Mastodawn

Martin Maciaszek

A brief list of less problematic #retrocomputing YouTube channels for those who are uncomfortable with the public behaviour of The 8-Bit Guy:

• Techmoan (Mat does more audio than computers, but very retro, and a cool dude)
• Mr. Lurch's things (Jason is a great guy)
• RMC (Neil is also a great dude)
• Retro Recipes (I'll be honest, I find Christian's whole vibe a bit over polished and highly produced, but I also think he puts in a lot of honest effort and really loves retro systems -- plus he was in two Star Wars films)
• Adrian's Digital Basement (Basically the Mr. Rogers of Retrocomputing, I love this dude)
• Usagi Electric (The dude restores vintage mini-computers, how awesome is that?)
• More Fun Making It (Also a cool dude, and his whole vibe is just fun to watch)
• Veronica Explains (She's great too, very friendly and informative)
• Jan Beta (Pure old-school retro nerdery)
• Noel's Retro Lab
• Technology Connections
• Action Retro
• Ms. Mad Lemon

anniethebruce Apr 8, 2023

@mos_8502 I'm less bothered than some by 8 bit guy(not that I agree with some of those politics, but as long as he keeps them out of the retrocomputing stuff I can tolerate it) but this definitely is a lot of good stuff here.

t3rminus Apr 8, 2023

@mos_8502 Adrian’s Digital Basement is absolutely the Mister Rogers of retrocomputing!

Such a fun channel to watch. Adrian has single-handedly rekindled my interest in the C64, vintage Apple, and machines like the IBM 5150.

Andrew (Television Executive)Apr 8, 2023

@mos_8502 Gravis/Cathode Ray Dude.

Old computers + Video gear (and the nexus of computers and video gear), long form documentaries, deep dives, just really really great work.

Ziggy the Hamster

🐹🌻Apr 8, 2023

@ajroach42 @mos_8502 Gravis’s partner went to that Tumblr thing I don’t remember the name of. Maybe enough folks can convince Gravis to hop on Mastodon, particularly since some great YTers are on here.

Michaela Sue Apr 8, 2023

@ZiggyTheHamster @ajroach42 @mos_8502 Gravis is big on Cohost tho, posts lots of great stuff there: https://cohost.org/cathoderaydude

gravis again on cohost

dewey defeats truman

cohost

Ziggy the Hamster

🐹🌻Apr 9, 2023

@beige_alert @ajroach42 @mos_8502 Cohost is actually what I was thinking of.

as a large fashion model,Apr 9, 2023

@ajroach42 @mos_8502 seconded! Only saw like two videos of his but really digging the laid back curiosity style and his taste in weird shit

Ziggy the Hamster

🐹🌻Apr 8, 2023

@mos_8502 Usagi Electric is so good. He’s got a bunch of rare and forgotten stuff and takes care not to rush the production to keep to a schedule because his goal is to share and preserve, not optimize YouTube revenue.

He’s in rural Texas and seems to be a genuine and nice dude, but as I’m originally from Oklahoma and can relate (and know exactly where he got the Centurion from in Muskogee), I would assume he has a non-abolition opinion about guns. But not crazy-pants like David Murray.

Ziggy the Hamster

🐹🌻Apr 8, 2023

@mos_8502 I’m stereotyping of course, but as my family has been on the same land in rural NE OK since Indian Removal, I’d say it’d be weird for him not to have a shotgun or something. This doesn’t bother me at all. It’s a tool. David is someone that has fetishized it, and that’s weird.

I bring this up because some people in the retro computing community strongly feel like this definitely American opinion is extreme and might get upset if rural Texas guy accidentally puts a shotgun in frame.

@ZiggyTheHamster I could not care less about him owning or liking firearms. *I* enjoy firearms myself, and I'm Canadian. It's the open carry and mocking the parents of dead children that bugs me.

Ziggy the Hamster

🐹🌻Apr 8, 2023

@mos_8502 yeah 100% and same here for me. But I know it’s touchy for some and I don’t want to accidentally cause someone to go on a crusade about the guy. It’s a tool. It can be a pleasurable sport if you can tolerate the people who go to the range (I cannot, but maybe one day I’ll do DEFCON Shoot or something). Otherwise who cares. I have to look up the model of my pistol because I can’t remember the specifics.

