People and resources added to my reading list in 2018

Oh, 2018, what a mess you’ve been, resources-wise. As usual, I’m talking about my experience, and I’m talking about written resources first and foremost. Since 2013, I’ve been keeping this tradition of writing a summary article to share interesting resources and people I’ve decided to follow on a regular basis. Checking past instalments, there were quite a few ‘rich’ years full of new discoveries. Most of what I’ve found over the past few years I have kept. But, as I wrote last year, in recent times I’ve also noticed an alarming trend in my feeds: I’ve been removing previously-added people and resources that have failed to maintain my interest (or their quality), while at the same time not finding new ones worth adding.

2018 was no different. Not necessarily worse than 2017 in general (see below), but not better either.

Fewer blogs, more video channels

One interesting thing I’ve noticed in my 2018 resource-seeking journey is this: I have found comparatively more tech YouTube channels worth following than personal tech-oriented blogs. And this is what ‘saved’ the year, for me. At the same time, I’ve observed that there are a lot of people using their YouTube channel as a sort of ‘video blog’, i.e. they sit there essentially reading their script at the camera.

In some cases this is done masterfully, with hosts exuding enough personality as to make their videos interesting enough; but often I’ve reached the end of a video and wondered why they did not just publish the script as an article for everyone to read. It would have been less expensive for them, easier to follow for the audience (I don’t know about you, but I’m not exactly thrilled when the person reads his or her script at a very quick pace because they also want to keep the video short), easier to quote if you wanted to respond with an article or blog post; and perhaps less boring overall. At the very least I could have absorbed their opinion better, and listened to some music while reading.

But I really got this vibe, though: that video is the new way (or maybe the ‘in’ way) of talking about tech today. This doesn’t necessarily make me sad — in the end, what matters is the quality of the content, and some people prefer video as their delivery medium — but I’d really love to see a resurgence of the traditional personal blog all the same. I know that nothing on the Web is exactly infused with permanence, but YouTube videos feel more ephemeral nonetheless. They feel like perishables, not materials designed to be revisited or referenced in the future. Creators (at least in tech) are aware of this, of course, and in fact a lot of what they publish are short videos talking about the topic du jour or the latest and hottest device.

Nothing inherently wrong with that. It’s fast food. Every now and then I enjoy fast food. But it’s not my absolute favourite way of eating — literally and metaphorically.

YouTube channels

As I said, I discovered and subscribed to a few channels that have surprised me with their consistent level of quality (production, shooting, content) and professionalism displayed by the creators.

I’m still subscribed to the channels I mentioned last year (except for Unbox Therapy, I simply got tired of the host’s antics and attitude), and the following are the new additions.

Tech

Dave Lee (aka Dave2D) — Dave is really great at what he does. Most of his videos are product reviews, particularly of laptops, phones, and tablets, with a special preference for gaming laptops and technologies. Dave’s videos are usually short and to-the-point, and I really love his quiet yet confident style. His attention to detail is evident in his reviews and opinion videos, and he’s usually quite fair and balanced.
Matthew Moniz — He’s more effervescent than Dave, and maybe a bit more eclectic in the choice of products he reviews. He’s humorous and I like his light-hearted style. Like Dave, Matthew’s videos are usually short and very focused. And as I wrote in a comment to him, what I appreciate about his approach is that he’s fast, but not superficial; accurate, but not pedantic.
91Tech — If you like to watch brief iPhone retrospectives, and enjoy topics like Is an iPhone 4S still usable today? or Is it worth buying a [insert past iPhone model here] in 2019? then make sure to check Josh’s channel.
This Does Not Compute — Colin is a down-to-earth, knowledgeable tech geek, and he covers a wide range of tech-related subjects. His videos, too, range from the long-form video podcast format, to the occasional longer investigation (I discovered him via this video: Can you install Windows 10 on a Pentium II?), to the short product disassembly or modding.
TechAltar — Marton’s videos are usually product reviews and opinion pieces. His videos tend to be longer and more in-depth; he does his homework for the topic at hand and it shows. Since I’m really lacking in understanding business and marketing, I’ve really enjoyed some of Marton’s videos that discuss e.g. Why Samsung lets Huawei win, or Can LG save its smartphone business?, or Why does Xiaomi limit its profits to 5%?, etc. He’s a really good explainer, and I really like his style: professional, but not irritatingly clever or smug.
Mac84 — A vintage Apple & Mac enthusiast who deserves more subscribers. No, you won’t find glossy animations, effects, or high-end production there; just an honest guy, talking to the camera about his passion for vintage Apple and Mac computers, his findings and acquisitions, and so on. If you find this appealing, go check out his channel.
Sara Dietschy — Sara is fun, energetic, and she’s probably the tech YouTuber who covers the widest range of topics on her channel: product reviews, photography, video production, tech tips and more; she also has a video podcast and does the occasional vlogging. She is competent, she has personality, and makes everything she does seem effortless.
Erica Griffin — Another great tech YouTuber. As you can see on the home page of her channel, Erica has neatly arranged her videos by topic, so you have “Insanely in-depth reviews” (my favourite), “Unboxings”, “News & Vlogs”, “Toys & Gadgets”, “Impressions & Events” and more. I like her pragmatic style when reviewing something, and the fact that she strives for providing more than just a quick cursory overview of a product or device. I particularly enjoyed her review of the Apple Watch Series 4.
front page tech — Last but not least, the essence of this channel is aptly summed up in its tag line: Tech news. Personality. Bad jokes. It’s hosted by Jon Prosser and edited by Brian Shoop. Every day I read tech news, then on Twitter I read about tech news with the added sarcasm, then I read the more or less informed commentary on tech blogs… It can get tiring. So I watch front page tech because sometimes you just need to approach tech with a bit of detachment and humour. Jon Prosser is very good at what he does: the quick delivery, the occasional off-script (bad) joke, but he also manages to convey his opinion and perspective when you look past the metaphorical fool mask he wears in every (short) episode of the channel.

