Maybe TechTV was just destined to be an evolutionary dead-end cousin to what eventually became really good stuff: the TWiT network, Digg, Revision3, and anything that Robert Heron and Patrick Norton are involved in.
Even so, I really miss seeing old episodes of "The Screen Savers f/ Patrick Norton in a kilt" in my TiVo's Now Playing lineup.
Gary Boisseau
· 1 year ago
Wow! Wish I knew who that masked man/woman was. Sad that TechTv worked out the way it did, but am totally jazzed that TWiT is what it is today, and can't wait for the video aspect of TWiT that's on the way. You go, Leo!!!
Barry Smith
· 1 year ago
Wow, that does seem to touch on a lot of the issues I saw as the startups I worked at were exploding around me like a Michael Bay movie during the "Dot Bomb" implosion.
I only caught on to TechTV during it's declining years, but I still sustained myself on the grains of wheat amongst the chaff. I was sad to see it go.
But ... eventually it did bring us TWiT!
So it seems it was all worth it in the end. ;)
blackfeathers
· 1 year ago
it's very prophetic indeed. what direction would techtv have made if the anonymous poster was in charge?
one pet peeve i have is when upper management can't spell correctly on a consistent basis or place simple coherent ideas together as was pointed out in that 2001 post.
Wow, he really did see the writing on the wall. Unfortunately, it was worded in such a confrontational way that it was probably summarily dismissed at the time.
Oh, and because I'm a grammar nazi. You pour syrup over pancakes. You pore over old posts.
Leo
· 1 year ago
Really? I told you I was semi-literate. Live and learn. Fixing it now. Thanks Kevin!
habitrailgirl
· 1 year ago
A friend's family who lived in NJ had TechTV back in 2000 or so, and I was absolutely mesmerized during the weekend I visited her. I was heartbroken, HEARTBROKEN that I couldn't get it where I lived. I am very grateful that twit.tv will be available anywhere I go -- yep, it was destiny, all right.
Andrew
· 1 year ago
Pretty accurate I would say. Hey, look at what it has done for the ones that survived. Leo, Patrick, Kevin and others who jumped ship (or were tossed) thrive in this new world of IPTV.
I think people figure it out eventually
Vicki
· 1 year ago
I remember reading that when it was first posted -- and getting that sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach. I so didn't want to see ZDTV (TechTV) die such a death. But as others have said, it has led to where everyone is now -- the right people are running the joint this time :D
Fred
· 1 year ago
I'd have to say after the first few yrs(starting watching in 98), ScreenSavers was the only show left on TTV I was still watching(Tivoing). Even when Leo and Patrick came together in 2001 it made for a good show. You could see Patrick going...Oh no...LOL..Even when it starting going down hill, you could still make for a good ep by using that wonderful Tivo 30sec skip...
Jamie Diamond
· 1 year ago
Seeing as Louderback is now the one at the helm of the Rev3 ship, I sure hope he re-reads this too.
Chuck
· 1 year ago
Leo, TWiT needs to do a streaming show (or video podcast) based on the old Screensavers.
Chuck
Steven
· 1 year ago
Yea for TWiT! Hope the TWiT Live is the bomb. I'll be watching Saturday for sure. Rock on Leo!
Zane
· 1 year ago
I feel sorry for networks run by such idiots, the people with brains don't know what's going on because it's so disorganized. Seriously, if the CEO can't spell "rehearsal" that network isn't going to go anywhere to quickly. (Oh, and if thats the CEO, I'd hate to meet the largest individual stockholder, they must be right at home together)
aprigliano
· 1 year ago
I too read this when it was originally posted and got the same awful feeling. But, with all due respect, good riddance to TechTV. This was a channel I loved, then liked, then tolerated, then did not even tune in any more. I was happy, make that enthralled, when Patrick, Leo, Kevin, Jessica, Sarah, Megan, Cat, John C, et. al began popping their heads up making their own programming. There are more hours of original tech programming NOW than when it had a whole channel. And, it is better now. Much.
Leo, you sir, and your cohorts, did know your jobs better than management. And proved it.
Andrew
· 1 year ago
I too only caught the tail end of Tech TV here in Australia. When I found out that I was watching repeats that my cable company had recorded since the international feed was cut I was pretty cut myself.