Then you have people like David who seem to want to get the gun pregnant.

mnemonicoverload Apr 8, 2023

@mos_8502
Personally I stopped watching his content after he made one too many misogynistic "jokes" in his videos. Felt like I dodged a bullet (heh) when the open carry nuttery and sandy hook stuff came to light about him later on.

@ZiggyTheHamster

Ziggy the Hamster

🐹🌻Apr 9, 2023

@mnemonicoverload @mos_8502 The last straw for me was “my electrician looks just like Morgan Freeman” followed by “my daughter called him God”… but he doesn’t look anything like Morgan Freeman other than they’re both black. Also his daughter was like 11 or 12 at the time - old enough to know he isn’t the actor.

This was around the same time as but before his Awesome Airguns and anti-Sandy-Hook-in-Home-Depot-with-a-gun videos circulated.

Ziggy the Hamster

🐹🌻Apr 8, 2023

@mos_8502 On the topic of the Centurion though - I’m fairly confident I’ve seen it in person while it was still in use, circa 2005-2006. There was an older guy from Muskogee who bought computing stuff (like Computer Reset), and in high school, some friends and I had heard about his store. On the weekends, we would hit up GameXChange and similar for NES era stuff (all under $5, cheap thrills, etc.). We decided to stop by his “shop” once.

Ziggy the Hamster

🐹🌻Apr 8, 2023

@mos_8502 IIRC, he had a fuck ton of Commodore stuff, some Apple ][ stuff, and a bunch of minicomputer bits which I now know came from the bottling plant in Muskogee (Miller? Coors? Budweiser? I forget.).

He did not have any IBM stuff, which I was on the lookout for. Or really anything we were interested in.

I think he was using the Centurion to total up your purchases and print out an invoice or something like that.

The Doctor Apr 8, 2023

@mos_8502 Christian's tech knowledge is pretty solid. When I was first getting into fixing up my Commodores, I emailed back and forth with him for a while asking questions about electronics, and his answers were very helpful.

Doughnut Lollipop 【記録係】

blobfoxgooglymlem

@mos_8502 Did he do something recently to prompt this? (I remember his past snafus.)

Christmas Tree Apr 8, 2023

@tk @mos_8502 wait, what were his past snafus?

@Flaky@furry.engineer Apr 8, 2023

Also curious about this.

Archie Apr 8, 2023

@mos_8502 What's The 8-bit Guy been doing?

Archie Apr 8, 2023

@mos_8502 Where's Big Clive 😲

JdeBP Apr 9, 2023

Did they remember Ben Eater?

Archie Apr 9, 2023

@JdeBP @mos_8502 No it just seems to be a list of his own personal favourites

Ziggy the Hamster

🐹🌻Apr 8, 2023

@mos_8502 I highly recommend @ActionRetro as well if you are into breaking the law with malaise era Macintoshes.

BenderIsGreat34 Apr 8, 2023

@ZiggyTheHamster @mos_8502 @ActionRetro came here to say this lol. @ActionRetro is a hoot.

Neil E. Hodges Apr 8, 2023

@mos_8502 Did he do something recently to prompt this? (I remember his past snafus.)

Joakim Melin Apr 8, 2023

@mos_8502 What has the gun totin' texan done this time?

@joacim Have you seen the latest on the X16? It's pure unhinged lunacy.

Joakim Melin Apr 8, 2023

@mos_8502 I saw the latest video and noticed the $50 dollar computer was now $500... but part from that: no not really.

@joacim Their whole production strategy points at a group who have *no* idea how to bring a product to market in 2023. They spent donor money on equipping a fucking PCB factory.

Joakim Melin Apr 8, 2023

@mos_8502 Yeah I thought about that too. Seems they got themselves some nice toys that they can fight over later when the project dies and all the tools are in Davids garage or whatever.

Kyle Anderson Apr 9, 2023

@mos_8502 @joacim Speculating here: Maybe David et al are bent on the X16 being "made in America" to the point of economic infeasibility. It would track with the other nuttery.

Joakim Melin Apr 9, 2023

@kandersonus @mos_8502 Sounds very American: go US or go bust.

Manifest Irony Apr 8, 2023

@mos_8502 check out Retro Game Mechanics Explained if you're looking for deep technical dives.

Dave Apr 8, 2023

@mos_8502 I don't think I've spotted Ben Eater's wonderful tutorials in that list and James Sharman 's videos are a great source of knowledge too (IMHO)

Phil M0OFX Apr 8, 2023

@mos_8502 This is a pretty good starter list for retro youtube, just in general :)

You've already hit most of my list but I'd suggest Jan Beta's channel too, his repair videos are really nicely done and he seems like a nice guy.

