The chosen password manager for Linus Media Group has changed, why?

[darth_626]

Hi All!

 

I noted on the video released today (17/15/2021) "Don't wait for the Switch Pro, Buy This Today!", I noticed that the sponsor is NordPass and no longer Lastpass. Has Linus explained at all why the change and if he no longer recommends Lastpass as a result? I am concerned that this is another Tunnel Bear but without an explanation. Please let me know if it was discussed on the WAN show or on Twitter or on the Forum just so that I can see his position on it if he has said anything at all.

[AbydosOne]

10 minutes ago, darth_626 said:

Lastpass

IIRC Lastpass limited their free tier significantly a little while ago (like, either only mobile or only desktop, not both). Don't blame LMG for dropping them.

[Chris Pratt]

Was LastPass ever an official sponsor? I've never seen a sponsorship spot for them, but maybe I wasn't paying attention.

 

Regardless, sponsorships don't always include exclusivity agreements. It's entirely possible that both LastPass and Nordpass payed for ads, and both could have ad time available to them. The only stipulation LMG makes is that the product must do what it claims to do. Running an ad is not necessarily a full throated endorsement by LMG.

[dilpickle]

Linus recommends whoever pays him.

[michaelsoft]

Yeah a couple LMG videos were definitely sponsored by them, but I don't recall them being sponsored by them recently

Just now, Chris Pratt said:

Was LastPass ever an official sponsor? I've never seen a sponsorship spot for them, but maybe I wasn't paying attention.

 

Regardless, sponsorships don't always include exclusivity agreements. It's entirely possible that both LastPass and Nordpass payed for ads, and both could have ad time available to them. The only stipulation LMG makes is that the product must do what it claims to do. Running an ad is not necessarily a full throated endorsement by LMG.

 

[Chris Pratt]

Just now, dilpickle said:

Linus recommends whoever pays him.

That's not exactly fair. LMG needs ads and sponsorships to support its business, like pretty much all of these types of businesses. If anything, LMG is far more principled about it than most, as they at least verify that that the product does what it says on the box and doesn't outright screw over their customers or conduct other similarly unethical behavior. They are also responsive to community will. If there's a company, product or service that the community passionately disagrees with LMG will not do business with them. That's better than most companies can claim.

[dilpickle]

2 minutes ago, Chris Pratt said:

That's not exactly fair.

What's exactly not fair about it? It is literally a statement of fact. He is not forever loyal to one company just because they sponsored him in the past.

[Chris Pratt]

28 minutes ago, dilpickle said:

What's exactly not fair about it? It is literally a statement of fact. He is not forever loyal to one company just because they sponsored him in the past.

It just sounded like Linus was a complete whore, like I'll tell my peeps anything is awesome as long as you pay me enough, and that's definitely not the case.

[dilpickle]

3 hours ago, Chris Pratt said:

It just sounded like Linus was a complete whore, like I'll tell my peeps anything is awesome as long as you pay me enough, and that's definitely not the case.

I mean yeah it pretty much is the case. He's taken sponsorships from multiple companies that are despised by the community.

 

No they aren't illegal or even unethical but that's the least you expect.

 

But OP sounds shocked that Linus would recommend 2 different apps as if he actually uses his own sponsors exclusively.

[Video Beagle]

He''s had 2 different wallet sponsers recently...who knows where he stands on that!

[No Springs]

He actually discussed this topic fairly recently -- oh wait, I should say "I saw it recently" (I don't do a great job of paying attention to the dates of videos when I go on a youtube binge) -- on one of the WAN shows.

 

Despite the silliness of the "terrible segues" he uses, it serves an important purpose:  if he's doing a sponsor bit, then he is reading talking points and basically "being the voiceover for a commercial."  When he segues to/from a sponsor bit, that's his signal to the viewer that "okay this is us paying the bills" vs "okay, this is our genuine opinion about a particular topic."

Video Beagle made a great analogy with the "he's had 2 wallet sponsors" comment.   Unless you're so young that you've never seen anything that wasn't streamed on TV, then you're all likely familiar with commercials -- but nobody gets upset with the actors in a particular TV show when Intel or AMD or some feminine hygiene product is advertised during commercial breaks...  Because you know there's obviously a difference between the content and the sponsors.

 

 

(Now, if someone discovers one of the sponsors is terrible -- the show has a responsibility to investigate and maybe stop using them, which LTT has certainly done in the past, as well.  Similarly, companies get pressured not to advertise on shows that do something terrible -- like, take an anti-trans stance or something like that -- which conflicts with their particular code of ethics.)

 

 

IMO, LTT handles this very well.   The people you SHOULD be annoyed with are the youtubers who just fawn all over a product (because they seem to just love it) and behind the scenes, they're taking cash and simply not informing you.   LTT is honestly one of the more transparent/honest promotions out there when it comes to making it VERY clear what is and is not a "sponsored product" and what is commentary/opinion/benchmark results, etc.

[Donut417]

On 5/17/2021 at 4:01 PM, darth_626 said:

Hi All!

