this post was submitted on 23 Dec 2024
1039 points (97.0% liked)
Technology
60090 readers
2117 users here now
This is a most excellent place for technology news and articles.
Our Rules
- Follow the lemmy.world rules.
- Only tech related content.
- Be excellent to each another!
- Mod approved content bots can post up to 10 articles per day.
- Threads asking for personal tech support may be deleted.
- Politics threads may be removed.
- No memes allowed as posts, OK to post as comments.
- Only approved bots from the list below, to ask if your bot can be added please contact us.
- Check for duplicates before posting, duplicates may be removed
Approved Bots
founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
view the rest of the comments
It's getting worse, I can't remember who but I was watching a video just the other day and their ad segment was the fucking ltt ratchet driver. You know, the one they supposedly made because they were tired of the market and the low quality rip-offs all the companies were just trying to make profit off of (it's a shitty plastic screwdriver for 70$, link to pic and it's being sold at fucking walmart now). They sold it as such a heart string story in the beginning, it's just another mini-wannabe corporation.
I don't particularly feel bad at this point for their continued reputation downfall and the people responsible. Everyone has their own personal story of their favorite company which has turned to complete shit (Blizzard is one of mine). They didn't come out strong but doubled down corporate style when everything started. That's fine, but anyone staying and putting up with the stressful workplace knows what they've gotten themselves into.
That's actually a very nice screwdriver. Nice ratchet screw drivers do cost that much. I have one, but given where LTT is these days as a company, I don't recommend buying it.
I would be very happy if creators were able to fund their operations off their own merch rather than outside advertising. That seems to be what Gamers Nexus does, or at least heading that way. What LTT does, though, is use it as an additional revenue source on top of their other advertising sources. Doing it right means resisting the urge to consume more and more, and LTT is not capable of that.
It's the corporate doubling-down that you have to worry and look out for. As you say it's a revenue source for them. In fact, they spent over 100k (as stated by them in their own shows) for "Marketing" to get this screwdriver out there, for something that's a revenue source for them.
It has to be such a lucrative deal for them that they are pulling resources from other revenue to prop this up. Prepare for the slow enshittification of his tools. They order them from a manufacturer, parts will become cheaper, bulks will slowly have less quality control, and they'll "move on" to later versions that pocket them more cash. They really don't have to worry about their reputation as a "Tool manufacturer", they'll just pass the blame off onto another party while sweeping things under the rug and continuing on whistling like nothing happened.
I might need a !remind me on here in 10 years.
Oh please attack them on actual grounds rather than a made-up nonsense. The screwdriver is actually decent product if you care about that sort of thing. No one's getting scammed there, It's an actual product that's of relatively good quality.
If you don't care about screwdrivers then you're probably not interested in the product anyway and if you are a frequent screwdriver user you probably understand why it's a good product.
Definitely could describe me as a frequent screwdriver user. Currently restoring 2 John Oster vintage drill drivers, tradesmen, electronic repair tinkerer (unfortunately for everyone else in my life as well, it's always overwhelming), just basically always have a screwdriver in my hand every day.
I think if I were to reevaluate my statement, I would put it as:
"It's a shitty-looking-plastic Screwdriver, for 70$"
You can claim the inner mechanisms and their elevated teeth count "makes it a vastly superior product", but as someone who owns several ratcheting screwdrivers, I wouldn't recommend this out of the blue for someone. If someone has "particular gripes, all of which are solved with this product", then it might be a good match for you.
If you want to support them, the 70$ isn't a bad price ticket for what you get. It's like a donation with a really cool grab bag that you actually want. If you're telling someone who doesn't have a ratcheting screwdriver to first pay 70$ on this? You're just shilling for the company.
I can't believe I have to say this near the year 2025 of our lord and saviour president musk, but don't buy your fucking tools from a tech tip influencer. These are a MegaPro patent from an actual tool company. They are lower in price, rubber grips, and actually look better. If you don't care about the look, spend an extra 10$ and get the Snapon with a LIFETIME WARRANTY. It's the same one Linus used before he created this gimmick, he didn't replace it because it had "sentimental value" apparently.
I could go on and on, but obviously anyone that's actually looked into it would know that this isn't such a grand prize as those who want to push LTT merch make it out to be.
edit: meant to say shitty looking plastic, not shitty plastic.
I have a few gripes with LTT but the screwdriver is legit good. A bit overpriced because of the branding sure but definitely not a throwaway product
Honestly, I just dislike the product more for it being a middle-of-the-road type of product then what I thought it was going to be when they were hinting at it plus the company and shit going on behind the scenes. I was a big linus guy back in the day, used to even put the WAN show on in the background during work. Guess this is what the Tesla people feel. Probably more jaded thinking about what the people behind the scenes are going through, while the money fucking rolls in for the top.
I used to think the importance of leadership at the top of a company to be overblown since they succeed based on the work of all of the employees, but it is pretty amazing how fast a change to shitty leadership can run a successful company into the ground.