It’s been pretty clear for a while that Lay-oh doesn’t give a shit about any of his shows. Honestly, watch any episode of Triangulation. It’s the one show where he should care and should know something about the guest.
Every single episode is him sitting there with a laptop open to the guest’s Wikipedia page reading factoids aloud. If it’s a book author, he flips through the pages, looking at the pictures and commenting on them like a bored child with a wheezy fake laugh. It’s shameful.
The video above should come as no surprise, but it’s rare to hear truth from Leo Laporte’s mouth.
Is he phoning it in because TWiT’s success is on autopilot — robot downloaders from people who forgot to unsubscribe, gaining unrealistically high Podtrac numbers from people who never listen to the episodes — or is it because it’s the beginning of the end?
I’m a little verklempt; talk amongst yourselves.
TYFYC.
FUCK YOU LAPORKE!
Ken Sintek» Quote comment
Yep, this is the clip I was alluding to earlier.
Leo is a loser that takes no pride in his work, he just rolled in for his national radio show and 30 seconds before going live he says “I should really think of something to say” before the chatroom hands him CES.
He does have a point about CES though, this year was a complete failure. Not a single useful product. Just a bunch of schmucks asking for money to crowd fund their smart frying pans or some other such crap. Talking about carbon footprints, what is the footprint of all these bloggers converging on Vegas to cover products that are either never going to be made or will end up in landfills within a month if it they ever get sold? CNET for example has dozens of people at CES covering absolutely nothing of value.
Jimmy Jam» Quote comment
True about CES, but his observation is not new or unique. In fact, this has been his same observation ever since TWiT stopped going full out on CES (a smart decision and a true observation.)
DrNoel» Quote comment
Yes, but this year was really something. At least we usually get one or two decent products to talk about, this year was full of crap. They really can cancel CES and the only people who’d notice are the bloggers for which CES is the annual highlight.
Jimmy Jam» Quote comment
Goddamn this guy Leo is Creepy as FUCK! How is it that creepy motherfuckers like this “make bank”? While nice guys get FUCKED and end up enslaved by creeps like this?
Nischit Kumar» Quote comment
This is the same behavior from other shows, I’m thinking particularly of Windows Weekly and MacBreak Weekly.
On WW, Paul Thurrott and Mary Jo Foley carry the weight, which is fine since they are knowledgeable in Microsoft news, and can actually carry out a conversation since they are experience writers. Leo could easily coast off and appear as if he’s into the topic, even if he isn’t. The problem, in that show at least, is that he is so uninterested that instead of just keeping relatively quiet for 90 minutes, he chimes in with the same “stories” every time, how he was raised in the East Coast and how the weather is brutal, how he likes beer, how his Lumia 1520 broke, how is Dell XPS 13 is receiving updates, how how surfacebook is running hot, how people call into his radio show asking what laptop to buy.
His knowledge in the Microsoft universe is quite dated. Whenever a news story that involves the Microsoft form the past pops up, he perks up and is up to contributing, but these stories are few and far between (anti-trust stuff, Ballmer stuff, code from the Win 95-98-XP era, etc.).
This is not bad, per se. I’m not saying he should be more invested in the Microsoft world, after all he barely even uses Windows and/or Microsoft products. Then the question then is, why even host that show at all? Obviously the show brings in some profit for TWiT since there are a lot of Microsoft/Windows watchers out there that rely on WW for info and/or entertainment. Leo is hosting WW purely for the “my shows make money for the network” factor. He could have easily handed off this show to Iyaz way back when, or even PadreSJ, or even the “Windows” guy Alex. This is impossible now as Iyaz is no longer at TWiT and Padre is too busy doing… whatever he’s doing. Hell, Leo could stay on as host and just STFU when it comes to news stories and work more as a moderator or true show host for Paul and MJ and let them carry the weight like they do now, but without all the “look at me I’m relevant” stuff (just this past show he had to chime in about how he used to talk to Alan Mullaly about in-car entertainment stuff).