Looking forward to Twit live. Will have to set the alarm though and make sure my bandwidth insn't throttled. lol
Cheers Leo
Andrew
Bryan
· 1 year ago
I remember when Leo posted a pic of his TechTV badge after he had quit, resigned, or was fired.... Was a sad day. I always made sure to tune into Call For Help and Screen Savers.... Now, I make sure to never miss a TWIT or MacBreak Weekly....
Ash
· 1 year ago
Ay, I was in the same situation as Andrew - when we had TechTV launch on the Australian Foxtel Pay-TV network, we were watching re-runs that were up to 3 years old.
For a tech show it was a joke; although I religiously watched it since it was the only tech stuff on Aussie TV, and nothing else was remotely mainstream enough.
I can't wait to see what TWiT Live is going to be like, and I'm glad that #9 doesn't apply much anymore - the time is ripe for IPTV networks (already we can see the success of the likes of Rev3, I just hope it's not a house of cards built on funding and borrowed money).
Good luck mate, I can't wait for an excuse to upgrade my net connection and bandwidth quota!
Ash
Xhadow
· 1 year ago
I remember Tech TV was the only reason I had cable, at the beginning there was nothing like it. Then I left for Germany (yes I'm a soldier) so no Tech TV, I guess I was spared the declining years while I was surprised that Leo wasn't the host of the screen savers anymore it was still watchable. I left for Iraq right as Tech TV merged with G4. The few weeks I saw of G4/Tech TV was awful it was like Spike TV puked all over Tech TV and the station didn't know what it was anymore. So I wasn't surprised when I came back from Iraq and I couldn't find TSS or Call for Help on G4 anymore.
Then mysteriously G4 was dropped from my cable lineup, however I don't think it could have happened to a better group of guys in hindsight. Thanks to that debacle we have TWiT, and Revision 3 which gives me all the goodness that was the early days of Tech TV had without the corporate stench that hovered over it in the later years.
Thank you Leo for TWiT!!!
CB
· 1 year ago
Go, Leo! You can do it better. We all know that. Keep your nose down and your eyes level, and all will be good.
bdh
· 1 year ago
You seem like you're in a bad mood, or depressed about something. You're leading the way in the evolution of an entirely new medium! Keep up the good work, Marshall McLuhan would have to write an update to Understanding Media to embrace the new world of the Internet you're a part of!
Ikon
· 1 year ago
Well, as others have alluded to, ZD/Tech/G4 TV at least provided a training ground for those who have moved on to better things. In that sense I guess we can call it an "enabling technology", and we all know enabling technologies next actually make it big themselves. Newton anyone?
Speaking of old episodes Leo, TechTV Canada has been running old Call For Help episodes again, along with Gadget something-or-other (with Amber). Anyway, I saw a few familiar faces, including a Matt Harris, minus a few pounds and with a full head of hair!
We're all praying TWIT Live is the right product at the right time.
Joe Kelly
· 1 year ago
I think the comment was wrong saying the only person people loved was Leo... I believe it was Leo AND Patrick. The whole reason "The Screen Savers" was a good show was the TWO great hosts of the show. Leo can do a good job on his own. Patrick I think is not as good as Leo on his own. If Leo and Patrick where to do another show together (Video) it would be the BEST video tech show on the internet.
Joe
· 1 year ago
Wow, that guy hit the nail pretty squarely on the head. Every time I had TechTV on I never could figure out how the whole idea was going to work in the long run...
Chris Luckhardt
· 1 year ago
Leo, it looks like Josh Green is working at UC Berkeley and at the San Francisco Chronicle.
I was watching when it was still ZDTV I still have the foam rubber cube sitting on my desk,,Those were the days for me.. I learned alot but mostly from Leo.
Thanks Leo
tojfs7931
· 1 year ago
I can't even bear to watch the ScreenSavers or whatever they are calling it now on G4 anymore. When Kevin Rose left that was it for me...
Anthony DiSante
· 1 year ago
Leo, I only discovered you after TWiT had been born; I never did see any of the TechTV stuff. But now TWiT provides a huge amount of the media that I consume on a weekly basis: This Week in Tech, MacBreak Weekly, Security Now, and sometimes FLOSS Weekly or Windows Weekly. There's just so much good stuff in there! And I listen to a few episodes of TechGuy Podcast from previous weeks during the weeks when you're on vacation and not recording new stuff. I'm hooked; what can I say? Thanks for all the great content!
