Confessions of a tech user

General Discussion Introductions
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OK…I confess. Im not a techy geek. I’m not a coder, a gamer, or someone who works in the tech industry. I’m not excited about the latest and greatest of much of anything, let alone tech.
Im impressed by things and tech that just works. Easily and simply.
So what am i doing here. The boss (Leo) has said that TWIT is for tech enthusiasts, not the “tech curious”.
The shows I listen to without fail every week are TWIG, TWIT, and TWIS.
I love TWIG bc its really (imho) a show of knowledgeable journalists, commenting on the tech industry. As a small business owner, I love hearing about whats going on in a slice of the business world. I also like that Jeff and Paris seem to be moderates on most subjects. AI isnt going to take over the world. All things in moderation. Jeff may get up on his hind legs and growl at times, but its usually (imho) because he is opposed to extreme positions. Im really tired of ppl who are vehemently far left or far right on anything.
Occasionally the show goes down a rabbithole on gaming, or some nuts and bolts tech subject, or politics, but not usually. I dont mind the politics of tech, but just straight out politics i can live without these days.

TWIT i feel similarly. My fav guests are Amy, who speaks of the future of business based on the past and trends (not a crystal ball) , and Iain and Father Robert, because they are mild manored and speak from experience with reasonablility and thought in their responses. Not that others arent, but they are the ones that whos knowledge and reasonability reasonates with me the most.

TWIS…well…its a space and science show, Not a tech show. Space and science are fine with me.

I havent joined the Club yet, bc, honestly, IDK if there’s anything in it that would appeal to me. Seems its mostly “high tech” as Leo calls it. As i said, im a tech user, not a techy.
It isnt that I cant afford 7 bucks a month…I just have very mixed feelings about the TWIT network and its mission. At least once the boss has said (paraphrasing)…my idea has always been to do what i find enjoyable, and if others join in, great…and if they dont, let the chips fall where they may. Fair enough.
Ive always thought that any business should cater to its customers, not say “here it is, take it or leave it”, so to speak. I also dont agree with the chief twit’s position on commercials. Im with Lisa on this, I like commercials, to see who is advertising, and their angle and presentation in selling their product. I also enjoy listening to Leo’s live reads. Its a lost art . But i dont see why all the ads have to be live reads. I also dont care if an advertiser wants my info. All the web pages that I look at these days are saturated with ads, so if a TWIT advertised wants to populate a web page im looking at with ads, its just replacing other ads. The market is saturated, or so it seems.
The Boss has said that his real goal has always been to have a listener supported network, with no ads…like PBS. Logic seems to escape me here, as PBS get government grant money, and has tons of sponsorships that get a mention before and after every show. And then their are those super annoying pledge drives. I dont think thats what TWIT wants…

So…after all this…my question is…is there anyone else out there who is where I am on all this. Id like to see TWIT survive, but I feel that Im not part of the desired listener base, and that the company’s mission and direction isnt something i fee comfortable with right now.

If im the only one, LMK, and ill shut up and move on…

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Strongly disagree.

As Leo has said plenty of times, the tangible benefits you receive for membership are more like “Icing on the Cake” rather than the point of the club. I certainly don’t pay my 10$ to get access to the Discord - I barely use it.

It’s very simple, this is the way it’s worked since the beginning of time: if you find value in something, pay for it. The internet advertising bubble is bursting and the free ride is over.

FWIW, CPB reported their federal grant revenue for 2022 was 2.2% of their total budget while private contributions account for a little over 64%. And I’d hardly consider the Koch family title card to be an advertisement.

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I’m the same, I pay because I like the content and I want to keep listening to the network, preferably without tracking.

Discord/TWiT is on the wrong side of the planet, so Discord always seems to be dead, when I have time during the day to dip into it, which I do rarely. I use these forums more, and a bit of Mastodon from time to time. And Leo says the Club money helps keep them afloat as well.