That’s over there at WW, where things are easily recognized as going downhill, but over here at MacBreak Weekly things look a bit more deceiving. By including Rene Ritchie a couple years ago, Leo secured himself a spot on the show without having to do any of the heavy lifting. Rene, because of his site at iMore.com, does all the research, has contacts inside Apple (or so he claims but whatever), knows about new products, secrets, sales numbers, software releases, beta stuff, etc., so basically Leo can play the fanboy part (along with Alex “I want Apple to make a Refrigerator, car, go into the banking business and live in an Apple sphere world” Lindsay and Andy “Leo scolds me every time I say something not overwhelming positive about Apple” Ihnatko.).
That’s just two shows, one that I still regularly watch and one that I used to watch all the time.
I don’t watch TWiG, but I imagine it’s more of the same.
That’s just my two cents.
DrNoel» Quote comment
That was more like three hundred and seventy eight cents worth. Not saying you’re wrong! 😋
fastlanestranger» Quote comment
You are correct, sir.
holden» Quote comment
He’s been phoning it in with the radio show the past few years…he became lazy with the chat room covering for him and providing answers. He’s typical of someone who, after many years, reached a certain level of success in his industry and simply doesn’t give a crap anymore. When Premiere finally decides to cut him loose someday, they’ll replace him with someone younger, cheaper, hungrier (figuratively speaking of course!), and more knowledgeable.
Pibb» Quote comment
How about Erik Lanigan?
Oh yeah,…sorry.
Just askin’ and best regards
freheel» Quote comment
Leo should put more pussy in front of the camera, like Fox news does!
JungleBunnyJim» Quote comment
You can tell when he stopped preparing. It’s when he flopped in the sack with Lisa.
Joel osteen» Quote comment
Good post.
Look at the guests on TNSS. Didn’t he promise all those techTV people. Martin Seargent, JCD, Kate, Kevin Rose, etc etc. but…..
Fuck flying people in, he has a paid staff he could stick on camera. If Iain wants to keep his $50 a week gig on TNT he will host too.
ChicagoMike» Quote comment
The first step in fixing a problem is admitting you have one. The fact we saw that he checked out years ago and he finally comments about it is a HUGE step for him, BUT I doubt this will change anything frankly.
I think once he gets canned from his radio gig is when he’ll actually start making an attempt to do something again. I seriously wonder why he doesn’t just retire and end his agony… oh right.. ego.
Esch» Quote comment
In the second clip, Leo’s question to Karsten:
Didn’t i ask you ‘Where’s the book?'” and then Leo’s disbelief when Karsten doesn’t cover for him.
FUCK YOU LAPORKE.
Ken Sintek» Quote comment
Mr. Laporte’s tone is totally disingenuous. Clara Peller was more convincing:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U80ebi4AKgs
(Aside to Ms. Peller: Mr. Laporte ate it!)
Just sayin’ and best regards
freheel» Quote comment
The only thing worthy of my time is “Security Now” and I don’t even download it from Fat Man’s website. I get it on grc.com, as all the bullshit commercials are edited out. Fat Man is just along for the ride anyway and it’s not too oppressive to listen to.
The only thing more pathetic as of late is “TekThing” and their CES coverage. Amazing that people actually donate to that rat fucked show on patreon.
King of Real Hate» Quote comment
Love the Home Depot Fence panel that serves as the set’s back drop
JungleBunnyJim» Quote comment
That Triangulation clip is exactly what’s wrong the man. The woman did call him out and deserves praise for having self-respect. To spend an interview flipping through pages and gleaning questions from illustrations… I don’t know who should be more insulted, her, the audience or his staff.
