How do you feel about AT&T sponsoring LTT at CTIA

[BlueBanana]

preamble: 
I just created this account, only to reply to this topic - and I'm no native english speaker - so please excuse any grammar and/or spelling errors

 

So I've read about this on twitter and I thought: Lets look at this the other way round: "What would I do if I were Linus?"

I wouldn't take AT&T as a sponsor If I wouldn't see myself mostly agree with the companies products/services and ethics. To be honest I would feel a little bit like a dick, going like: "hey I don't like your company, neither your products but I'll take your money."
I don't know - this seems dishonest to me and I have high expectations to myself - so of I were Linus I wouldn't do this.

 

The other thing is: 
While the LTT community knows Linus and his employees and most likely know how they think about a company like AT&T, even If they got sponsored by them, what about people who aren't part of the community?  Lets say people who stumbled upon a "sponsored by AT&T" video on YT? Wouldn't it be a bit misleading to them? Even worse: Isn't there a risk of losing potential new viewers?

If I would watch a show from a guy for the first time and I quite like what I'm seeing, and then realize he's sponsored by a company I absolutely dislike, that instantly would raise some distrust/concerns. 

 

[Mooshi]

The 4mbps thing still rubs me the wrong way, that alone is enough to give them the finger. Especially being someone in N.America where majority of ISPs both Canada and US completely suck. @LinusTech Not even that, there have been cases where ATT just had really shitty customer service and that is something I think Linus is better than when it comes to repping a company.If Notch can give Facebook the finger with a "no deal" in spite of all that cash, I'd expect that level of integrity from LMG. Money means nothing when fans lose faith in the brand. 

 

Even on a personal level, I've tried to get internet at an apartment once and ATT claimed they serviced the area. Once their techs came, nope. ATT STILL had the nerve to charge for internet equipment that not only would have been useless, but never sent to us in the first place. This is not a sponsor that is pro consumer, it's the complete opposite and I'm sure I'm not the only one who feels strongly against ATT as a business.

[smjpl]

Thanks, but adding it so late makes the poll pretty meaningless. A lot of people had already voted and likely won't return to change their vote or add their vote and comment making the new option unfairly handicapped. Would be better to just leave it excluded. For this reason I am continuing to not vote. I'm sure my comment will be read.

Thanks anyway

 

I disagree. While the results are completely skewed, we can still get an idea of general opinion. We can probably combine the results "Linus is a sellout" and "Don't want AT&T" to get some form of a general overview as well. It ain't scientific but it will do the job we need it to.

[Misanthrope]

So I might have been too forgiving before not honoring my title from now on I'm just gonna ask who is sponsoring each specific video and will not watch any AT&T sponsored video

[StingBull]

Bad.

[I Love Huskies]

Literally the only thing that they do is say that "the video is brought to you by AT&T" and then thank AT&T for sending them there, it has no effect on the video and does not matter, it is the same exact thing as there other sponsors.  It just ridiculous that people are upset about this when it has no effect on the video.

[ofr057]

I truthfully think the coverage on the car and home automation stuff was cool, I dont live in the USA so i dont know all this evil stuff at and t is doing but the agreement with linus media group seems ok.

and since AT&T is a major service provider i would say its research division would be huge so there bound to have to cool stuff

[MZ Farhad]

Really appreciate everyone's feedback in here so far, and I want to provide some clarifying information about the deal so that you don't feel like we've got anything to hide

 

The deal has the usual time-limited non-disparagement clause (end of September in this case). That DOESN'T mean on WAN show we can't report on something like AT&T's comments that 4Mbit is enough for broadband

 

We do need to cover some specific AT&T stuff at the show including the connected home and connected car showcases

 

We are not prevented in any way from covering OTHER stuff at the show

 

ATT has asked to review our videos before they go live to ensure the ATT messaging (thanking them at the beginning and end) is correct, which since we pre-recorded half of it (the pre-roll) it damn well better be.

 

Beyond the show, we have no plans to work with AT&T and if you guys prefer that we keep it that way, this thread is where to let your voice be heard.

 

Linus

Come on guys Linus hasn't let us down before, he doesn't have a problem being sponsored by a company and criticizing there products. i think we should all show a little faith 

[mvitkun]

I disagree. While the results are completely skewed, we can still get an idea of general opinion. We can probably combine the results "Linus is a sellout" and "Don't want AT&T" to get some form of a general overview as well. It ain't scientific but it will do the job we need it to.

I quoted all the people who voiced concerns, I recall there being something like 15 people.

I realize that there would have been some that didn't decide to comment but still felt that way but I doubt that it would have raised it more than another 5%,it would have still been one of the two last place options giving everyone the same conclusion -that by and large the LTT community is able to continue to have faith in LTT/LMG  with this sponsor-, so while I regret not giving everyone a choice that could closely match their views I believe that this polls outcome would have been quite similar even if the option had been available from the beginning.

About a third of the thread views and about as many votes occurred after I amended the poll (IIRC ~1200 views and some 70-80 votes), however even if you triple the results for the last option and take the 12% away from one of the two top options they'd still be in the lead.

[THIRSTYLOTUS]

I don't like At&t as a sponsor because they are the enemy when it comes to internet and net neutrality. That being said i love all the videos you make they are really well done and thank you for that. I jest don't like the malicious internet service providers so i would much rather you did not use them as a sponsor.

[FurbyLover]

Linus, after a year of watching your channel I have realized that you do not let your sponsors cloud your judgement and try your best to be as indifferent and honest as possible. As long as you keep up your honesty, I shouldn't really have an issue with AT&T sponsoring you, despite their recent pushes to threat Net Neutrality. Hey, money is money.  

