VCF Midwest 2025 YouTube Panel Q&A

Unfortunately, due to complications with my wife's foot surgery (which seems ok now), I was not able to make the voyage to VCF Midwest this year. In the spirit of the VCF, I did pick up a couple computers locally, which I will cover shortly. In the meantime, I watched the YouTuber panel Q&A, and, as with last year, offer my own answers to the questions. Thanks to Angelgreat for posting what seems to be the only instance. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zbR2z_yFaP8

Update: A much better version of the panel talk is now posted here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VMSxlRK7lY0&t=16s

Also, Ron and Steve (Ron's Computer Videos and Mac84) did a talk on some practical aspects of PowerPC that can be found here. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=569uTixN7Tc

Thanks to superstar64 for the shout-out during the Q&A!

_______________

YouTube has been changing their algorithm over the last year and some report their viewership dropped to half. Has this affected you? 

I’ve seen a modest improvement in views despite not posting. I’m always in competition with one particular video! My 1989 'Back to the Future Part II' set tour. That video always kicks my Macintosh video's butts in the Views per Month metric. I put all this work into my videos only to be outdone by some 19-year old punk with a camcorder! Recently this changed. Now the G5 video consistently tops the charts! But I agree with the panel that Patreon support far outweighs YouTube revenue, making YouTube's algorithm less relevant. So, thank you folks!

I just discovered YouTube has suspended monetization on my Network Server 500 video because I'm using "Envy" the 2020 song by Aizøn for the credits. Of course I did that because I never heard of her. It's the "Facing Worlds" theme from Unreal Tournament called "Foregone Destruction" that she sampled and now my earnings go to her. DAMN! This is crazy.

What is more important, quality or quantity of uploads? 'Quantity' meaning a regular upload schedule.

I don’t think I need to answer this one, but like one panelist said, sometimes you have to deal with life and I was surprised that everyone was waiting when I came back with the G5 video. So choosing Quality isn’t necessarily going to hurt you in viewership as much as you might think. My Patreon experiment where I made a Mac Mini Server (2009) video in one week between acquisition of the Mac Mini and the finished video about it proved this out. The humour just didn’t have time to ... ferment? ... That’s not the right word, but you know what I mean ..and it was too short to go into depth much. Oh, and a panellist further recommended to pick a topic that will still be relevant in 2 years. My topics were not relevant in the first place.

With eBay’s problematic 'distribution centres', should we only do manual drop-off /pick-up with computers and monitors?

I generally have only done manual pick-up since 2005 and would not trust delivery. I recently tried eBay again. I bought controllers for the TI-99 computer, only to have them ship in just a baggie and clearly broken inside. I opened up the casings and the broken pieces are not in there meaning it was purposely shipped non-functional. There are not even any good parts I could take from it. The Seller would not respond, eBay forced a refund, and I left a negative review. Maybe I'll stick to buying old magazines and stuff like that from eBay.

Is there a limit to how much you can re-fabricate parts before it is no longer be considered the original computer?

I can appreciate what companies like MacEffects produce. They focus on Mac parts that are necessary for aesthetics but not what makes the computer what it is. Like a 6100 foot or iMac inner bezel. But I wouldn't want a fully re-manufactured Mac because then it does not have the history behind it. For example, the Commodore PET 4016 that I bought has the label peeled and torn at the top corners. An eBay Seller offer a re-manufactured label, but the character spacing is off. That label is a huge part of that computer's identity. 'No sale'.

What content do you watch on YouTube?

RedLetterMedia is my only must-watch content .... but I do watch some of my Patreon member's content, like if Ben posts something.

In 25 years is anyone going to care what they are doing today in computers the same way we do with computers from 2000 vintage and earlier.