John
· 1 year ago
Being in the UK, I never got to see Tech TV but love TWIT. I can't wait for TWIT Live. I have upgraded my kit in readiness for what I know will be, unlike Tech TV, a global experience.
When I was a kid in the 80s, I would get my geek on watching a PBS show called "The Computer Chronicles." (That's when I wasn't playing Atari 2600 or Commodore VIC-20.) When I was in my 20s, I had ZDTV and Power Macs. Now there's TWiT and Revision3 and I Twitter/Flickr/websurf from my phone. It's all about evolutionary steps. Now we can get the best TechTV had to offer "on demand" and leave the COPS re-runs and lousy programming to the knuckle-draggers at G4. Thanks to Leo and the rest of the gang who keep pushing things forward.
Regarding nr. 8 above. The interesting thing is that the audience exists today.
Only, through the Internet. Millions of people with fast computers, high resolution screens, and fast Internet connections tied to there computers at workplaces or at home. Or mobile with all kinds of devices. All hungry for tech content to manage there lives.
TechTV in all it's incarnations was way ahead of it time trying to market through old media. Like the 1984 machintosh was a decade ahead of the rest of the computer industry.
John Hoffer
· 1 year ago
I was lucky (unlucky?) enough to see almost all of the rise and fall of TechTV and its eventual decline into what it is today (with the exception of X-Play - Go Morgan and Adam). Some of the problems with TechTV covered by the masked stranger go on today in other corporations that are and have been around, unfortunately. I have to give kudo's to Leo as well -> even the most bitter of the bitter still made it a point to call out his obvious abilities several times in his post. I guess my MP3 player's going to have to get upgraded to a video player now that Leo's going video!
Blipfish
· 1 year ago
Wow.
Had I read this at the time I might have made the mistake of thinking it was just another articulate flame-out letter.
With the passage of time (relatively short time) I agree it's prophetic and probably hit the nails on the heads - on several levels.
I had always wondered "what went down" with TechTV and I think I am probably hearing some fairly accurate views on it.
No surprise, either, that Leo and some others were mentioned with respect - and that reinforces some points, too.
At least we have many of those people (and new ones!) carrying on the next generation of Tech News in the form of blogs, video and audio podcasts. Probably better off, too, being free from compartmentalized management, funding-loyalty restrictions, and arbitrary ratings influences.
Mark
· 1 year ago
Long live tech tv online. I remember watching leo kevin all the gang right after school with my friends.But,now since its all over for television i can now listen/watch leo and friends online. I still have a tech t.v. t shirt from one of the drawings.! I learn a lot from cfh and tss. thank you leo and the rest of tech tv. crew.
your biggest fan, Mark from los angeles , ca
Daniel
· 1 year ago
Wow. I suppose the hindsight from those of us on the other side of the TV set is completely different.
I had read and heard passing comments from former TechTV people that things were tough in the last few years, but nothing that ever explained it to this extent. I suppose that even if the programming had continued, the constant state of poor morale and sense of doom may have bled onto the air. The thing that scares me most of all is the Audience of One concept. In comparison, that's why the newer Star Wars movies were nothing in comparison to the old. Lucas had people telling him "no" in the 70's and 80's. In the 90's and 2000's, he just had a bunch of Yes Men under him. Playing to the interests of one, be it Lucas or Allen, is a horrible idea doomed to fail.
Good luck with TWiT Live, Leo. If anything, this shows you've been around the block and know what NOT to do.
Phil
· 1 year ago
They should have hired that guy back and made him a consultant.
Jeff Pierce
· 1 year ago
I miss my Tech TV, well I actually miss Leo and Screen Savers mostly. I loved the synergy those guys and gals had. Not only did they jive well together......they acutally knew a little something about tech! I wish a smart, tech oriented (rich mostly) individual would come along and say "Hey Leo, wanna help me buld a TechTV-ish network?" What would ya' say Leo? I'd give you the reins and say have at it, make it good, and I'll just stay back out of your hair and just give you the bucks when you need it. Yeah ,pipe dream-I know.
Marcome
· 1 year ago
I really miss the TechTV days...I didn't like the all day Tech Live format..it got old really quick...I mean, why pull Leo off of his own show to read news headlines all day and make him stale?? I was glad when they just made tech live a reg. show after TSS...anywho..thanks to Leo and his gang of geeks for keeping things going forward!!
