You could. But so does his content that doesn't involve making a $90,000 controller. You're not gonna convince me he'd have to shut production down and lay people off if they skipped the solid gold Xbox controller project.
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Linus Tech Tips Creates a $90,000 Soild Gold Xbox Controller
- Thread starter Gowans
- Start date
You could. But so does his content that doesn't involve making a $90,000 controller. You're not gonna convince me he'd have to shut production down and lay people off if they skipped the solid gold Xbox controller project.
It's surprisingly difficult to make a Faraday cage solid enough to completely block a Bluetooth signal. It will mess up the RF for sure, but it actually wouldn't surprise me if this controller still kind of works wirelessly as long as they sit close to the console.
He's mentioned before that he's seriously considered retiring and is pretty much already at a point where his channels and company could run without him but ultimately decided against it because he genuinely does it out of love of tech and the passion of sharing cool stuff with others.
I saw the first video when it aired and wondered when the finished product was going to show up. That looks great! Hell of a proof of concept type of idea.
And a big LOL at those bitching about him doing this project. Jesus Christ, some of you are showing your asses.
And a big LOL at those bitching about him doing this project. Jesus Christ, some of you are showing your asses.
Completely missed opportunity to have 2 Chainz cameo for an episode of "Most Expensivest". C'mon Linus.
Wait there's hope for part three.
Wait there's hope for part three.
You're ignoring the fact that such a video draws attention to his content. The fact that we've got a thread about it and we're talking about it is proof of that. So it gets him and his channel in the spotlight. Some will just watch that, others will continue to watch more of his content and even some might subscribe. Would this get as much attention if it was just replacing the shell with a 3D printed one or a metal one? No, it wouldn't.
But it's not even mesh. It's solidly enclosed in Gold(relatively thick too), which is very conductive. I would be impressed if it still works wirelessly assuming they don't fry the board. They could try to attach the antenna to the body. That will actually improve cell reception.
Yeah, its not like they couldn't literally sell the gold the controller is made of anyway and hes probably done several gimmick builds on that show like when he had several of super high resolution, bleeding edge monitors linked together that probably cost roughly as much if not more than that goofy controller anyway. Its purely shit meant to get people to tune in to the channel.
This is basically a no lose project for him. The worst case is that he melts it down and gets back most of what it cost to make, aside from whatever he paid that company to do the molding. The views from the videos and merch will more than cover for those costs.
Imagine if he keeps this thing and uses it at events in the future. 5 bucks to play a few minutes of Halo with a gold controller
Imagine if he keeps this thing and uses it at events in the future. 5 bucks to play a few minutes of Halo with a gold controller
I think they must be used to spending that much money on a several things at once, but not on spending it on such a small single object. However, this is the one item that doesn't lose its value if they break it.
Gold controller aside, I still think it's cool he did one of those "build a computer for a fan" things and then on to hire the one lady as his social media person. She got a free PC and a job!
Anyway, the gold controller is stupid and wasteful, but it's entertaining, which is the point. He makes content for the laymen.
Sure, he could've spent the money on something else, but the same could've been said when he made the 16k gaming display or that $20k gaming PC, or any other elaborate ass shit he does with technology.
Anyway, the gold controller is stupid and wasteful, but it's entertaining, which is the point. He makes content for the laymen.
Sure, he could've spent the money on something else, but the same could've been said when he made the 16k gaming display or that $20k gaming PC, or any other elaborate ass shit he does with technology.
He runs a company making YouTube videos. Making a gold controller attracts views which makes money for the company. When he is done he can sell the said controller or melt the gold and sell the gold.
Linus also does charity work, produced bunch of PPE stuff early in pandemic, and employs bunch more people then vast majority of similar channels.
Hell, building a super powerful 8K gaming desktop is more wasteful since gold isn't going anywhere and will always be a hot commodity.
Seriously this thread is something else.
Lowkey humble brag the gold is too pure and they had to cut it
Also this thread:
People always ready to get angry at stuff like this for no good reason and then also as quick to decry everyone as "defenders".
I'm fine with this. It's attention seeking content but he doesn't pretend that it's not that, and he's very clear about what he's going to do with it after. It's also at least interesting from a crafting standpoint. It's certainly way better than other YouTuber schticks like eating hot sauce, smashing stuff or "pranking" people.
Plus he's done plenty of good stuff already. It's fine to do stuff like this now and then.
Plus he's done plenty of good stuff already. It's fine to do stuff like this now and then.
You bought a next gen console didn't you? You could have used that money to donate to helping others instead but you didn't. If just 90 people who bought both consoles or 180 people who bought just one of them decided to donate that money instead, that would have matched the cost here. How about we don't criticize how he spends that money when a) he's demonstrated he's used his money and resources to help others, and b) it's part of his job and business to create attention for content on his site which in turn pays for his and his staff's salary.
