Why is everything "You Tubed"

[t-b-g]

It's like the early days of desktop publishing, when what needed to be a simple typed sheet of paper had to be produced with at least 20 different fonts in 50 different colours, with every special effect the software included thrown in!

 

You are also describing modern model railway magazine presentation. We have lots of fonts and colours and by golly we are going to show that we know how to use them!

 

Edited for rubbish typing.....

[jukebox]

if it wasn't for youtube I would never have sussed out how to mount a tortoise, let alone wire one.  

 

I need moving pictures (AKA videos) to get me through.

 

It's how my brain 'works'.

 

 

They can be very useful;  my son kn@ckered his laptop screen - a repair worth almost as much as the laptop.

 

But a step-by-step YouTube video, and a bit of courage, and ordered my own replacement part, and did the job myself for 1/3 the cost.

 

Curiously, there were studies down about unboxing - supposedly watch it it is a feel-good phenomenon:

 

http://iview.abc.net.au/programs/checkout-stories/FR1602H008S00

 

But they can also be rubbish, too!

[jonny777]

Couldn't agree more. The ultimate was when we had some bad flooding around here. The news folk sent a crew, including probably a camera operator, sound engineer and presenter, right into the heart of the flooded area as the floods were still rising and the emergency people were warning folk to stay away. They then filmed against a backdrop of almost perfect blackness.

 

They managed to waste resources, ignore police warnings and look extremely stupid all at the same time.

 

I often wonder how much more organised things would be if, for each news event, all the papers and TV channels just sent a handful of really good reporters who would then let everybody have their videos/stories. We wouldn't need all that dreadful duplication and the media "scrum" with people almost fighting to stick a microphone under the nose of some poor sod who is expected to answer 28 questions all at the same time. It makes the media look like a pack of wild animals fighting over a carcass.  

 

Having said that, when I wanted to change a bulb in a car that I wasn't familiar with, a "Youtube" search found me a step by step instruction on how to do it, so I am not exactly against such things.

They managed to waste resources, ignore police warnings and look extremely stupid all at the same time.

 

 

This reminds me of a news report I saw in Shrewsbury following the River Severn rising spectacularly after heavy rains in July 2007.

 

The reporter had finished her lengthy "horrific/end of the world scenario/worst in living memory" piece to camera; and then (needing to fill more time) spied an old gent ambling towards her along the footpath, so she turned to him and said which tv news channel she was from, asked if he was a local (to which he replied something like 'all my life').

 

She then said "This must be the worst flooding you have ever seen?".

 

He replied, " Oh no no, it was far worse in 19xx, 19xx, 19xx..." and reeled of half a dozen past years (cant remember the exact details) where it had been far worse than this.

 

Priceless live tv.

[melmerby]

Gone are the days of a Haynes manual

Thank goodness too

 

The amount of time wasted trying to do something "like Haynes did" only to find out they were talking b*llshit and probably hadn't even worked on the model they claimed they had!

 

Keith

[Clive Mortimore]

No one makes you look at any videos on You Tube. I hardly look at any model railway ones as they are generally boring.

 

As for the criticism about TV presenters standing in front of what they are reporting and I quite surprised by Ben not saying something like " Well that has been me and some times, when I wish I was sat in the cafe across the road having a cuppa instead of informing the great unwashed." And again you don't have to watch.

[stewartingram]

Everyone thinks that video-everything is the in-thing these days, and haven't yet learnt that different things require different approaches.

 

So, video is just a fad and eventually everyone will go back to WIRELESS, until they realise that's a fad, then it'll be back to books, then papyrus, then stone tablets, etc, etc...

.

​Typo corrected for you...

 

Stewart

[railsquid]

I do find "how-to-do-it" videos very helpful, sometimes a video is worth 10,000 words. On the other hand I keep coming across these "unboxing" videos when looking for reviews of locos etc. I want to purchase; fast forward past the waffle and hopefully there'll be a shot or two of the thing actually running. Now, if I were ever blessed with copious amounts of free time, I'd like to create reviews of the things that I have but they would go something like this:

 

- static of box

- static shot of contents of box

- item running on some kind of test track at various speeds and with/without something to haul

- item running on a proper layout, ditto

- summary of salient good/bad/indifferent points (probably written in the description)

 

All featuring an absence of my hands and droning voice.

[railsquid]

It's like the early days of desktop publishing, when what needed to be a simple typed sheet of paper had to be produced with at least 20 different fonts in 50 different colours, with every special effect the software included thrown in!

 

Thank heavens for the introduction of Comic Sans...