Ghost dog» Quote comment
TWiT has become a parody of itself. Who can take this network seriously any more? Leo mailed it in ages ago and he doesn’t even try and hide it. It’s out there for everyone to see. He’s regularly late for the start of shows and now openly admits that he does absolutely no prep work because he brilliantly pawns it off to other people. Simply put, this is a man who is cashing in his ad checks and using TWiT as an excuse to buy all of his expensive toys and gadgets. I feel bad for his staff and guest hosts. Either their delusional and think that TWiT is successful and still growing or they just need the cash and so they continue to kiss Leo’s ass.
Another thing I’ve always wondered is how The Tech Guy is still on the radio? In this day and age, do people really need to call Leo to get an answer to a question when you can easily get a better answer just by using Google?
On a side note, did anyone catch this past week’s episode of MBW? I couldn’t help but hear more of Leo’s native advertising that he claimed TWiT would never do. Leo announces they are taking a break just before going into their usual “Picks of the Week” segment. He blabs about how he actually has a pick of the week (which I guess he is too lazy to do for most episodes) and just before the 1hr 48min mark goes into his Audible ad by announcing “… I got a pick for you right now… Audible”. As usual Leo and the gang all start circle-jerking about it. I don’t know about other shows on the TWiT network but you can pretty much guarantee that an Audible ad on MBW will be at least 5 minutes long.
LaporkeOnAFork» Quote comment
Judging by TTG callers, they are mostly either old or dumb… or both. That’s why they call in to have Leo Google answers for them, or get the chatroom to do it for him.
What percent of the callers are seniors or slack-jawed redneck? A lot.
Jimmy Jam» Quote comment
The “UBS guy” is still comedy gold. I forgot what he called himself, The Redneck Tech, something like that?
Fuck you, how do you like that?» Quote comment
It’s talk radio. Of course the callers are mostly old.
Leo est mort. Vive Leo» Quote comment
Firstly, on a This Week in Tech episode in early 2008, Leo said this:
“We don’t do news. We don’t create. We don’t do any research, or any reporting, or any enterprise stuff. We just… We need primary sources. Because I don’t actually do any work. We’re just, you know, BS-ing on something we read.” This is a verbatim quote from an audio only episode I lost the episode number. So nothing is new at TWiT.
I tell you again, Leo is the problem at TWiT. Let him do The Tech Guy and the New Screen Savers and This Week in Tech. The shows can suck but he does so well at them, and people like them, they should continue.
Get him off of every other show. WIndows Weekly would improve without Leo. Security Now would improve without Leo.
And without Leo I think the other shows should stand or fall on their own merit. Take the money you pay Leo for the sucky shows he still does but shouldn’t, and invest in on-air personalities. Then treat on-air personalities like they should be treated and they will stay and others will want to come to TWiT to work.
The framework at TWiT for building something great is there. The hardware and staff are not perfect but they crank out the sausage every day.
Leo is the problem. Get him out of there and let TWiT succeed.
MilkArgument» Quote comment
Indeed – the difference is, listening to homely people chatting about tech is no longer enough. We can get that anywhere. In the past, I think the biggest reason people listened to Leo was the sense that he was a real geek who loved this stuff like we do, and so we listened to our “mate” while he chewed the fat with other geeks.
Certainly, I never listened to WW, MBW, TWIT to learn anything. It was just a nice way to pass the time, listening to intelligent people talk about stuff I liked.
But things have changed – Leo has changed, technology has changed, the NETCAST world has changed. Now I can find loads of other places to enjoy listening to geeks talk, and with the tech world changing so much, twit.tv’s brand of tech ‘reporting’ simply doesn’t cut it anymore.
evilpants» Quote comment
LaPuke is an elitist pig and totally out of touch.
“What’s an optical disk? Nobody uses disks.”
“What is a backslash? Nobody says backslash.”
“Well, I was having dinner with Paul Simon…”
Then he talks for a half hour about the tech on a cruise ship that he and CeHO spent $20K for tickets. And this is on top of his total lack of preparation for any show. Oops got to gone, Elliot is on the other line. Fuck Dr Mom too.
Fook LaPuke» Quote comment
I’m not really sure Leo ever “prepared” for his shows.