[Ghastlyqwert]

I don't think AT&T should be sponsoring the show.

I have many times bought items that linus have recomended trough ads, because he has said that he only endorses products that he wolud also recomend if they had not sponsored him. By beeing sponsored by AT&T it does not only make it less likely that i will buy products he indorses in the future it questions his credibility. This incident shows that he is more foucused on creating a big company with high production values (like his highly viewed build guides) and low respect for its audice than a good company with a large respect for its audince (like the WAN show) and lower production values.

[smjpl]

I quoted all the people who voiced concerns, I recall there being something like 15 people.

I realize that there would have been some that didn't decide to comment but still felt that way but I doubt that it would have raised it more than another 5%,it would have still been one of the two last place options giving everyone the same conclusion -that by and large the LTT community is able to continue to have faith in LTT/LMG  with this sponsor-, so while I regret not giving everyone a choice that could closely match their views I believe that this polls outcome would have been quite similar even if the option had been available from the beginning.

About a third of the thread views and about as many votes occurred after I amended the poll (IIRC ~1200 views and some 70-80 votes), however even if you triple the results for the last option and take the 12% away from one of the two top options they'd still be in the lead.

 

You're probably right. I can agree with everything you said. If AT&T does become a more regular sponsor (poll seems to suggest that is a possibility), it would be interesting to leave this poll up and see if it changes over time.

[milancius]

I have personally chosen not to watch any of your CTIA content when I saw the giant AT&T logo at the beginning. Why? Long ago you have stated that you will only take companies on as sponsors if you personally like them and use their products. To me this sponsorship means you personally saying "Hey guys AT&T is fking awesome go check them out use them etc". And I can not agree with that opinion nor do I believe it to be true after watching almost every single video you have made in the past 4 years of being subscribed to the channel. Just my two cents, I know my view isn't worth very much at all but since you asked for feedback I'm providing you with some See you in a video not sponsored by an evil corporation that thinks 4mpbs is enough and wants to kill net neutrality      

[MrMonotone]

I have watched Linus's videos for awhile however, I have never been much of a forum user. If my post count lowers my credibility that is very unfortunate. However, I would like to state that I trust Linus and his judgement. However it seems a little hypocritical to take money from a company to advertise their products and on the other hand disagree with a lot of the company's philosophies. When I watch your videos, I come for your opinion. When you take sponsorship from a company, at least I believe that it is your stamp of approval. Is that a wrong way to look at it? What I mean by stamp of approval is that you believe that they have good product and services. From what I have gathered from the WAN Shows, I can tell this is false. Has your opinion changed Linus? I would like to hear from you.

Thanks first time poster

MM 

[ik1nky]

AT&T goes against every ideal that the show has ever supported. They stifle innovation, bribe politicians, and strong-hand all competition out of business. They should not represent the show nor should LTT endorse such a company.

[origx36]

i just dont really like AT&T

i trust linus,but i dont like the direction he is going with thr kind of sponsers he gets

dollar shave club / lynda.com / or any other sponser until now.

had something special to offer.

at&t not so much

[mvitkun]

AT&T goes against every ideal that the show has ever supported. They stifle innovation, bribe politicians, and strong-hand all competition out of business. They should not represent the show nor should LTT endorse such a company.

Very few companies that are as large as AT&T don't bribe politicians.

[smjpl]

Very few companies that are as large as AT&T don't bribe politicians.

 

Most those bribes are about getting contracts. Not implementing laws that stronghold an entire industry into a monopoly. They even go as far as preventing small communities from building their own infrastructure. Name another company that regularly appears on the show that does something similar.

[TetraSky]

Well AT&T isn't a thing in Canada.. So I don't really care if they sponsor Linus or not. Even if they are not the greatest in the world, they are still slightly better than Verizon and Comcast.

It's not like Linus sold out to them, he's not giving speeches on how AT&T is the best thing in the world or anything.

[Digital Brit]

I don't think AT&T would stop Linus and I think that if they tried to Linus would not have accepted the sponsorship.

I myself don't fully understand all the hatred towards AT&T as I have yet to learn of their doings, but it surprises me that there has been such an uproar about them sponsoring, but there doesn't appear to have ever been one for the other sponsors.

I don't recall seeing a thread saying that Linus was selling out to HyperX, Corsair, Asus or Western Digital  (yes there have been the Nvidia ones but those are just butt-hurt fanboys)

[smjpl]

I don't think AT&T would stop Linus and I think that if they tried to Linus would not have accepted the sponsorship.

I myself don't fully understand all the hatred towards AT&T as I have yet to learn of their doings, but it surprises me that there has been such an uproar about them sponsoring, but there doesn't appear to have ever been one for the other sponsors.

I don't recall seeing a thread saying that Linus was selling out to HyperX, Corsair, Asus or Western Digital  (yes there have been the Nvidia ones but those are just butt-hurt fanboys)

 

I don't hear HyperX saying 4GB of RAM is enough for any computer.

 

http://linustechtips.com/main/topic/211885-att-and-verizon-says-4mbps-is-enough-isp-wtf/

[Calavera]

Do not care, jesus people stop it.

[smjpl]

Do not care, jesus people stop it.

 

Yeah in fairness, why the fuck would we have a discussion about something? That's just a ridiculous idea. I am just going to go start another "which headset should I get" thread instead.

[SparkySamZa]

i Find that Linus having AT&T as a sponsor as wrong. It goes against the Pc master race + Net neutrality, which all of us are trying to work towards; by having them as a sponsor yes gives us money; but at what cost?

I may not live in the USA but i'm still fighting for the cause, i find it despicable what they are doing.