Alan
· 1 year ago
Leo, what thet person wrote could have been allot of companies, that went under during the dot bomb era. I remember comcast asking me to pay more just to get tech TV in Massachusetts. I called them told them I wanted the channel but I was not going to pay any more. I complained allot and they set me up with Tech TV. I know I have comcast for my internet provider heck Verizon stinks but I had to choose the best of the two evils. but Comcast put on this lousy chanel G4. For one thing I don't care for it I rather watch the discovery channel's "Dirty Job's" With Mike Rowe. but the person who commented brought back bad memories of all the people who I knew who jumped for fast bucks and left college for the web sites that were gone as fast as they were started. As for the poor management that happens at allot of companies today. Allot of people running companies have no vision of the future. But as for allot of my firends who were out of work and lost college degrees because they got greedy this person hit everything on the head. The money that banks were giving to non-existant web sites was amazing. As for me who grew up with the electronics boom of the late 70's and 1980's I saw it comming again by 2001. As for me I was working for a newspaper in 2001 and the people who left were losing their houses and cars and begging for their jobs back and not getting them. I am glad you posted your firends old post probally some of the younger people will relize you can't get it fast you have to work for it over time. Also don't be duped by people who say white when you know its black.
Jonathan
· 1 year ago
It reminds me of my previous job at a tech support company. The highlight of the month was when yet another disgruntled employee left the company and sent an informative staff@company.com email to everyone containing a few "home truths"!
Great stuff.
kim landwehr
· 1 year ago
I didn't watch Techtv from the begining, but I did start watching it fairly early, I can remember when we moved it would be the first channel I would make sure we got.. However, as time went on I started watching less and less programs, by the time it went off the air, I remember thinking It was liking watching someone dieing over a long period, I was sad it was going, but I wish it would hurry up and happen
Gumpo
· 1 year ago
Personally, i think the real reason for the collapse of TechTV was because Comcast just wanted to buy them and kill the only network they were competing with. We all know G4 and TechTV didn't have a lot in common, but they did both do video game coverage, and frankly, TechTV's was better, even though G4 was targeted completely to a video gaming audience. Frankly, i think Comcast used their control over what their network owned to slowly drop TechTV from homes, in order to lower its value, just so they could buy it out and steal the one show they wanted, Gamespot TV, or whatever the heck they are calling it now.
But to be honest, my opinion is that TechTV was terrible. It was great in the beginning, ZDTV was where it was at. (I still have some ZDTV coffee mugs) Around the same time the name change was going on, i was loosing interest, because they were shuffling things around too much. They canceled Internet Tonight, Moved Leo off of Call for Help, and added about a dozen people i didn't care about at all to The Screen Savers. I practically stopped watching TechTV completely at that point, but when Leo returned to Call for Help later, i did start watching again - and grudgingly accepted all the new talent on The Screen Savers.
To this day, i can't stand Kevin Rose - because his addition to The Screen Savers to me coincided with the death of the network as i knew it. I know its an odd reason to hate someone, but all of my anger towards the higher ups at TechTV and Comcast gets directed to him whenever i see him.
But as others said, at least it all led to what we have now - TWiT, Cranky Geeks, DL.TV, and about half the shows on Revision3.
Amaze Yourself!
slobu
· 1 year ago
Way before comment fields in blogs there was local office email. Most of the Techs for my previous company knew the password for an email account of a long gone employee. Whenever we had a serious grievance with management one of us would cc the entire company with this account. Management loved this, as they could never identify the "troublemaker" sending honest truth their way. Good times.
For my part, Tech TV only barely piqued my interest. I derived some pleasure at disagreeing with their hosts and scoffing at the subjects they seemed to barely understand. Now I miss that slight sense of irritation. The Tech has been replaced with a "G" - or rather a "Dirty Mack"
I recently found some Revision3 feeds via XBMC and am looking foreword to giving it another chance. My take on the naming is: TechTV -> G4 -> Revision3. Third try is a charm!
Spencer
· 1 year ago
Well, I for one miss techtv and have often wondered what all of the old techtv people were up to now. I knew that Kevin went on to start digg but wondered if he was still with Sara. What Patrick was doing now, and of course what Leo was up to. I finally did a search for Leo and found this site tonight as I turned to G4 and saw an all day weed smoking marathon :(
I have to admit that it makes me sad as I sit here and watch weed smoking programing on the G4. Sure I like Ninja Warrior and Unbeatable Banzuke but come on, not tech related and there's not really much to learn from Japanese people running through obsticals.