How it worked was this: up until a few years ago, Leo was “naturally” in the know about modern technology. He just happened to be very up to date on what was happening. But his starting point was the 80s and the PC revolution.
As we move further into different types of technology, Leo – like most people as we get older – hasn’t been able to keep up. Whereas before he simply knew everything, cos he’d been there at the start so he really understood PCs and all the popular pieces of software, as well as how to do basic coding etc. , now the only way for him to know stuff is to actively seek it out. That’s a big difference.
It’s like with pop music. When I was younger I knew every chart act and most of the non-chart acts. I knew everything, I knew all the record labels, I even knew the catalogue numbers of remixes by artists I liked. That’s fairly natural for fans of music – you naturally know stuff.
As I’ve got older, I have to force myself to be exposed to new music, cos I don’t naturally hear any of it now. I’ve got a full music library so, by choice, I stick with what I know.
If I’d wanted to start a podcast about popular music when I was 25, I could’ve done it without thinking. But if I wanted to do a podcast about popular music now, I would have to prepare heavily.
That’s the difference I’m talking about. Until recently, Leo was simply on top of technology. He knew about the registry, he knew about the command line, he knew how viruses worked. He just knew, cos it was in his blood.
But technology has left him behind. He’s become a curmudgeon; the last time I listened to MacBreak Weekly, he was just shooting his mouth off and getting his gripes completely wrong – what he was saying about Apple security was 100% wrong. Instead of being a guy who forces himself to read deeply so he keeps up with things, he lets his preconceptions do the work, which is why he gets it so wrong.
I remember when Microsoft Mesh first came out (long before it was called Windows Live Mesh). This was quite an important product – the first free easy-to-use consumer grade home file syncing service. It was able to sync at Ethernet speeds if both computers were on the same network, or it would sync to the cloud if not. At the time it was a breakthrough – no one else was doing it like this.
I still have a clear memory of listening to Windows Weekly, and Leo really really sneered at it. He read the press release and stuff from the website and was just, well, nasty tbh. Paul laughed along with him, but Paul has that nasty side too.
Leo completely failed to understand that Microsoft had really pulled something great off here. But his own sneery nature meant he couldn’t just use the product and let himself get experience with it. He had to rubbish it, cos it didn’t fit with his experience of computers, where you email files to yourself or use an external HDD.
I think this is what we are seeing when we see Leo “not preparing”. Anyone who was serious would say to himself “I’m getting older and more out of the loop, and technology is leaving me behind. I am going to get one of my staff to give me a 30 minute briefing every week to make sure I understand every aspect of the latest tech”.
But he doesn’t – he never used to prepare cos he didn’t need to, and now he just doesn’t care enough to start.
My mum is getting old now, and she just can’t understand how shows get to her TV screen from the Internet. She can’t understand why she no longer needs to be in front of the TV at a specific time, and instead can choose to watch her shows whenever she likes. Technology has run away from her, as it does with most older people – that’s why we always joked about adults not being able to program the video: it was simply so far out of their frame of reference, they couldn’t understand it – none of them had had to do this before, so even though it’s obvious to us (you just put your start and finish times in!), they couldn’t grasp it. It’s natural, and the only way to stop it is to immerse yourself, regularly and consistently.
If you run tech discussion shows and you don’t spend a lot of time preparing thoroughly for each and every show, you’re not serious. You don’t deserve our downloads, you don’t deserve our respect, and you certainly don’t deserve our money.
evilpants» Quote comment
Can you imagine what Leo would say if I got her to call The Tech Guy? He’d probably mention how many set-top boxes he’s got and then tell her to get a Samsung phone cos they’re so much less restrictive than Apple products.
evilpants» Quote comment
The only reason for these companies to go to CES nowadays is because its in Vegas (Hooker,blow and gambling anyone?).I would love to see the attendance numbers if it was held say in New York.
rocker182» Quote comment