Gaming

When I purchased the 21.5‑inch 4K Retina iMac in July 2018, having a decidedly more capable machine than my aging 2009 MacBook Pro revived my interest for games. Again, YouTube has been a surprisingly useful tool to “see others try before I buy”. Having said that, the so-called Let’s Play genre of YouTube videos isn’t exactly something I find captivating. While occasionally useful to get an idea of how a game feels and plays (sometimes trailers are deceiving), I found a lot of these LetsPlayers rather off-putting and in some cases even obnoxious, making the whole game experience about themselves instead of providing interesting critique of the game they were trying out. So I ultimately didn’t find anyone to be intriguing enough to make me want to subscribe to their channel.

With two notable exceptions. Both these channels are somewhat obscure, with just 200–300 subscribers, and I think they deserve a wider audience. These two women have different styles and approaches, but I really like them both because, at the end of the day, they put their passion for games before their egos. Unlike many others, they’re not like Hey, watch how cool I am while I play this game, but more like Hey, you should check out this potentially interesting game which I happen to be playing at the moment.

Tench Froast — I don’t know the name of the host, but she’s a smart, witty, genuine, sarcastic, entertaining woman. She loves trying out indie games for the most part, and when you follow her in her playthroughs, you have this feeling of really being there too. She’s engaging, completely direct and spontaneous, and whether you like the game she’s playing or not, you’ll certainly gain a few good laughs from the experience. But I also like the fact that she’s not just in for the jokes and the lulz, she also makes smart observations and criticism during the gameplay, explaining what she likes and why, and what she thinks doesn’t work and why. I also like her “No Commentary” series, where she just shows gameplay without commentary, so that you can focus on a particular game; and the “Toast Bites” series, little compilations of ‘bites’ taken from 5–6 different indie games, with a brief review for each of them. This series is perfect to discover indie titles you may not have heard about, and which could be interesting to try out.
Level Joy — Joy is another smart woman whose gameplay videos I appreciate. Her style is very different from Tench Froast but, like Tench Froast, she offers good commentary and criticism during gameplay. I especially like how, in certain situations while playing, she shares her thought process with the audience, and analyses what the game is putting in front of the player. I discovered her by chance when looking for videos of Bioshock Infinite’s gameplay. She has a nice series of videos about it and that was enough to convince me to purchase the game on Steam a few months ago.

Music

Before you start thinking I’m getting addicted to YouTube, I have only one resource in this category, and it’s Rick Beato. He’s a musician and producer, and I think I discovered him because someone I follow on Twitter mentioned one of the videos in his “What makes this song great?” series.

Simply put, Beato is the music teacher I wish I had had back in the day. He covers different topics in his videos, from music analysis, to music theory, to tips and lessons for other musicians still in the learning stages, and more; but to me the most interesting and entertaining videos are the “What makes this song great?” series, where Beato takes a song and dissects it to explain and demonstrate what makes it work, what makes it unique. And when I say dissects I mean it literally, because he’ll isolate the different instruments to highlight certain passages, solos and phrases of particular interest.