Techtv taught me so much back in the day and inspired me to start building websites. Now I make a decent living from my websites and much of it is due to Leo, Kevin, Patrick and the rest of the techtv crew. Heck, I learned more from Leo and Kevin on techtv than I ever learned in my college computer classes lol.
Now that I think about it I think I'm going to add a tech room to my new chat and community site and dedicate it to the old techtv. Hey Leo, how about setting up a live chat with all of your old fans sometime? Heck, just get on your webcam and fire up your mic and you can do a help line episode live for old times sake lol.
Anyway, glad to see you're doing well post techtv Leo and thank you for all that you've done for me while techtv was alive.
Martin
· 1 year ago
I work in digital media and in my time have come across a number of "TV-types", they are certainly in a class of their own (well it might also include advertising execs) and I still struggle to understand their motivations. So what motivates Leo? I'm not suggesting he is in anyway like that [scum-of-the-earth]. How can someone as genuine as he(him?) have survived to this point? I believe Leo understands the new way and I say good luck, but hurry up though - I can't keep crossing my legs for too much longer!
Spencer
· 1 year ago
Oh yeah, I forgot to mention the attack of the show episode I caught the other night where the hosts were dry humping giant balloons. What in the heck is this G4 thing, what exactly is the point and what exactly is it supposed to be now?
I haven't had a chance yet but will be checking out twitter. Maybe I can get back to the good stuff there.
Joel
· 1 year ago
Thanks for reposting this Leo. I was a TechTV fan back then (I was part of the demographic that should have been targeted - the one that only Screen Savers kept on board). I was seriously bummed when the company sold.
However, I'm glad that most of this happened because you guys are putting out incredible content now. So thanks for doing what you do. The programming everyone is putting out on the web is still great. So thanks for proving them wrong.
Dane Golden
· 1 year ago
Coincidentally, I, too am in various ways incompetent, arrogant, strategically moronic and completely inept. It's TechTV all over again!
Cirris
· 1 year ago
God, I remember the good old days in 98-99 watching TSS and CFH. TechTV was an awesome channel back then. I learned a lot of stuff from that channel. Good times, good times.
I was sad when G4 merged into it and gutted the shows and personalities. Now, G4 is nothing more than a cheap version of SpikeTV targeting pothead gamers, Between the forced "sex sells" bits and the ADD dysfunctional segments, I keep wondering when the channel will drop completely from the airwaves.
However, I think it's all working out for the best. Most of the people who worked at TechTV have moved onto better things. Some of those who now do IPtv are exactly where TechTV's evolution would have taken them anyways. As tech savvy people shift from watching TV to using PCs and Mobile devices for their entertainment. IPtv is where TechTV's true demographic is.
If you look hard enough there's a lot of what TechTV was on the web. They maybe low budget versions of the old shows; but without the producers to much everything up, It's allowing the personalities and content to shine.
P.S. I'm looking forward to your new homemade Tech show, Leo. I hope it goes well and you have fun with it. I'm sure i'll be checking it out.
Paul
· 1 year ago
I remember the early years, TSS and Call for Help were great. Leo is a great tv personality. During the declining years I quit watching and just realized about a year ago that it was gone from my cable line up.
BTW, God bless the person that mentioned the Commodore VIC-20! It was my first computer but when I tell people about it they always say that they never heard of it and think I'm talking about the Commodore 64. Remember the tape drives that used audio cassette tapes? Those were the days!
darkwing duck
· 1 year ago
Leo Laporte's Technology Almanac and Poor Leo's Computer
"Call-For-Help-a-Thon
the good old days
ZdTVTech-tv
RIP
May 11, 1998 -September 7, 2004.
September 7,2004 the day G4tv4 had decided to revamp The Screen Savers by making it more pop culture, Internet, and gaming-oriented.
Spencer
· 1 year ago
Lol, I had a timex computer when I was a kid that used the audio cassettes. Wanna know how long ago this was? I used it on a little black and white tv!