Essentially asking, are computer makers building strong roots with users to make them nostalgic for the time they used the hardware in their youth? I think the internet has divorced a lot of the experience away from the machine, itself, and the machine becomes more and more a commodity as users see less value in new designs or ideas. Even Apple is becoming fairly weak in this department as I’ve joked about for years. In 25 years people might be more nostalgic for YouTube videos from today and maybe nostalgia is replaced by anemoia (which is nostalgia for a time you didn't experience) for 50-75 year old computers. But good point that OS versions and software does not physically exist anymore, so there won’t be anything left to show the evolution or be nostalgic around when it is no longer available. Especially with phones, which are very personal but very difficult to preserve. Then you lose that history.

What do you think about Commodore being acquired and re-launching products?

This is going to screw up my next video in a couple places, so I’m going to ignore it.

How valuable are YouTube demographics to you?

Other than showing my low female viewership and lack of interest by viewers under 18, there’s nothing there that I look at.

What do you think about the Y2038 problem?

Mac Pro (Early 2037) will be "Y2038-certified".

Have you ever wanted to ask your viewers a question? Did you not ask the question because you were afraid of the answer?

I was always in such disbelief that viewers liked the videos that I thought maybe they like them for different reasons than I understood. I wouldn't get a brutally honest answer anyway because viewer comments showed the viewers as very positive and well-mannered. I wouldn't have minded negative comments, but in the few I received I could infer that a mental condition was present. But eavesdropping on what people have said about my work in forums and also people backing up what they say with donations to keep me doing more,  finally convinced me. Then I get the question today of "Why are you using 4:3 and 720p?". Here we go again...

What is the most valuable possession in your collection?

Nothing incredible. The Commodore PET and TI Peripheral Expansion Box are modestly valuable but elicit the strongest emotional connection from my early computing experiences. For Macintosh, the iMac (slot load grape) hollow Display Unit and G4 Cube. The Macintosh SE was the first Mac I used, the first Mac I owned, the first Mac that I made a video about, AND it still works including the external Rodime 20MB hard drive and Varta clock battery. (Reaction from panel and audience concerning the battery). So that computer is very important to me. The most monetarily valuable might actually be my boxed Infocom and Marathon games, which is crazy.

How much preparation did it take to launch your channel? Did you make some practice videos that you never posted? 

No, I had already been into videography, filming events for 25 years and had retired from it all at that point. But I had no experience in documentary or reading script into a microphone in a way that it sounds natural. That really shows looking back. On YouTube, no one was watching and it was unlikely anyone would watch, so it didn’t matter what I posted. I posted the 2010 Retrobrite video for my own reference because the online instructions were lacking details.  When I got 150 views on that video from an online article reference, it kinda blew my mind. In 2014, I posted my first Macintosh video for my own entertainment due to the lack of any other good videos on the subject at the time... other than Jason's Macintosh Museum. I maintained a thin hope that someone else would see it, though. The fact that almost no one was watching gave a sort of freedom to play with the format over the next few years... like my hamburger helper video.

Any piece of technology you now regret getting rid of?

Yes. My Marathon Infinity box... I guess that’s not technology. I do regret doing pre-Retrobrite experiments on my Quadra 950 back in 2006, which failed. But I still have it to remind myself.

What about posting to other video hosting platforms?

No, I haven’t tried to do that yet...other than Patreon that is. The concern that those hosting platforms might not be around in a few years is valid.

Who would you like to see on stage at the VCF YouTube panel?

iiiDIY or The Maritime Girl, though this kind of forum does not seem to be their thing, which is fine. I’d prefer one-to-one conversations over this forum, myself. (Audience starts booing)

What makes you so passionate about older technology?

With an old computer, there’s so much history there in physical representation. The more you learn about the history, the more significance or “cachet” that computer acquires. So that’s why the Atari 800 is so cool to me. Not that I ever used one, but because now I know more about its history and then start thinking about making a video so others feel the same way. Also, to some extent, it's wanting to continue or complete that journey I started when I was 12 and obviously the nostalgia for that time.

________

That was it for the panel, except for some directed questions to specific Youtubers or things that are outside my 'wheelhouse'.

I'd be interested to read how YOU would answer certain questions if you would like in the comments. Some pretty good questions this year to ponder. I enjoy this exercise.