[stewartingram]

ISTR that in the era before the gates went up, possibly still today, Downing St was known by the Press Corps as 'Pneumonia Alley'.

 

I am also baffled, on the occasions that I watch UK tv, by the regularity with which the weather person is subjected to an outside broadcast. Since I believe there are very strict rules about the size of crew that must accompany any such broadcast, this strikes me as a gross waste of money.

 

Unless it is Carol Kirkwood.....

 

Stewart

[jonny777]

No one makes you look at any videos on You Tube. I hardly look at any model railway ones as they are generally boring.

 

As for the criticism about TV presenters standing in front of what they are reporting and I quite surprised by Ben not saying something like " Well that has been me and some times, when I wish I was sat in the cafe across the road having a cuppa instead of informing the great unwashed." And again you don't have to watch.

 

 

We may not have to watch, but we have no choice but to pay the license fee, some of which must be spent on the BBC News reporters who could just be sitting in a studio in front of a back-projected photo in order to save money.

[stewartingram]

Ah, you really do all sound like old fRts!

I totally depend on the web these days for car maintenance. Gone are the days of a Haynes manual for the most wayward of Citroens - they've all got into 'lifestyle' carp.

Bring me a car with some kind of glitch, I'll google it, and over a coffee you and I can find and laugh at the amateur video on how to fix it.

Hey presto!

Job often done in not much more time than it took to watch the video.

dh

 

 

Haynes Manuals. Fit only for use as sill protectors on top of the trolley jack.

 

Stewart

[t-b-g]

No one makes you look at any videos on You Tube. I hardly look at any model railway ones as they are generally boring.

 

As for the criticism about TV presenters standing in front of what they are reporting and I quite surprised by Ben not saying something like " Well that has been me and some times, when I wish I was sat in the cafe across the road having a cuppa instead of informing the great unwashed." And again you don't have to watch.

 

I am also sure that there must have been times when TV presenters thought "Why the heck do I have to be here?".

 

There have been some examples where having somebody on the scene has been a real eye opener and even a "world changer". These would include the famine reports from Africa and more recently some of the events in places like Syria. To see a bombed refugee camp or hospital has far more impact than just somebody telling us about it.

 

But, as an example, say that there has been an incident at a particular hospital. Perhaps a report on waiting lists or A & E times has come out,. Can anybody tell me that it makes the slightest difference having a reporter and crew standing in front of the hospital telling the story, rather than them being in a studio with perhaps a photo of the hospital behind them?

 

You are quite right, nobody is forced to watch anything. But even a grumpy old luddite like me likes to catch up on world events once in a while.

 

I actually like Youtube and enjoy searching out bits of railway, aviation or music film on there. In fact I find it quite addictive and it sometimes takes up valuable modelling time. You do have to sort out the good bits from the rubbish but most internet activity involves that, even, dare I say it, RMWeb.

[alfsboy]

I guess your exclusion of a sainted Rudy answered your own question.

[Revolution Ben]

Hello all,

 

I really don't like to mix work and play, and for me model railways are somewhere to get away from the pressures of earning a salary.

 

But as I have been asked, and in answer to specific comments:

 

1)  Live reports in specific locations:  Are done in the location so the reporter/crew don't have to traipse back to the office. They are designed to give a brief update but are often an interruption to what the reporter is really there to do, which is gather information.  How will we find out what it going on without visiting places?  Whether it's a hospital, flooded town or a warzone, we don't spend the time between live reports sitting in the cafe - we are out talking to people, finding out their stories, trying to ascertain what has gone wrong (and just as often, what has gone right) and I can promise that the majority of the time the "powers that be" would be far happier if we were all kept out of the way and not asking awkward questions.

 

2)  Live reports from Downing Street/College Green/Royal Courts of Justice/Old Bailey.  These are to "break up" the programme and provide he audience with a breather.  Yes, it could all be talking heads in a studio but detailed audience research tells us time and time again that viewers engage far more when the reporter is at a "location" - however fatuous it might seem.  And there is no cost implication - all the above locations (and many more) have "wall boxes" that are often jointly funded by the BBC, ITN and Sky (to keep costs down) so all that is needed is one camera operator (who nowadays also has to do lighting, sound and vision) and a correspondent, who would be working and so being paid in any event.

 

cheers

 

Ben A.