Randall L Emert Sr
· 1 year ago
I had to blow the dust off an old VHS and find a VCR to play it but it was a tape of the time I got to ask a question of you and Patrick via the telephone and web cam (on dialup no less). I appeared on the show wearing a NASA hat and wanted to tell you that the current astronaut that was going up in the shuttle at the time actually live 10 miles from my house but I froze. The producer?? said not to dwell and ask my question directly. Boy oh boy I enjoyed screen savers.
*Legion*
· 1 year ago
That's easily the second-best TechTV adios I've ever read. It may have been more prescient, but it lacks a catchy tagline, like, oh, say, "eagle semen".
All Comments
Even so, I really miss seeing old episodes of "The Screen Savers f/ Patrick Norton in a kilt" in my TiVo's Now Playing lineup.
I only caught on to TechTV during it's declining years, but I still sustained myself on the grains of wheat amongst the chaff. I was sad to see it go.
But ... eventually it did bring us TWiT!
So it seems it was all worth it in the end. ;)
one pet peeve i have is when upper management can't spell correctly on a consistent basis or place simple coherent ideas together as was pointed out in that 2001 post.
Oh, and because I'm a grammar nazi. You pour syrup over pancakes. You pore over old posts.
I think people figure it out eventually
Chuck
Leo, you sir, and your cohorts, did know your jobs better than management. And proved it.
Looking forward to Twit live. Will have to set the alarm though and make sure my bandwidth insn't throttled. lol
Cheers Leo
Andrew
For a tech show it was a joke; although I religiously watched it since it was the only tech stuff on Aussie TV, and nothing else was remotely mainstream enough.
I can't wait to see what TWiT Live is going to be like, and I'm glad that #9 doesn't apply much anymore - the time is ripe for IPTV networks (already we can see the success of the likes of Rev3, I just hope it's not a house of cards built on funding and borrowed money).
Good luck mate, I can't wait for an excuse to upgrade my net connection and bandwidth quota!
Ash
Then mysteriously G4 was dropped from my cable lineup, however I don't think it could have happened to a better group of guys in hindsight. Thanks to that debacle we have TWiT, and Revision 3 which gives me all the goodness that was the early days of Tech TV had without the corporate stench that hovered over it in the later years.
Thank you Leo for TWiT!!!
Speaking of old episodes Leo, TechTV Canada has been running old Call For Help episodes again, along with Gadget something-or-other (with Amber). Anyway, I saw a few familiar faces, including a Matt Harris, minus a few pounds and with a full head of hair!
We're all praying TWIT Live is the right product at the right time.
http://www.linkedin.com/in/joshuaagreen
cube sitting on my desk,,Those were the days for me..
I learned alot but mostly from Leo.
Thanks Leo
Good luck Leo!
Seems to be his linked-in account
Regarding nr. 8 above. The interesting thing is that the audience exists today.
Only, through the Internet. Millions of people with fast computers, high resolution screens, and fast Internet connections tied to there computers at workplaces or at home. Or mobile with all kinds of devices. All hungry for tech content to manage there lives.
TechTV in all it's incarnations was way ahead of it time trying to market through old media. Like the 1984 machintosh was a decade ahead of the rest of the computer industry.
Had I read this at the time I might have made the mistake of thinking it was just another articulate flame-out letter.
With the passage of time (relatively short time) I agree it's prophetic and probably hit the nails on the heads - on several levels.
I had always wondered "what went down" with TechTV and I think I am probably hearing some fairly accurate views on it.
No surprise, either, that Leo and some others were mentioned with respect - and that reinforces some points, too.
At least we have many of those people (and new ones!) carrying on the next generation of Tech News in the form of blogs, video and audio podcasts. Probably better off, too, being free from compartmentalized management, funding-loyalty restrictions, and arbitrary ratings influences.
I remember watching leo kevin all the gang right after school with my friends.But,now since its all over for television i can now listen/watch leo and friends online. I still have a tech t.v. t shirt from one of the drawings.! I learn a lot from cfh and tss. thank you leo and the rest of tech tv. crew.
your biggest fan,
Mark from los angeles ,
ca
I had read and heard passing comments from former TechTV people that things were tough in the last few years, but nothing that ever explained it to this extent. I suppose that even if the programming had continued, the constant state of poor morale and sense of doom may have bled onto the air. The thing that scares me most of all is the Audience of One concept. In comparison, that's why the newer Star Wars movies were nothing in comparison to the old. Lucas had people telling him "no" in the 70's and 80's. In the 90's and 2000's, he just had a bunch of Yes Men under him. Playing to the interests of one, be it Lucas or Allen, is a horrible idea doomed to fail.
