1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:05,520 As tech enthusiasts and gamers, are we not all sick and tired of being punching bags? 2 00:00:05,520 --> 00:00:13,760 Yeah! Yeah! I mean, not only does it feel like truly innovative new gadgets are few and far between these 3 00:00:13,760 --> 00:00:19,320 days, but the prices for them have gone from expensive to ridiculous faster than a cod 4 00:00:19,320 --> 00:00:25,240 lobby turns racist. And the worst part, the worst part is the reason for it. 5 00:00:25,240 --> 00:00:30,200 These chips that are supposed to be affordable aren't because they're being hoarded by a 6 00:00:30,200 --> 00:00:35,880 bunch of jackasses for the sole purpose of creating the giant slop creature that's trying 7 00:00:35,880 --> 00:00:40,600 to take our jobs. Is there any good news? 8 00:00:40,600 --> 00:00:47,200 Yes, there is a lot of bad stuff happening right now, but a part of the problem is the 9 00:00:47,200 --> 00:00:53,280 way that RageBait generates more clicks, incentivizing negative news to spread, and so I think it's 10 00:00:53,280 --> 00:00:59,240 more important than ever to take a step back and appreciate some of the positive things 11 00:00:59,240 --> 00:01:03,800 happening in tech, because there's actually a lot more happening than most of us probably 12 00:01:03,800 --> 00:01:09,280 realize. For starters, some really smart creators have demonstrated how unsustainable the current 13 00:01:09,280 --> 00:01:16,040 AI bubble is, which gives me real hope that while AI in some form is clearly here to stay, 14 00:01:16,040 --> 00:01:22,720 this dystopian tech bro infinite money glitch dumpster fire isn't. 15 00:01:22,960 --> 00:01:26,080 There are even upsides to some of the things that get us down. 16 00:01:26,080 --> 00:01:31,880 No one likes waiting longer for a new console or a GPU, but everyone likes it when developers 17 00:01:31,880 --> 00:01:38,360 optimize their new games for those older systems, especially when the broader economy is suffering. 18 00:01:38,360 --> 00:01:44,280 And while Microsoft seems determined to make Windows 11 as crappy as possible, in the background, 19 00:01:44,280 --> 00:01:49,200 the year of the Linux desktop is quickly turning from a meme into a reality. 20 00:01:49,200 --> 00:01:52,360 Just like I'm turning this segue into our sponsor. 21 00:01:52,360 --> 00:01:57,200 You know, it's easy to get lost in the recent headlines and overlook just how much cheaper 22 00:01:57,200 --> 00:02:02,160 consumer technology has actually become compared to just about any other time in my life. 23 00:02:02,160 --> 00:02:06,040 I mean, it's tempting for us to think, well, of course there'll be a new chip next year 24 00:02:06,040 --> 00:02:10,920 that's better in every way and also less expensive, but my recent factory tours over 25 00:02:10,920 --> 00:02:16,960 in Asia really opened my eyes to the incredible talent, not to mention the R&D expense that 26 00:02:16,960 --> 00:02:23,560 goes into making everything from tiny SSDs to giant TVs as affordable as possible for 27 00:02:23,560 --> 00:02:27,080 us. I mean, look at this glue robot, for instance. 28 00:02:27,080 --> 00:02:33,800 They built this for the express purpose of saving just a few pennies per TV. 29 00:02:33,800 --> 00:02:38,960 That doesn't sound like much, but it's this kind of obsessive optimization that has enabled 30 00:02:38,960 --> 00:02:46,000 flat screen TVs to completely defy inflation for decades now in spite of ever rising materials 31 00:02:46,280 --> 00:02:53,080 and labor costs. So when people ask me, how do you keep your joy and enthusiasm for tech? 32 00:02:53,080 --> 00:03:01,360 That's the first thing I think of. Even more broadly, as the price of food, fuel, and housing has skyrocketed relative to earnings, 33 00:03:01,360 --> 00:03:06,800 consumer tech items like VR headsets, cell phones, game consoles, cameras, and gaming 34 00:03:06,800 --> 00:03:12,920 PCs have continually leveled up in their capabilities while staying within or at least 35 00:03:12,920 --> 00:03:16,320 pretty close to their traditional price bands. 