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Videos vs. Articles

Do you prefer videos or articles?

  • I dislike articles and like videos more.

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • Total voters
    89
  • Poll closed .

beefkabob

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I must admit, I am not a fan of videos. It's not that @amirm does a bad job. Far from it. I just find videos grating. I can get through an article in a few minutes. A video? So painfully slow.

But that's me. What about you? Answer the poll!
 

Yasuo

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Maybe in this particular case I "see" videos as something complementary, rather than a replacement (maybe because I've read the article first?). As long as it is correct and well made any source of information is valuable. Since I travel a lot I love videos because it allows me to listen to them, much as a podcast (I'm aware I don't see the measurements, but that doesn't prevent me to read them afterwards).
 

muslhead

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Depends on the subject and/or the video presenter.
 

q3cpma

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Words, tables, graphs and other 2D mediums have been the gold standard for the fast and accurate transmission of structured and refined knowledge for hundreds of years (keywords being the carefully chosen adjectives, here). Can the video format challenge it? Protip: no, videos can only augment these methods, never replace it.
 
Last edited:

SKBubba

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It depends.

I don't generally like technical/instructional/review videos. I can read an article on the subject a lot faster, and easily skim over the irrelevant parts.

But, if there's some sort of mechanical/manual dexterity/spatial (in the physical sense) element involved, videos can be very helpful.

The other thing is, if I click on a video review/interview/whatever, and it's an hour long, I hit the back button. Life's too short.
 

PaulD

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Seem we have a lot of readers! :D
In general I do not click on YT videos, either embedded or as links. I have watched a few of Amir's and he does a good job, but I also like to read, and to be able to skim if I need to - reading is faster and my time is precious.

As YT is a commercial ecosystem, I will not click on the links to poorly done reviews or "cable shootouts" etc because I do not want those people to make money from my clicks.
 

Taddpole

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The videos aren't for me, but I see their importance.

I think you are missing the point with the poll tbh.

I'd think more on the forum would opt for forum articles, but it's not really relevant.

He wants to reach more people that means working both formats.
 

ta240

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It depends on the subject and why I'm watching/reading about it. For details articles are better. For something to listen to in the background while I work on mindless tasks videos are nice.
 

Soniclife

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Video is great for getting a good handle on how big some products are, but that's about 30 seconds content max.
I have so far found 1 YouTube channel (not hi-fi) that I quite like, was quite surprised that I've even found one. What I hate most is that getting to the point is the thing they are avoiding at all costs, because it really does cost them.
 

thewas

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Thank you for the topic, as I was thinking about the same issue today.
Of course there are exceptions but in general I find videos for most scientific and technical topics just an easy/lazy way to reach more viewers and revenues as most of the time all that is shown which is mainly speech could be formulated in a written text and in times of HTML even with embedded animations/short videos when needed as sometimes such can tell more than words. Formulating a written text is of course much more time taking and tiring as its not as forgiving as free speech in front of a mic, although some might answer that editing a video is also time taking, yes, but usually not as demanding.
Reading a written text allows the reader to adapt all the time the "transfer speed" according to his needs and previous knowledge, something which is not as nicely possible in a video. Unfortunately watching videos is very popular to the current youth so I understand if people do it trying to reach it, although it is a vicious circle in the end. Sorry, but I am tired and just cant stand anymore the usual 20-60 minutes videos of one or few guys behind a mic where in the end I have the feeling that the topic related entropy isn't more than of a couple of A4 pages which I would have read in a fraction of the time. I am afraid its in many cases also addictive vanity, since being in the (social) media is a life target that gets stronger and stranger, giving the illusion everyone can be TV/movie/radio star.
Disclaimer: Above is not specifically related to ASRs video but the general WWW trend to spend more time and effort for videos than for classic written communication.
 
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beefkabob

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So far, 20 real votes. 50% like videos. 50% dislike videos. 100% like articles.

I think it's interesting. I thought more people would like videos than articles, even though I don't. I wonder how much of an outside-the-forum audience Amir will capture with videos.
 

amirm

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I watch 1 to 2 hours of videos every night before going to sleep. Last night one was about Japanese cutting boards. You want to tell me with text you could get the same understanding of the cutting board while slicing fish? I don't think so. Same with a woodworking video where one can show an accident can happen with a table saw. Or, watching someone repair a lawnmower engine.

How about complex topics of physics and math with animations and expert explainer behind the camera? Can't be done with text.

Then there is the vacuum of objective information about audio in youtube. Subjectivists own the channel right now. So people who exclusively watch videos for their information only get fed one kind of diet.

Another thing is that anyone can comment on a video. On a forum, you need to register to comment. That is a huge barrier for many people and hence the reason we have 10X more visitors than members.

Nuances get lost so easily in text. Not so in video. Facial expressions tell a lot in addition to words.

Also, a video can have a ton of words in it. A text version of the same would drive everyone away as no one would read those if they won't watch a video due to its length.

So no, it is essential that we do videos. It is not even a close case of whether we should or should not. I can already see the effect of how fast and how much more people are learning from videos than text.

I am not going to stop doing text reviews but am already thinking of some tutorials that I might just do in video.
 

mansr

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The best for me is text accompanied by illustrations, animations, and video clips where meaningful. Having someone read a script instead of giving me the text is not helpful in the slightest.
 

ctakim

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They are very complementary, so I would love to see both moving forward. The videos are more educational, as I understand what the graphs are showing much better as Amir explains this. The written review is better for reference when I want to refer back to something. The text archive makes it much easier to find something. So if you have the bandwidth Amir, please keep doing both!!!
 

Jimshoe

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Have to say not being sufficiently techy to read and fully comprehend the data presented in the text reports, it is really compelling to have the videos which help demonstrate more clearly (and put in context) what the measurements mean.

I'd love Amir to do some instructional videos to help increase my technical understanding further.
 

shal

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I prefers article ...because video are in english and my level in this language as speak language is not high.
So not so much difficulty to read article but for video is too difficult for me.

My vote:
- I like articles and does not understand video ;)
 

mansr

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Have to say not being sufficiently techy to read and fully comprehend the data presented in the text reports, it is really compelling to have the videos which help demonstrate more clearly (and put in context) what the measurements mean.
Couldn't that be accomplished just as well with a more accessible text?
 

Chrispy

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Yes I'm old fashioned, prefer it in writing.....altho in covid times I must say I have become quite the youtube fan, there are some well produced ones out there (like Amir's). I'd rather the article take priority, and a video as a supplemental thing....
 
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