Much better than the dumb videos of people purposely breaking new hard to get consoles just for views.
I'll never not hate influencers/big social media stars/celebrities displaying gross amounts of wealth during a pandemic. Who were the people flaunting wealth post-Great Depression?
This is one of the most ridiculous things I've read on this site.
Not really. Video games and consoles are about as unnecessary as this gold controller.
You're bordering on "homeless people have smartphones" right now.
Smartphones are necessary in the modern world. Video games aren't.
Edit: Anyway I'm not the one whinging about how others spend their money.
completely ignoring pointless conversation about costs involved, these videos, especially part 2, were incredibly informative about a topic I knew next to nothing about. Great partnership work with the company doing the work to get so much detailed information in these videos.
Quite frankly, 90 grand is a drop in the bucket for these guys anyway - both in terms of revenue and expenses. It just annoys people because it's such an overt example of pointless extravagance. But then, that's just YouTube in a nutshell.
Last I checked, youtubers like Mr Beast were spending in the region of 3 million a month on their videos.
Spending $400 or $500 for seven or eight years of family entertainment is hardly extravagance.
How is it any more ridiculous than someone else sitting here wagging their finger and being judgmental about how someone is spending their money when you factor in those two things about Linus? Buying a next gen console right now is also a luxury and unnecessary purchase but we're not sitting here pointing fingers at people buying new consoles and trying to shame them given what's going on, are we? Nobody needs to buy a next gen console right now. People can still play their current gaming devices instead of dropping $500 on a console, but they choose to buy a luxury item. The difference with me and you is I'm not shaming Linus nor am I shaming people who bought next gen consoles. You and other people in this thread are pointing out one while looking the other way for the other when the reality is given the context of Linus' history, who I'm sure has done more to help than the people who are shaming him, he shouldn't be getting these judgmental takes at all. That's really the more ridiculous take here.
And either is 90k for Linus. Especially as this is part of his job/channel.
Is anyone happy about anything here anymore?
he spent 90k to create ~36 minutes worth of entertainment for his show...he didnt spend 90k on an xbox controller
Wandavision was like 25 million an episode
Wandavision was like 25 million an episode
Not to mention we LITERALLY have a pinned thread about how Sony/Nintendo/Microsoft/ect use slave labor to help them make their Consoles.
Pretty cool to see the process of it all and it seemed to go rather smoothly.
I wan to try one of those welders now.
I wan to try one of those welders now.
Yep, exactly right. Plus most of the gold material cost will be recovered either by selling the controller or through melting and selling the gold. But no, let's waggle our Era virtual fingers and rail against Linus.
To be fair, he spent more money on labor and hiring that molding company vs the stupid gold cost. Conversations on this board are something else.
Linus got material out of this for 3 episodes. Considering the views for the channel, $90K is a great investment.
Not sure why anyone should care how he spends his own money, especially a dude who's given not only money but time to charitable ventures.
Additionally:
- This is content that will be referenced elsewhere, driving a lot more traffic to his businesses
- If he ends up being able to sell it, he really isn't going to be out of pocket (or if he is, he'll easily recoup the costs) and may even make a decent return.
- If it doesn't end up selling, he'll be able to melt it down and recoup the bulk of the costs... with the rest easily being generated by ad impressions
- He can afford it. Why is this considered extravagant, when other people's purchases aren't? Easy. It's all largely relative. 90k for a business stunt seems unsightly to you, because its an incredible amount of money to most of us but a lot of our purchases are also simply out of reach for those with more financial hardships.
Perhaps its time to stop worrying about what he's doing, and focus on the content itself. Personally, I found it informative and pretty entertaining.
Additionally:
- This is content that will be referenced elsewhere, driving a lot more traffic to his businesses
- If he ends up being able to sell it, he really isn't going to be out of pocket (or if he is, he'll easily recoup the costs) and may even make a decent return.
- If it doesn't end up selling, he'll be able to melt it down and recoup the bulk of the costs... with the rest easily being generated by ad impressions
- He can afford it. Why is this considered extravagant, when other people's purchases aren't? Easy. It's all largely relative. 90k for a business stunt seems unsightly to you, because its an incredible amount of money to most of us but a lot of our purchases are also simply out of reach for those with more financial hardships.
Perhaps its time to stop worrying about what he's doing, and focus on the content itself. Personally, I found it informative and pretty entertaining.
quality this high on youtube certainly makes it easier to not have cable thats for sure.
This, they didn't make the controller to have a gold controller but to make content about building a gold controller.
Cable has become so dull lately, I've grown to like being able to 'channel' surf rapidly on youtube and almost always find something to get lost in.