Technology

Should be pinned ngl

Yeah, it's called lack of ethical integrity.

I know you're kinda joking, but I think there is some truth to that. I think he made the decision because he could not manage the whole thing alone, and the workplace environment Madison described could well be caused by general stress and mismanagement

Linus has a track record and proven history of doing/saying stupid shit. I think in this case, he recognizes that he's just shit at his job and wants help. He most likely didn't expect the Billet issue (no way he would have known Steve would have released a vid) and if he knew about Madison coming out, he'd have tried to prevent that sooner. Hiring a CEO won't fix the Madison problem, as that event had already occurred.

I mean he also is a friend of Linus' going a long while back but I agree he should be given a chance to straighten this out

If you are interested there are essentially 3 problems:

• the GPU fiasco: Where they didn't just bork a install. A small 2 man startup send them their (I think only or at least best) prototype for testing and even included the correct GPU to use it with in their packet. LTT for some reason tested it on a different one (obviously not working well there) and came to the devastating conclusion that NOBODY should ever buy this. Then instead of as requested sending it back they auctioned this prototype off at an event they hosted.

• the second problem that was also called out in the video published by gamers Nexus was a consistent pattern of publishing data errors in their reviews. And if such errors are caught, they would be inadequately handled. Maybe through a post under the video or by later replacing part of the video. If they caught an error before publishing they also often would just add a small onscreen text correction with an * instead of redoing that part. All problematic as many people will miss those corrections and thus be influenced by wrong data.

Those two points are especially problematic given the reach of LTT, since they are by far the largest tech YouTube channel. And thus influence a lot of people, especially beginners. Their initial response to these problems was also extremely bad.

• the third problem was a former employee coming forward with allegations of them being an extremely toxic place to work at. With sexual harassment, intense workload and so on.

This isn't about that specifically, but the gist of it is that they basically got a one-of-a kind prototype GPU water block from a boutique startup to review, and instead of reviewing it with the correct model GPU and sending it back as requested, they did their review on the wrong card, concluded it was crap, and then sold it at auction during their convention.

It being a third-party investigator means they aren't "investigating themselves."

With them being in Canada they have a potentially big bogeyman in the human rights tribunal to worry about. Over the years outside Labour relations lawyers I've been in touch with have advised no employer wants to end up there as the rules of law sort of no longer apply and the penalties can be off the charts beyond legal precedent.

Employers need to do better jobs regardless of this bogeyman or a unions being needed avenue as they can present their own challenges for staff and employers with the additional level of bureaucracy. The more layers, the more complicated everything becomes beyond the egos of the various layers involved.

It's a shame to read all that's going on or alleged to have gone on. I love tech but I've not worked in the tech specific industry. I was aware of Linus back to my PC building days and seen some of his videos over the years and the surprising overlaps into the auto channels eventually.

I wondered what it would have been like to work in a smaller at the time company like his, but I saw some of his frustrations in a media system setup video a couple of years back that kind of had me wonder what is he like to work with? Linus seems really high energy and not super polished in his interactions. Being honest tech people don't always have the best social skills, much like those that excel at social skills are not the best tech people in broad terms.

I've heard rumblings of (as they aren't a part of my online world) gamer gate and heard of other issues for women in tech. Thinking about it more I could see how a lack of social awareness and tech bros culture not being a good mix in a growing environment trying to include women. They can't just think of them as being just another one of the guys with the usual stupid crap they do to each other. I'm getting old now because that statement leads to all kinds of new world issues with the extra gender labels that need to be accounted for today and there are other concerns that arise which the old bros culture cannot accommodate. The locker room behaviour was questionable at best and it's always been dangerous to have in a workplace, which can really be a huge issue for them to change (if it exists). There is some smoke without a doubt and it reinforces its not easy to be a woman in these types of tech environments especially when companies grow beyond the initial friends group.

Since I did not really watch more than a couple of videos a year of the LTT I did not realize how large they have become. Their converted warehouse space must just be jammed full of people at 100+ staff now. It was kind of small when they were smaller as it was. With the work load, overhead to cover, the youtube grind, the issues of trying to run during Rona, and the brave new world of big company issues and accommodations needed for a not friends anymore workforce with the workloads, it is easy to see how things can spin out of control with all that is going on. The silos that have developed could have become big blind spots along with the other issues discussed in the social media posts. Wolves of public opinion and of the disgruntled are at the door now.

I suspect at some point it will be mentioned in hindsight that it would have been better for them to sell with the 100 million offer they had received but I wonder how much of this stuff would have surfaced before the sale went through from due diligence by the potential buyer?

It's going to be a big mess ahead to sort out and I hope they are sincere in their intentions to figure this out, make the changes needed (if they are needed, which it sounds like they are) and to repair the damaged incurred to those along the way. It's a bloody big job and its going to be tough to do in the court of public opinion making their own decisions along the way about what is really going on inside the situation.

Like that meme of the person trying to make the exit from 4 lanes away on the highway, Good luck everyone! The pile up is going to be big.

What kind of answer would you rather have. I'm seriously asking what should the comment have been in order for you to be happy?

LTT is one of the biggest YouTube channels and commands a lot of influence in the PC gaming community. The parent organisation actually has a lot of channels on youtube and they pump out a ton of videos under a few different names so even if you don't recognise the LTT name you might have seen some of their other videos just in passing.

Why is it a big deal? Because the accusations are big, given their influence on peoples' purchasing decisions.

LTT, for better or worse, is a very popular tech/PC gaming entertainment YouTube channel. A lot of the younger folks in the nerd space probably grew up watching his content.

I started watching a little late, because I thought he seemed kind of annoying back in the day, but I actually do enjoy their content. It's clear they have some organization and communication problems internally that they need to sort out, though.