this post was submitted on 16 Aug 2023
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I don't know why some drama about a borked GPU install has been at the top of my feed for a week, and at this point I'm afraid to ask.
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.
Thank you, I spent so much time combing through posts and comments and your comment is the first time it has been succintly explained.
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.
And to make matters worse, insist that no amount of modification would justify buying that cooler ever. It's literally covering your ears and muttering la-dee-da repeatedly.
The whole thing was terribly unprofessional but he is right an $800 water block is niche.
And GN calling them out on this and a pattern of getting many things wrong with Linus doubling down on the whole thing as a response.
As I understand it, it's not actually about this entirely. it's that this has caused people to look into things and see that there is a long running history of poor content being pushed out due to issues in the workplace. The mishandling of the Prototype and the accusations by the employee are just extra icing on top of this already fucked up cake.
Everything you're told in this thread + they put ads into their "apology" video
I also don't fully understand why people are so furious. Yes it's some pretty serious alligations from Madison yes, and some dumb faults has happened from overworked stressed employees because of some bad company policies. Manny big companies have these issues at some point but you don't hear about it because it's handled internally or the company just slowly dissolves. LMG are at least open and a million times more transparent than I've seen many other companies be. Then own up to their mistakes now and are at least trying to fix things. Shutting down for a week is pretty drastic and for me it shows that they care.
It's not owning up if you've been caught red-handed, denied any wrongdoing, and only made an apology video once your subs started tanking. At this point it just feels like damage control.
Monetized apology video with self promotion. That is also important.
TLDR: The LTT fan base has a culture of calling out bad actions by the company not because they hate them but because they hold them to standards.
A small company Billet Labs sent them a prototype to test. That prototype was designed for a 3000 series graphics card. LTT didn't have that card at hand so they asked if it was ok to use a 4000 series card. Billet said they could try but it wasn't designed for their card. LTT published a review of the prototype based on a scenario it wasn't designed for and Linus told people it was a bad product. They later agreed to return it to Billet. They ended up auctioning it off at a convention (where some of Billet's competition was).
Ultimately LTT paid an undisclosed amount to Billet. The actual damages of selling off a start ups only prototype (possibly to their competition) after agreeing to return it, after telling people not to buy a product (which was only a prototype) based on how it performed in a situation it wasn't intended to be in is unmeasurable. They could have effectively destroyed years of work and killed the future of those people.
Linus said he didn't use the correct card because it would have cost ~$800. The issue isn't that he didn't buy that correct card it's that he didn't decide to not publish a video on it if he couldn't do it right.
On a podcast the other week Linus praised the LTT fans for not just agreeing with everything he does, creating a toxic positive feedback loop. This is them calling him out on his errors.
Yes other companies make these same terrible decisions. But their bad actions don't justify LTT's bad actions.
Minor correction, but Billet sent them a 3090; they lost it. It was found and returned eventually but yeah.
They threw shit at a small company by testing their product the wrong way.
I get that. It's not cool. Very much not cool. But everyone makes mistakes or do some stupid shit like this at some point on their lives and should at least have a chance to make things right no?
They did have a chance. Linus took the chance to respond by making excuses and deflecting blame. For fuck's sake, he said they did not sell the prototype, they auctioned it off. That's not even a valid excuse.
That's true. And I generally don't agree with the practices that have happened. I just hope they'll at least get their shit together and get better at treating their hard working employers. I'm not so much of a pitchfork and torch guy and generally hope for the good in people. LMG certainly got a slap in the face now and a wake-up call it must have been. I just hope it's enough.