This series has been quite great so far, because with songs and artists I already knew, Beato managed to make me listen to them in a different way, and made me notice things I completely missed (or didn’t even know were there, in some cases); and on the other hand, thanks to him I have discovered artists I didn’t know or only heard in passing.

Podcasts

Very little to report here. It’s the same list as last year, with a few podcasts removed. So now we have only:

Covered, by and with Harry C. Marks.
Release Notes, with Joe Cieplinski and Charles Perry.
John Gruber’s The Talk Show.
On Margins, a podcast about making books, hosted by Craig Mod.

But there are two very interesting additions. With these two podcasts, I really try my best not to miss an episode:

The Menu Bar by and with Zac Cichy and Andrew J. Clark. The podcast’s About page offers a very good description: …A place where he [Andrew] and I [Zac] could ramble on and expand beyond the confines of Twitter. And especially, a place where we could invite friends in the technology world to have a drink and discuss everything from weekly tech developments, to movies, to general life stuff. Anything was possible. Here, Zac Cichy is talking about the first run of the podcast a few years back. The podcast was revived last year and, well, this description still fits. What I love about it is that it’s not your usual boring tech-oriented podcast, exactly because it’s not always about tech. Sometimes there’s nothing technological in tech. Other times there’s technology where you don’t expect it. That may be one way of telling you what The Menu Bar is all about. But there are more ways than one. If you like it and want to show your support, The Menu Bar has a Patreon page.
The Relentless Picnic by and with three men whose Twitter handles are @georgelazenby, @juskewitch, and @erikk38. I really don’t know how to properly describe it, so I won’t even try. Topics are most varied. It can get philosophical and existentialist. Episodes are long, but infrequent (only five were released in all of 2018). Intelligent conversation. Rambling. Tangents. They have a Patreon page.

Tech blogs and sites

Almost nothing to report. You read that right. My RSS feed reader hasn’t seen any new addition in 2018, except for Eli Schiff. He’s a design critic who doesn’t update his blog very often, but when he does, it’s a treat. He usually prefers in-depth investigations on a particular topic, broken down into instalments (for example, I really enjoyed his 5‑part series Fall of the Designer — it starts here), but he also writes standalone pieces. He might come across as abrasive, but he’s clearly passionate about design; it’s something he deeply cares about, and that is reflected in his writings, which are analytical and articulate.

Check my previous People and resources added to my reading list instalments (you’ll find all the links at the end) to have an idea of whose blogs and websites I read on a regular basis.

There’s also another site I enjoyed visiting routinely: Great Technology Story, written by “Stan Peach” (it’s a pseudonym). Stan writes exceptional sketches set in an alternate world where Steve Jobs is still alive and interacts with other Apple executives, often criticising a current Apple product or event. Great Technology Story also features other humorous pieces (interviews and reviews) I’ve had a great time reading. Of course you won’t get much of the humour if you’re not into Apple and tech in general.

My RSS management

Again, nothing new has changed from last year. I still use the same apps on my computers, iOS devices, and Windows Phone devices. Because there’s no need to fix what’s not broken. So:

On my Intel Macs: Reeder, but keeping an eye on NetNewsWire 5.0 development.
On my PowerPC Macs: older versions of NetNewsWire.
On my iPhone 8, iPhone 5, iPad 3: Unread.
On older iOS devices: Reeder, and an older version of Byline.
On my first-generation iPad: an older version of Newsify, Slow Feeds (which is now called Web Subscriber), and the Feedly app itself.
On my ThinkPad T400 with Windows 8.1 Pro: Nextgen Reader.
On my Windows Phone 8.1/Windows 10 Mobile smartphones: Nextgen Reader and FeedLab.
On my Palm Pre 2 (heh heh): FeedSpider. Really a great app. You could mistake it for a first-party application if, you know, Palm were still around.

That’s all, I think. As you can see if you have read this far (thanks so much, by the way), I’ve talked at length about my discoveries, but in the end the new additions have only been 16. That’s not a bad amount per se, but only 2 out of those 16 are written resources, and I really hope I’ll find more interesting writers in tech this year.

Past articles

In reverse chronological order:

I hope you find this series useful. (Keep in mind that some links in these past articles may now be broken). Feel free to send tips and suggestions for more resources, either via email or Twitter. Thanks for reading!

Riccardo Mori

Writer & Translator