[bertiedog]

After un-boxing generally...Yawn...there is a ten hour video of paint drying, sounds of vacuum cleaners, box fans, air conditioners, rain and thunderstorms to go to sleep to, driving through rain, heavy rain, light rain, rain in the jungle, sea sounds, waterfalls, meditation, self adulation, and reviews of Chinese made electrical gadgets that can kill, or do not work, head shaving, bad clothing, no clothing, opinions on most subjects, Flat earthers, conspiracies about any subject you care to name, except paint drying, and nutters of all flavours and types, People who believe in free energy and perpetual motion, and idiots on jet propelled bikes.......I watch far too much Youtube, trouble is the above come up as suggestions! 

 

Still, it is a fantastic source of 78 RPM British dance band music............and quite a bit on Railways, so that's all right then......

 

Stephen

[PatB]

I must add a dissenting note to the comments on Haynes Manuals. Whilst they have varied from model to model, presumably due to the particular writing team employed, I've always found the general standard to be excellent and second only to the genuine factory manual for the vehicle. Many of those who I've known, first hand, to have problems with them I've also known to have not actually read them (or, at least, understood them) thoroughly. If you think Haynes are bad, you should try some of their rivals, such as the probably actionable rubbish published by AutoData or, here in Oz, Gregorys.

 

The main place where factory manuals have scored, for me, is that they never tell the user to "Refer to your XYZ service agent", presumably because the user is assumed to be the XYZ service agent. Far more useful.

[big jim]

I was watching something about unboxing videos on newsround with my eldest a few weeks back, it's a multi million pound business for some people with some companies queueing up to throw goods at the 'presenters' to unbox on YouTube, similarly companies buy advertising space during the videos on some of the biggest subscribed channels

 

Just wished I'd thought of it first!

[Dagworth]

We may not have to watch, but we have no choice but to pay the license fee, some of which must be spent on the BBC News reporters who could just be sitting in a studio in front of a back-projected photo in order to save money.

You do have a choice whether to pay the licence fee, I haven't paid it for more than ten years

 

Andi

[Lady_Ava_Hay]

There is one YouToobe video that actually cannot deliver the goods. That is the one that tells you how to fix a new part to your computer. Think about it!!!

 

I actually downloaded a brilliant set of photos when I replaced a fan in a previous laptop. I couldn't really have done the job of strip down or reassembly without them.

[railsquid]

I was watching something about unboxing videos on newsround with my eldest a few weeks back, it's a multi million pound business for some people with some companies queueing up to throw goods at the 'presenters' to unbox on YouTube, similarly companies buy advertising space during the videos on some of the biggest subscribed channels

 

 

And then you sell the empty boxes on eBay...

[Joseph_Pestell]

ISTR that in the era before the gates went up, possibly still today, Downing St was known by the Press Corps as 'Pneumonia Alley'.

 

I am also baffled, on the occasions that I watch UK tv, by the regularity with which the weather person is subjected to an outside broadcast. Since I believe there are very strict rules about the size of crew that must accompany any such broadcast, this strikes me as a gross waste of money.

And how much are they spending transporting that red sofa around the country?

[Tim Dubya]

You do have a choice whether to pay the licence fee, I haven't paid it for more than ten years

 

Good for you Andi - but how have you got a way with it?  - I got busted within days of moving into my last flat (which had been empty for nearly a year beforehand)

[Dagworth]

Good for you Andi - but how have you got a way with it?  - I got busted within days of moving into my last flat (which had been empty for nearly a year beforehand)

I don't have a TV

[Clive Mortimore]

We may not have to watch, but we have no choice but to pay the license fee, some of which must be spent on the BBC News reporters who could just be sitting in a studio in front of a back-projected photo in order to save money.

No you still have a choice, if you don't watch, you don't need a telly and you don't need a licence.

[The Stationmaster]

I do find "how-to-do-it" videos very helpful, sometimes a video is worth 10,000 words. On the other hand I keep coming across these "unboxing" videos when looking for reviews of locos etc. I want to purchase; fast forward past the waffle and hopefully there'll be a shot or two of the thing actually running. Now, if I were ever blessed with copious amounts of free time, I'd like to create reviews of the things that I have but they would go something like this:

 

- static of box

- static shot of contents of box

- item running on some kind of test track at various speeds and with/without something to haul

- item running on a proper layout, ditto

- summary of salient good/bad/indifferent points (probably written in the description)

 

All featuring an absence of my hands and droning voice.

 

That's a good start - it would also help if 'you' (i.e. the person making the video) were to research the prototype first so they can give an accurate indication of how well it is represented by the model because on some of the few such videos I have been able to endure looking at it has often been obvious that 'our reviewer' hasn't got the faintest idea about the real thing.