WAN Show - Future of Tech Reviewers

[Exentrick]

I have a different take from Linus regarding the WAN show topic where Linus and Luke discussed the apathy towards tech, particularly expensive tech and figured I'd share my 2 cents. I think Linus' points were all valid, but in my opinion, the biggest factor here is the rise of streamers/gaming culture within social media. People who watch that space are bombarded by others that have absolute top of the line, flashy tech and are (perhaps intentionally, perhaps not) made to feel like they have to have same top tier hardware to compete/be cool/whatever.

 

This has obviously always been a thing to some extent, but social media has dialed it up to 11 in the post-COVID world.

 

Personally, 10 years ago, I might watch a video that had 90 class/titan cards or SLI (Way back when) and think "neat" and move on with my life without really encountering the topic of high end hardware. Today - it's hard to go a day or two without seeing it, so the high end becomes normalized and you get the perspective that "everyone" has it, so I should to.

 

Again - I think all the points on the WAN show were spot on - I just think they were missing the modern social imperitive to keep up with the Joneses in the tech space.

 

Thanks for reading and sorry for being overly verbiose.

 

X

[KidKid]

Agree! I don't like when the top-spec tech that's unreachable by most is used in nearly everything.

[manikyath]

tbh, 10 years ago the streamer you were watching was also running top of the line nonsense.

 

i back the mindset that the content hasnt changed, it's the notion that that content is now completely out of reach for the great majority of people, and there is currently no horizon where it might fall into reach... and the companies making that halo stuff have stopped caring about normies, so you dont just get "not the halo thing", you get fuckall.

 

for probably 90% of their audience, current gen GPU content is about as achievable as LMG gaming yacht.

 

which - by the way - buying the yacht isnt the expensive thing, owning it is.

[GarlicDeliverySystem]

Personally, what resonated the most for me was the fact that enthusiast hardware will simply not come into reach of the average enthusiast anymore. GPUs simply only get more expensive, the old ones often don't diminish in value nearly as fast as they used to. In the past you would know that this year's halo products would often be on par by next year's midrange (roughly speaking) in performance and the value would depreciate quickly.

 

Now since crypto is a thing I have seen many stories like the one about the 4090. Heck, when I moved in late 2021 I looked into selling my 2060 super and I would have gotten more than I had paid for it. Didn't do it because I needed a GPU and they were even more expensive to buy new.

 

It simply feels like almost none of this stuff is within reasonable reach anymore. And while looking at "fantasy" products is nice, it's not like they enable groundbreaking advances in gaming right now. So why bother, indeed.

[Exentrick]

Hard to disagree with either of your points. They're both definitely factors.

 

46 minutes ago, manikyath said:

tbh, 10 years ago the streamer you were watching was also running top of the line nonsense.

I think the difference is that 10 years ago streaming just wasn't that big of a thing (This is coming from a 40 year old - so maybe I'm just old and was out of touch). So, I'm sure you're right that they were running top of the line hardware, but I just don't think it was nearly as prevalent in the public psyche.

 

A turning point that stands out in my mind for the industry was Corsair's IPO in 2020. Probably not a perfect demarcation line, but I think it's a reasonable approximation for gaming really getting pushed into the mainstream.

 

23 minutes ago, GarlicDeliverySystem said:

And while looking at "fantasy" products is nice, it's not like they enable groundbreaking advances in gaming right now. So why bother, indeed.

This is another good point and I don't think they mentioned it on WAN. Tech is just less interesting when it moves slowly.

 

That said, I still think there has been a psychological shift for many consumers who no longer 'want' the top end, they feel like they 'need' it.