 

I noted on the video released today (17/15/2021) "Don't wait for the Switch Pro, Buy This Today!", I noticed that the sponsor is NordPass and no longer Lastpass. Has Linus explained at all why the change and if he no longer recommends Lastpass as a result? I am concerned that this is another Tunnel Bear but without an explanation. Please let me know if it was discussed on the WAN show or on Twitter or on the Forum just so that I can see his position on it if he has said anything at all.

Its because Last pass decided that its only free on 1 device PERIOD. If you want to use it on multiple devices you have to pay. They lost a lot of users over this BS. 

[dilpickle]

12 hours ago, Donut417 said:

Its because Last pass decided that its only free on 1 device PERIOD. If you want to use it on multiple devices you have to pay. They lost a lot of users over this BS. 

Yeah what a shitty company paying for ads and then not giving away their product for free.

[phje]

On 5/17/2021 at 5:28 PM, dilpickle said:

I mean yeah it pretty much is the case. He's taken sponsorships from multiple companies that are despised by the community.

 

No they aren't illegal or even unethical but that's the least you expect.

 

But OP sounds shocked that Linus would recommend 2 different apps as if he actually uses his own sponsors exclusively.

Recommending something and reading a sponsor spot are two very different things.

[Middcore]

Who cares?

 

Are there actually people who pick what apps/services they use based purely on what they think Linus does? 

[WkdPaul]

19 minutes ago, dilpickle said:

Yeah what a shitty company paying for ads and then not giving away their product for free.

I think it's more about them removing features on the free tier than giving their product for free. But this is kinda normal IMO, companies do this all the time ; they grand you limited access for free, then start cutting down on features when they feel they have enough of the market.

 

They know part of the userbase will leave, but they will also gain paying customers that were previously not paying.

[dilpickle]

2 hours ago, wkdpaul said:

I think it's more about them removing features on the free tier than giving their product for free. But this is kinda normal IMO, companies do this all the time ; they grand you limited access for free, then start cutting down on features when they feel they have enough of the market.

 

They know part of the userbase will leave, but they will also gain paying customers that were previously not paying.

Do you realize how ridiculous it sounds to make any type of complaint about a FREE service. They don't even have ads.

 

If you don't like it either pay up or find someone else to freeload off of.

 

[WkdPaul]

20 minutes ago, dilpickle said:

If you don't like it either pay up or find someone else to freeload off of.

May I suggest toning it down ?

 

There are plenty of free products out there, and people have every rights to complain about them.

[Roswell]

On 5/17/2021 at 4:25 PM, dilpickle said:

What's exactly not fair about it? It is literally a statement of fact. He is not forever loyal to one company just because they sponsored him in the past.

There are those who genuinely believe that LMG's sponsors, ads and whatever else are just a means to and end to get content to their beloved fans rather than the reality of LMG being a business whose purpose is to make as much money as possible.

 

People, LMG sells you a 3 pack of shitty underwear for $50 and a $30 Chinese water bottle with a straight face. They don't care about your wellbeing, they're a business that wants your money and ad viewership, lol.

 

9 minutes ago, wkdpaul said:

May I suggest toning it down ?

 

There are plenty of free products out there, and people have every rights to complain about them.

Not really. Unless it's a government benefit that all citizens are entitled to, nobody really has any right to demand the quality of free stuff available to them.

[WkdPaul]

9 minutes ago, Vitamanic said:

Not really. Unless it's a government benefit that all citizens are entitled to, nobody really has any right to demand the quality of free stuff available to them.

* insert meme about Linux here *

[dilpickle]

26 minutes ago, wkdpaul said:

May I suggest toning it down ?

Tone what down? I replied to someone who literally said its "BS" that someone stopped giving away a product for free.

Quote

There are plenty of free products out there, and people have every rights to complain about them.

No. You literally don't have any right to complain about something that is free. What universe are you from?

[dilpickle]

16 minutes ago, Vitamanic said:

 

Not really. Unless it's a government benefit that all citizens are entitled to, nobody really has any right to demand the quality of free stuff available to them.

If you pay taxes government services aren't free.

[WkdPaul]

11 minutes ago, dilpickle said:

Tone what down? I replied to someone who literally said its "BS" that someone stopped giving away a product for free.

Calling people freeloaders ? May I suggest a read at the Community Standards ? You can disagree, but please do so respectfully. You also replied to me, all I did was pointing out people might not be happy about features removed, not sure why you called me a freeloader.

 

 

Quote

What universe are you from?

Last I checked, I can complain about anything I want, at least in Canada, the US and Europe, you're 100% free to complain about whatever you want. Never said complaints have to be legitimate, just said you can.

[GDRRiley]

32 minutes ago, Vitamanic said:

and a $30 Chinese water bottle with a straight face. They don't care about your wellbeing, they're a business that wants your money and ad viewership, lol..

last I looked for a thermal insulated bottle of decent quality that was right in line and 999/1000 are made there

LMG changes all the time who they work with. for whatever reason they did this time. my only complaint is they do not ask the community like they use to

Edited May 19, 2021 by GDRRiley

[Roswell]

3 minutes ago, GDRRiley said:

last I looked for a thermal insulated bottle of decent quality that was right in line and 999/1000 are made there
 

You’re cherry-picking snippets of my comment. Regardless, you can find stainless steel insulated bottles everywhere for 10-15 bucks. Walk around your local grocery or drug store.