Computer site Anandtech Shuts Down

[Blumlein 88]

We've already entered times where young school kids, when introduced to books, start moaning "Am I really supposed to read all this myself?"
Societies without written words had a hard time in the past, and societies loosing the written word will likely decline as well... and the decline has already started.

No society in the past had videos. None, zero zilch. It's a different thing never encountered prior to now. So written words vs none is of no guidance in regards to written words vs videos.

 

[Sokel]

No society in the past had videos. None, zero zilch. It's a different thing never encountered prior to now. So written words vs none is of no guidance in regards to written words vs videos.

I was looking at the mirror when I was going to go out at my 16.
They now look at their videos just the same way,they say that is more holistic picture of them and they are probably right.

Civilization is always the way we see things and that view has changed dramatically.

 

[KSTR]

So written words vs none [...]

It's written words vs spoken words, not written words vs none.
Spoken words without (moving ot still) pictures at least induce some kind of creative brain action by the recipient.

I have some teachers and professors among my friends, and the common consensus is lack of creativity, especially lack of creativity and imagination to analyse and resolve problems pretty much correlates with the decay of written language we see these days.

 

[ryanosaur]

I used Anandtech very heavily when I built a pc for The Lady in the early days of our relationship. Their site was a huge help when it came to understanding and choosing many of the components.
I was bummed to see them closing up.

 

[teched58]

<snip>
Putting ads first and content as filler is the wrong strategy.

Anyway, sad day to see one of the mainstays of computer coverage on the web is no more.

There is NO strategy through which a high-cost tech news site can today be economically viable.

(ASR is uniquely positioned, for now, and its experiences do not provide any positive lessons that news creators can adopt to forestall their demise. At the same time, ASR provides a constant reminder, blinking virtually as if a giant neon sign, that focused, user-created content presently properly can outperform high-cost, written news.)

 

[JeffS7444]

Some of the better review videos are a bit like hanging out with buddies you'll never actually know. Even as folks incessantly consume videos, Facetime chats, and IMs, I wonder if we've actually become more isolated than ever before.

 

[Blumlein 88]

It's written words vs spoken words, not written words vs none.
Spoken words without (moving ot still) pictures at least induce some kind of creative brain action by the recipient.

I have some teachers and professors among my friends, and the common consensus is lack of creativity, especially lack of creativity and imagination to analyse and resolve problems pretty much correlates with the decay of written language we see these days.

Written words that were recorded and searchable vs spoken words that were not has morphed into Written vs spoken words with pictures that are searchable.

I think the issue with problem solving is the shortened attention span. Problem solving usually involves visualization. Perhaps providing video with everything makes people less adept at doing their own free form visualization.

Like it or not, and I don't, things have changed. I don't think it will go back. Doing things the new way will have to solve some issues.

One thing complained about for centuries was book learning versus hands on. I've seen well done instructional videos that go a long way to bridge that gap. I don't expect learning to become video only, but for education to learn where the addition of video is effective and efficient.

 

[Soniclife]

I think the issue with problem solving is the shortened attention span.

Older generations have been accusing the kids of this for decades now, rock music, TV, video games, the internet, tick tock etc, but humanity has continued to develop. The next generations will find their way of doing things, we won't like it, but we won't stop it either, and then they will repeat the blame on the generations that follow.

 

[Doodski]

they will repeat the blame on the generations that follow.

I met people in the mid 20s age zone and they blame "Boomers" and other age groups for a lot. It's pretty apparent that they have not figured out stuff to a large degree and I suppose the stuff that occurs on Earth is annoying at best and absolutely horrible (Horrifying.) at worst but they will need to adjust and figure things out or they will be steamrollered over by those that can and will.

 

[Soniclife]

I met people in the mid 20s age zone and they blame "Boomers" and other age groups for a lot.

It's kind of hard to blame how things are on anything but older generations, we are literally collectively to blame / credit for how things are. And their grandkids will be just the same.

 

[Soniclife]

It's pretty apparent that they have not figured out stuff to a large degree

Absolutely, but we were the same, I remember thinking I had it sussed at 18, then at 21, and then realising things were never really going to make sense. Will they eventually work more stuff out than previous generations is the key, and as history belongs to the winners they will think they have.

 

[AnalogSteph]

One thing complained about for centuries was book learning versus hands on. I've seen well done instructional videos that go a long way to bridge that gap. I don't expect learning to become video only, but for education to learn where the addition of video is effective and efficient.

