In a segment I like to call “In Depth with Deez_Nutz,” I went undercover to find out exactly what kind of coverage TWiT is providing with all of these expensive products Leo “has to buy” because “it’s his job.” Remember, he’s buying them to protect us. Thank you Leo for such compassion for us, and for doing your job, because without you and your wonderful in-depth reviews, we just wouldn’t know what to buy.
I looked at TWiT’s Microsoft Surface Book coverage — a random choice. I had no idea ahead of time how good or bad this would turn out. I will provide comparison coverage so we can see how TWiT’s content compares to, for instance, some random guy on YouTube probably operating out of their basement — not a million dollar studio — and likely also doing their own editing, production and all that, you know, “work”.
Besides the usual: Leo carrying around his new toy, petting it and interrupting every show bantering on about it, TWiT provided three official segments on the Microsoft Surface Book.
- The Unboxing
- The Review
- The Hands-On
The “Unboxing”
You can tell that Leo didn’t even spend 10 minutes planning his unboxing. It’s poorly lit and totally off-the-cuff, but overall I am positive on the unboxing. I like this because it makes you feel like you are actually there experiencing the product for the first time. I like how Leo randomly fumbles around with the product too.
I would’ve liked this to be edited to be tighter, with better preparation and more professional production value. I would assume most consumers do not have the time to watch a 20 minute unboxing, so they would appreciate a shorter video.
Comparison Unboxing:
Note: to find a comparison unboxing, I just did a search on YouTube for “Surface Book Unboxing” and selected the first video that came up. Low and behold, it’s amazing! It’s professional and well lit. Nice job, random guy on YouTube in your basement doing all the work yourself.
The Results: If I was a consumer, I would prefer Leo’s unboxing. I think it is more interesting and a better experience. Good job, TWiT.
The “Review”
This is where TWiT totally goes off the rails. This so called review is just Paul and Mary Jo talking about the product on Windows Weekly. No offense to them, and I respect their opinion, but hello! This is not a review, people!! No shots of the product, specs, or benchmarks? Anyone? Bueller?
Comparison Review
To find this comparison review, I picked the first suggested video YouTube offered and low and behold it was amazing! It’s a very detailed review with good production value and preparation. Nice job random guy on YouTube. Your review is better than TWiT’s!
The Results: Okay; I don’t know what the fuck is going on here. Clearly TWiT did not do a review. The YouTube guy clearly wins.
The “Hands-On”
The so called “hands-on” with the Surface Book aired on TWiT’s now-cancelled “Tech News 2Night” news show. It is Megan Morrone interviewing Natt Guran from The Next Web, a journalist who actually did a real review of the product. But there is never any “hands-on.” I don’t even think there are any hands in this hands-on.
So let me get this straight. Instead of doing an actual hands-on, TWiT’s “News Department” is interviewing a journalist who did an actual hands-on, and TWiT is calling that their hands-on? I am speechless. That is not a hands-on!!
Furthermore, why is the news department interviewing other news departments? Isn’t it the news department’s job to cover the news just like the other news departments do? If every news department interviewed other news departments, what would be the actual source of the news? This is like Wolf Blitzer interviewing Sean Hannity from FOX news to report on the news. This is lazy and another example of TWiT doing things on the cheap and not doing any of their own work. It seems the more I investigate TWiT, the more I am realizing that this whole company is meticulously designed to re-purpose content and use people.
Comparison Hands-On:
To find a comparison hands-on, I did a search for “Surface Book Hands-On,” and picked the first video that came up and low and behold, it’s amazing! It has actual hands in it with good lighting and good production value. It’s almost as if it was planned out! Nice job random guy on YouTube doing all the work yourself. You did a better job than the multi-million dollar fully staffed TWiT!
The Results: Releasing a video called Hands on with Microsoft Surface Book does not make it a hands-on. If I was a consumer looking for a hands-on, I would be totally confused watching TWiT’s content. They simply did not do a hands-on. Clearly the YouTube guy is the winner here by far.
Conclusion
Well, there you have it. It looks like the only reason Leo “had to buy” the Surface Book after all was — well — to open it!
To cover the Microsoft Surface Book, TWiT filmed a random segment of Leo opening up his new toy. There is no actual review, no benchmarks, nor anything else of value. Instead they had Paul and Mary Jo talk about the product on Windows Weekly, and they called that their review.
For the hands-on, the “News Department” interviewed a journalist from another news department, and TWiT called this their hands-on. But there was never actually any hands-on.
TWiT is a lazy organization that seems to put no energy or creativity into anything they do. They just point a camera at themselves sitting on their asses while using other people’s hard work.
For a million dollar company with a million-dollar studio and a full staff of producers, editors, and a news department, I expect more than this.
This is the worst tech coverage of a product we have ever seen in the industry. This is not serving TWiT’s audience or their advertisers.
TWiT, you should be ashamed!
