked in fields that require delicate human contact and communication (Tech Support, Support Hotline etc.), which further eliminate the possibility.

Retronautics: A digital gallery of my retro computers, hardware and projects.

Reply 70 of 133, by antrad

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I used to follow his channel, but he did something few years ago and I stopped and never watched his videos again. I can't remember what it was, but the channel was not as big as today.

https://antonior-software.blogspot.com

Reply 71 of 133, by Jo22

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antrad wrote on 2020-09-29, 16:38:

I used to follow his channel, but he did something few years ago and I stopped and never watched his videos again. I can't remember what it was, but the channel was not as big as today.

Huh ? If memory serves, years ago he was more of an ibook guy. What could he have possibly done thus (to PC stuff) ? 🤔

"Time, it seems, doesn't flow. For some it's fast, for some it's slow.
In what to one race is no time at all, another race can rise and fall..." - The Minstrel

//My video channel//

Reply 72 of 133, by TelamonLivesOn

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This video absolutely disgusts me!!! I remember when he actually took care of computers that weren't even that rare. But to short a PSU without looking at it through an oscilloscope or even consider that the monitor might have resistors or anything like that just made me angry more than sad! I also frowned when he plugged in a similar, but possibly different floppy drive into the machine (not all interfaces are equal), possibly damaging the system further. Would any of you connect an Apple IIe floppy drive to a Twiggy Mac Prototype. He has let his ego take control of him. He is heading down the route of SpoonyOne. This is the last straw.

Reply 73 of 133, by Jo22

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Jeez. He didn't smash the computers with a hammer or used dynamite on them.
Sure, he could have been more gentle.
But maybe just he realized afterwards that these were prototypes.
Remember, he mentioned it at the end of the video. After he got other computers in the hope some of them are working.

Also, just to make something clear:
It's perhaps better to unbox an historic piece and make a video documentary, than let it "sealed" and not let the world realize that it existed.
If I got it right, these other computers (in that location) get dumped anyway in the near future.
But some of you guys make it sound as if he furiously broke into a sacred museums place and demolished random stuff with an axe. 😔

"Time, it seems, doesn't flow. For some it's fast, for some it's slow.
In what to one race is no time at all, another race can rise and fall..." - The Minstrel

//My video channel//

Reply 74 of 133, by imi

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Jo22 wrote on 2020-09-29, 17:42:

Also, just to make something clear:
It's perhaps better to unbox an historic piece and make a video documentary, than let it "sealed" and not let the world realize that it existed.

I wholeheartedly agree... and while I too share the sentiment that the whole thing was sloppy and full of avoidable mistakes, I don't go hate him for that alone ^^ it just was painful to watch.

but imho he should just comment on it... something like "Sorry I was in a rush because getting the studio finished and working on the game, I should have taken better care and will try to fix the machine again when I got a bit more time"
...and the whole thing would be over.

honestly should have put that in the next video imho.

Reply 75 of 133, by TheMobRules

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Jo22 wrote on 2020-09-29, 17:42:

But some of you guys make it sound as if he furiously broke into a sacred museums place and demolished random stuff with an axe. 😔

Personally I'm not terribly mad at him or anything, but as I mentioned on a post above it's his attitude of "I don't care about all this stuff or trying to fix what I stupidly broke" that kind of annoys me. As if someone had forced him to do the video... I assume people who watch this type of stuff expect the content creator to at least share some of the passion or interest for the hobby, especially given that these "high-profile" YouTubers get access to a place filled of rare hardware like Computer Reset which is closed to the general public, and even get stuff loaned/for free. I understand it's one of the "perks" of being a content creator, but they could at least put some effort considering they're making money off it! He could've easily said "no thanks, not interested in uncommon IBM hardware" to work on a video about a new retrobright technique or something instead.

And with the power supply what he did is basically the same as shoving a paperclip into the mains outlet on the wall! That's the kind of thing you tell 4-5 year olds not to do, not 40+ men who are somewhat technically competent (by "competent" I mean being able to plug appliances into wall sockets, not complex circuit design). And I didn't know this before, but it looks like not long ago he already blew some traces on a Compaq Portable by attaching an ATX PSU to the Compaq's PSU via the Molex connector with paperclips, thinking he would jump-start it like a car battery. So I doubt this was really due to time constraints.

Reply 76 of 133, by Tetrium

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Jo22 wrote on 2020-09-29, 17:42:
Jeez. He didn't smash the computers with a hammer or used dynamite on them. Sure, he could have been more gentle. But maybe just […]
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Jeez. He didn't smash the computers with a hammer or used dynamite on them.
Sure, he could have been more gentle.
But maybe just he realized afterwards that these were prototypes.
Remember, he mentioned it at the end of the video. After he got other computers in the hope some of them are working.

Also, just to make something clear:
It's perhaps better to unbox an historic piece and make a video documentary, than let it "sealed" and not let the world realize that it existed.
If I got it right, these other computers (in that location) get dumped anyway in the near future.
But some of you guys make it sound as if he furiously broke into a sacred museums place and demolished random stuff with an axe. 😔

He might have found out about them perhaps being prototypes at the end, but I'd consider this still his own fault for not having checked before shorting PSUs 😜

Definitely better to have opened it. But it's a bit like finding some ancient Egyptian burial site and taking some pics and creating some film material after which the burial site is blasted with dynamite 😜

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Reply 77 of 133, by Tetrium

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konc wrote on 2020-09-29, 10:15:

Where can I bet about the next thread getting locked?

I hope not this one or we would have missed out on all the new discoveries being made.
That is part of what makes Vogons so awesome 😀 and wouldn't want to have that spoiled because some of the youtube-like comments is spilling over to here (which imho is something I would rather not see).

Whats missing in your collections?
My retro rigs (old topic)
Interesting Vogons threads (links to Vogonswiki)
Report spammers here!

Reply 78 of 133, by SodaSuccubus

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I'm surprised this many people dislike 8BitGuy?

I allways thought his videos where rather well done. A bit too uhh.. repair-talk nerdy for my liking sometimes but. Otherwise well done.

I did feel a lack of passion from this video though. If this where LGR, I know he'd be 100% all over this with genuine enthusiasm and care.

Reply 79 of 133, by Daniël Oosterhuis

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Comments on the video are now turned off. No mention of the IBM situation in the latest video, and I would not be surprised if any comments about it on his latest video get deleted, if he doesn't already have a keywords filter set up to autoblock them. He might as well have deleted the video entirely, pretty sure the YT algorithm doesn't like it when you disable comments, as it hinders video interaction.

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