Indeed. When it comes to hands-on skills, video can be an absolute godsend.
When my parents' old 1991 Honda Accord developed a random no crank problem roughly 15 years ago, I would have killed for a video tutorial showing how to get to the starter relay which supposedly was somewhere under the dash according to the service manual (the assembly was known to be afflicted by bad solder joints). We never got to the bottom of the issue (or the relay) and the car was eventually sold for a pittance before its replacement was even bought... it may still be driving around somewhere in Eastern Europe to this day. I've learned so much about working on cars from YouTube since then. Today you can learn from the best, which is definitely not a bad thing.
Likewise, you're never going to pick up a foreign language well without audio at the very least - and even there the medium of choice would have moved from records and the occasional tape reel to the venerable compact cassette and eventually the CD over the years (though I imagine the cassette would have remained popular well into the 2000s as it's easily the cheapest option for smaller runs while being adequate in quality, and with CD-Rs you never knew how compatible they would be and how well they would hold up long-term), before going multimedia and eventually ending in entire learning platforms used via an app.

 

[pseudoid]

Thank you for the heads-up, @amirm,
I guess I should delete the Anandtech bookmark from my browser.

If you need your daily dietary dose of tech and science news but detest ads; the following 2 aggregate sites may help:
https://techurls.com/ and https://sciurls.com/

For half a century, I looked forward to my subscription-based monthly publications -- where I could just flip a page to avoid an ad -- but such paper periodicals are on life-support. Then, just last week' I received a JCWhitney catalog [no, really!] that was more like a magazine than a parts catalog. I am going to save it because I know it's going to become a collector's item!

 

[Blumlein 88]

Indeed. When it comes to hands-on skills, video can be an absolute godsend.
When my parents' old 1991 Honda Accord developed a random no crank problem roughly 15 years ago, I would have killed for a video tutorial showing how to get to the starter relay which supposedly was somewhere under the dash according to the service manual (the assembly was known to be afflicted by bad solder joints). We never got to the bottom of the issue (or the relay) and the car was eventually sold for a pittance before its replacement was even bought... it may still be driving around somewhere in Eastern Europe to this day. I've learned so much about working on cars from YouTube since then. Today you can learn from the best, which is definitely not a bad thing.
Likewise, you're never going to pick up a foreign language well without audio at the very least - and even there the medium of choice would have moved from records and the occasional tape reel to the venerable compact cassette and eventually the CD over the years (though I imagine the cassette would have remained popular well into the 2000s as it's easily the cheapest option for smaller runs while being adequate in quality, and with CD-Rs you never knew how compatible they would be and how well they would hold up long-term), before going multimedia and eventually ending in entire learning platforms used via an app.

A shame about the Honda. I fixed several with that issue. And yes, I help fix or fix issues on cars of my friends quite often. Would not be possible without youtube vids most of the time. Cars are much more complicated than in years past. Even some things you could puzzle out seeing someone else do it and tell you exactly what tools in what size you need can cut the time required to 1/3 quite often.

 

[Dave-Oh]

I don't know why there's been such a fuss about AT. You need to adapt or die by going where the audience is (video), and AT didn't adapt, so they died.

Well, after 30 years of profitable presence. Wasn't exactly a failire.

 

[KSTR]

One thing complained about for centuries was book learning versus hands on.

Well, that depends on the topic (think eg philosphy) and of course on the method. You can memorize a book without actually understanding a single sentence.

OTOH, when trying to find out how to open your cell phone to replace something, video can be a suitable format, but written text with lots of figures/photos is still much better and way more effective IMHO, and much more durable/accessible compared to something as volatile as an internet video. In the good old days, electronics of all kinds had proper service manuals, as a prime example for this. It takes some effort to author a proper service manual, and putting effort into something isn't that much popular these days, it seems. Hey, they can't even be bothered to offer a regular user manual for stuff.

I think the issue with problem solving is the shortened attention span. Problem solving usually involves visualization. Perhaps providing video with everything makes people less adept at doing their own free form visualization.

Yep, that is definitely a core problem.

 

[pseudoid]

...OTOH, when trying to find out how to open your cell phone to replace something, video can be a suitable format, but written text with lots of figures/photos is still much better and way more effective IMHO, and much more durable/accessible...

Indeed but that 1986 BMW3 the neighbor's 18yo son bought had a blinker-not-working issue and yt told him to splice the two red wires going to the left front blinker bulb. He followed the directions and started blowing fuses and having electrical problems. When we opened the hood to see what he had done; the problem was obvious: The yt video did not tell this naive (but well-meaning) noob to insulate the spliced red-wires.

I think the issue with problem solving is the shortened attention span.

Which gives us a new coinage: "Jack-of-no-trades and a master-of-none!"
In the case of Alex - now, a 25yo x-neighbor's son - did become a 'car guy' and is now up in Seattle area as a certified mechanic and seems happy!