@bethmarshall The advertising world is changing, and not for the better, and it is simply the case that fewer and fewer advertisers are interested in a network that isn’t Apple or Spotify. If the network can’t provide the necessary tracking information, they go elsewhere. TWiT is a network aimed at the people who enjoy tech and a lot of them are also in the part of the Venn diagram that understands the tracking and wants nothing to do with it, so getting ads from companies that are happy with the limited information TWiT can provide is harder than for networks that provide everything down to the size of your underwear and what colour your toothbrush is.

Advertisers should be advertising against the content. The so-called targeted advertising is generally useless, it is reactionary and shows me ads for articles I’ve just bought, E.g. I buy a dishwasher for my small flat and I am bombarded with ads for dishwashers for the other kitchens in my little flat! /s

I am an over 50 male and married, yet I get ads for baby diapers, baby vaccinations, perfume for young women, face creams and women’s sanitary articles… How the heck is that targeted?

The ads really should be targeted at the content and that worked for a long time on TWiT. On TV and on other web sites, I don’t think I’ve ever had ads that got me to buy products. Yet on TWiT there have been about a dozen advertisers over the years, where I have even stopped the show I am listening to and gone and looked at or bought a product. Those weren’t targeted ads, in the traditional sense, they were hand picked ads from Leo and the TWiT team, who liked the products and thought they were a match for their listeners, based on the type of content they produce.

Interestingly, I listen to a couple of cybersecurity podcasts, such as Smashing Security, and they use the same sort of ads as TWiT and they work well, they have corporate IT sponsors, like Kolide, 1Password and corporate cybersecurity products, these aren’t ads targeted at individuals, they are ads targeted at the show and pass perfectly to the majority of listeners. But advertisers don’t seem to understand that, they think, if they aren’t getting underwear sizes and information on the listeners bowel movements, they aren’t getting value for money out of the advertising deals. They need to sit back and look and the real world.

If I am watching a tech show or a gaming video, I probably don’t want vaccinations for my imaginary children or a pencil eyeliner or some women’s perfume… But, throw ads based on the content - password managers, cloud services, tech gadgets and you have a much higher likelihood of me actually stopping and listening and maybe buying your product.

This is why I support TWiT, not for the benefits, like Discord, but because I like TWiT and I want to keep listening to it, even if advertisers are less and less interested in sponsoring it.

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Honestly, @bethmarshall it’s fine if you don’t subscribe. We started as a free ad-supported network and I never wanted a paywall. And I have no desire to coerce anyone.

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Thanks Leo. I may not agree with everything you say, and our personalities are somewhat different, but I respect the hell out of your honesty.
(and not to worry about who’s young and who’s old, Age is a state of mind…especially on radio!)

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Jeff is the most left and least moderate person on the network IMHO - just mention Fox News, Rupert Murdoch, or Trump and watch him go apoplectic! He’s one of the reasons I love to watch TWiG - Paris seems pretty balanced and adds to the show nicely! Leo is what Leo needs to be at the moment - I do miss Ant Pruitt on the show tho, he’s a great guy! At any rate I only joined Club TWiT to support the network, just like I did when I bought a brick for the Brickhouse, the little extras don’t matter much to me, only the health of the Network. Join or don’t join Club TWiT, you’ll be welcomed either way - Cheers

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Not that i want to get into a political judgement discussion. but I consider Fox news, and especially Trump to be extreme far right. They are white supremecist bullies, IMHO. SO i dont I think Jeff is far left, just because he detests the far right. IMHO, Leo is to the left of Jeff…but whatever.

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And I agree with you on Fox and Trump…which is why we have opinions!! :grinning:

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Truth be told, I am an old hippie and probably would be labelled a Bernie Sanders Progressive, but I’d say I’m a pragmatic progressive. I often have to swallow my red diaper leanings to preserve a bit of balance on the shows.

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I had never heard this term before. Just like I had never heard of Three Mile Island. I’m learning so much history just by being around TWiT.

(I don’t remember exactly where, but I think there was a conversation recently about nuclear power on one of the podcasts and it sent me down a rabbit hole)

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