Good luck with TWiT Live, Leo. If anything, this shows you've been around the block and know what NOT to do.
Great stuff.
But to be honest, my opinion is that TechTV was terrible. It was great in the beginning, ZDTV was where it was at. (I still have some ZDTV coffee mugs) Around the same time the name change was going on, i was loosing interest, because they were shuffling things around too much. They canceled Internet Tonight, Moved Leo off of Call for Help, and added about a dozen people i didn't care about at all to The Screen Savers. I practically stopped watching TechTV completely at that point, but when Leo returned to Call for Help later, i did start watching again - and grudgingly accepted all the new talent on The Screen Savers.
To this day, i can't stand Kevin Rose - because his addition to The Screen Savers to me coincided with the death of the network as i knew it. I know its an odd reason to hate someone, but all of my anger towards the higher ups at TechTV and Comcast gets directed to him whenever i see him.
But as others said, at least it all led to what we have now - TWiT, Cranky Geeks, DL.TV, and about half the shows on Revision3.
Amaze Yourself!
For my part, Tech TV only barely piqued my interest. I derived some pleasure at disagreeing with their hosts and scoffing at the subjects they seemed to barely understand. Now I miss that slight sense of irritation. The Tech has been replaced with a "G" - or rather a "Dirty Mack"
I recently found some Revision3 feeds via XBMC and am looking foreword to giving it another chance. My take on the naming is: TechTV -> G4 -> Revision3. Third try is a charm!
I have to admit that it makes me sad as I sit here and watch weed smoking programing on the G4. Sure I like Ninja Warrior and Unbeatable Banzuke but come on, not tech related and there's not really much to learn from Japanese people running through obsticals.
Techtv taught me so much back in the day and inspired me to start building websites. Now I make a decent living from my websites and much of it is due to Leo, Kevin, Patrick and the rest of the techtv crew. Heck, I learned more from Leo and Kevin on techtv than I ever learned in my college computer classes lol.
Now that I think about it I think I'm going to add a tech room to my new chat and community site and dedicate it to the old techtv. Hey Leo, how about setting up a live chat with all of your old fans sometime? Heck, just get on your webcam and fire up your mic and you can do a help line episode live for old times sake lol.
Anyway, glad to see you're doing well post techtv Leo and thank you for all that you've done for me while techtv was alive.
So what motivates Leo? I'm not suggesting he is in anyway like that [scum-of-the-earth]. How can someone as genuine as he(him?) have survived to this point?
I believe Leo understands the new way and I say good luck, but hurry up though - I can't keep crossing my legs for too much longer!
I haven't had a chance yet but will be checking out twitter. Maybe I can get back to the good stuff there.
However, I'm glad that most of this happened because you guys are putting out incredible content now. So thanks for doing what you do. The programming everyone is putting out on the web is still great. So thanks for proving them wrong.
I was sad when G4 merged into it and gutted the shows and personalities. Now, G4 is nothing more than a cheap version of SpikeTV targeting pothead gamers, Between the forced "sex sells" bits and the ADD dysfunctional segments, I keep wondering when the channel will drop completely from the airwaves.
However, I think it's all working out for the best. Most of the people who worked at TechTV have moved onto better things. Some of those who now do IPtv are exactly where TechTV's evolution would have taken them anyways. As tech savvy people shift from watching TV to using PCs and Mobile devices for their entertainment. IPtv is where TechTV's true demographic is.
If you look hard enough there's a lot of what TechTV was on the web. They maybe low budget versions of the old shows; but without the producers to much everything up, It's allowing the personalities and content to shine.
P.S. I'm looking forward to your new homemade Tech show, Leo. I hope it goes well and you have fun with it. I'm sure i'll be checking it out.
BTW, God bless the person that mentioned the Commodore VIC-20! It was my first computer but when I tell people about it they always say that they never heard of it and think I'm talking about the Commodore 64. Remember the tape drives that used audio cassette tapes? Those were the days!
"Call-For-Help-a-Thon
the good old days
ZdTVTech-tv
RIP
May 11, 1998 -September 7, 2004.
September 7,2004 the day G4tv4 had decided to revamp The Screen Savers by making it more pop culture, Internet, and gaming-oriented.