Not specifically retrocomputing, but I also enjoy Technology Connections and Aging Wheels - they cover retro and obscure tech and vehicles respectively..

Jonathan Littlewood Apr 8, 2023

+1 for Techmoan - I started watching for the early digital music players, but stayed for the repairs to the old analogue music systems I lusted after in my youth. I was watching his debugging of an old Philips N2401 "Ski Slope" cassette player only last night.

FiXato Apr 8, 2023

@mos_8502 I've already seen suggestions for 8-bit Manshed by @BGOllie and Technology Connections by @TechConnectify, but I'd also like to add LGR, Gaming Historian, Strafefox, and Retro Game Mechanics Explained (though these last couple are more about the software side).

Portable doggie 🔜 NFC, FE Apr 8, 2023

@mos_8502 thoughts on LGR and This Does Not Comp?

@dogo Like them both.

Portable doggie 🔜 NFC, FE Apr 8, 2023

@mos_8502 righto! just wanted to check since theyre pretty prominent

@dogo the truth is I have little negative to say about almost every retro YouTuber. I only judge based on what I actually see, not what people tell me.

Reinhilde Bjornsdottir (she)Apr 8, 2023

@mos_8502 w h a t happened o.O

@reinhilde See the replies to the above post for details.

Reinhilde Bjornsdottir (she)Apr 8, 2023

@mos_8502 It's all just hints. Someone I've defederated?

@reinhilde He's a gun nut, a Sandy Hook denier, and not nearly as competent at engineering as he thinks he is. Most recently, the latest update of the X16 computer is completely unhinged.

Reinhilde Bjornsdottir (she)Apr 8, 2023

@mos_8502 Ah, right... Yeah that's def' one to run a mile from. Appreciate the heads up.

Gabbo the wafrn guy Apr 8, 2023

[mentionuserid="0801396a-c929-4796-aaaa-278453c89cd8"] what happened with 8bitguy?

@gabboman He's a gun nut, a Sandy Hook denier, and not nearly as competent at engineering as he thinks he is. Most recently, the latest update of the X16 computer is completely unhinged.

Gabbo the wafrn guy Apr 8, 2023

[mentionuserid="0801396a-c929-4796-aaaa-278453c89cd8"] "he is a gun nut" well nobody is perf... "a sandy hook denier" oh shit. wow. like wow.

I guess texas is bad for your brain

Hello, yes, this is Gregly Apr 8, 2023

@mos_8502 My 2¢:
* I feel exactly the same about Retro Recipes, but I can understand it given the kind of guy he is.
* I might add LGR, but admittedly he’s in a bit of a different category from those listed.
* I’ve liked Nostalgia Nerd in the past but soured somewhat on him recently.

Incidentally, I think my wife utterly freaked the 8-Bit Guy out once at VCF Midwest, as she is *literally* the definition of the “purple-haired SJW” so feared by certain segments of the population. 😆

@glindsey They’re terrified that they might be held accountable for the things they say and do.

Hello, yes, this is Gregly Apr 8, 2023

@mos_8502 It’s funny because I’m sure it was some innocuous thing they discussed — probably just her meeting him politely or something — but she said he was like a deer in headlights 😆

Juri Apr 8, 2023

@glindsey @mos_8502 it’s me, the purple-haired SJW wife. I actually freaked him out because our kid wanted a pic with him. I whipped my phone out of the top of my dress, which is where one keeps their phone when a dress has no pockets. 😂😂😂😂

Sophia Atkinson

🍉Apr 8, 2023

@mos_8502 Can someone explain to me what the 8-bit guy did? I'm lost

Becca 🏳️‍⚧️ 🇺🇦 🇸🇩 🇵🇸Apr 8, 2023

@mos_8502 has Christian stopped making distasteful memes yet?
How about Neil changing the name of his channel (originally Retro Man Cave) to 'protect his audience'?
Those two aren't my cup of tea...
It's good, however, to find new channels to try.

Dudley of Yesterzine

@mos_8502 @nikki Well I know two of those people and they’re sound so I assume this extrapolates.

Long Starbird Apr 8, 2023

@mos_8502 I could listen to Retro Recipes or Ms. Mad Lemon reading operating instructions for diesel submarines, or poems written by wasps. Together, they might make a video that shuts down civilization.