36 00:03:16,320 --> 00:03:22,280 And that's even after the insane pricing surges that we've seen in GPUs and, more recently, 37 00:03:22,280 --> 00:03:27,800 the RAM apocalypse. Look, I'm not going to tell you everything is as affordable as I'd like it to be, or 38 00:03:27,800 --> 00:03:33,800 as it should be, I literally just wrote a video about how awful the RAM situation is. 39 00:03:33,800 --> 00:03:38,880 But I do think part of the path to greener mental pastures is reminding ourselves that 40 00:03:38,880 --> 00:03:43,960 a dollar buys a lot more tech today than it ever has. 41 00:03:43,960 --> 00:03:50,280 Today, you can build an $800 gaming PC with a 12 Gigabyte GPU that will handle high-end 42 00:03:50,280 --> 00:03:58,640 1080p and even 1440p gaming, and that includes a free copy of Battlefield f***ing 6. 43 00:03:58,640 --> 00:04:05,200 In 1993, that would have gotten you, let's see, not even this PC that was so mind-bogglingly 44 00:04:05,200 --> 00:04:08,720 affordable that the LA Times wrote an article about it. 45 00:04:08,720 --> 00:04:12,760 Obviously, I understand that that is not an apples-to-apples comparison. 46 00:04:12,760 --> 00:04:16,160 Back then, an entire family would have shared that one computer. 47 00:04:16,160 --> 00:04:20,840 But the modern world demands everyone have access to their own device to function now. 48 00:04:20,840 --> 00:04:26,360 But hey, if you're only after basic functionality, the price floor goes even lower. 49 00:04:26,360 --> 00:04:32,240 Chromebooks. They might not be the sexiest thing, but they are regularly available at prices that would 50 00:04:32,240 --> 00:04:38,600 allow a family of five to each have their own device for what is still less than that 51 00:04:38,600 --> 00:04:43,440 1993 PC. And that's even ignoring inflation. 52 00:04:43,440 --> 00:04:47,080 Of course, not everyone wants a Chromebook. 53 00:04:47,080 --> 00:04:50,960 So what about the enthusiast here? Same thing. 54 00:04:50,960 --> 00:04:56,240 Here's an ultimate 4K gaming build that we did 11 years ago. 55 00:04:56,240 --> 00:05:01,920 By basically every single measure, modern buyers have it better. 56 00:05:02,880 --> 00:05:07,400 Without putting any work or research into this, I can just click on magnificent AMD gaming 57 00:05:07,400 --> 00:05:13,520 slash streaming PC on the front page of PC Partpaker and get a machine that's over $1,000 58 00:05:13,520 --> 00:05:16,800 less and is better in every conceivable way. 59 00:05:16,800 --> 00:05:22,160 Sometimes I think we get a little loss in the sauce when it comes to performance expectations. 60 00:05:22,160 --> 00:05:27,820 There are absolutely poorly optimized titles, looking at you, Cities Skylines, too. 61 00:05:27,820 --> 00:05:33,740 But in general, I think we have to come to accept that 8 million pixels is a lot. 62 00:05:33,740 --> 00:05:38,980 It was hard to drive then, and it's hard to drive now, especially as gamers' expectations 63 00:05:38,980 --> 00:05:47,300 for lighting and visual fidelity continue to grow. The PC gaming industry has smacked us around a little, but it's by and large been pretty 64 00:05:47,300 --> 00:05:50,380 good to us. And we're not just talking about the hardware. 65 00:05:50,380 --> 00:05:54,260 I picked up a copy of an older double A game the other day so that my daughter and I could 66 00:05:54,260 --> 00:05:57,420 play it together. It was under $5. 67 00:05:57,420 --> 00:06:04,020 Truly. Glory B to Gay Ben, who half-blessed us with his winter sale bounty, and okay, not everyone 68 00:06:04,020 --> 00:06:08,180 wants to play a 17-year-old strategy game, but how about this? 69 00:06:08,180 --> 00:06:14,700 I also just picked up Expedition 33, the literal game of the year, for just over $40. 70 00:06:14,700 --> 00:06:20,300 I mean, when I was a kid, I paid $50 for Pilot Wings, which would barely even qualify as a 71 00:06:20,300 --> 00:06:29,460 Mario Party minigame these days. And I get that this might come across a little bit back in my day, but I do generally stand 72 00:06:29,460 --> 00:06:35,220 behind my belief that gaming is, pound for pound, the best value entertainment that you 73 00:06:35,220 --> 00:06:41,420 can buy. Five out of six of the Game of the Year nominees this year can be had for less than 50 US dollars, 74 00:06:41,420 --> 00:06:47,140 and each of them will last you many hours. And that's something we should take a moment to appreciate. 75 00:06:47,140 --> 00:06:50,340 Do it. Drop a little note to your favorite indie game developer. 76 00:06:50,340 --> 00:06:54,580 I'm sure it's going to brighten their day. I picked Radical Fish. 77 00:06:54,580 --> 00:07:00,260 So mathematically, then, there's a pretty easy case that we shouldn't be mad at the 78 00:07:00,260 --> 00:07:05,500 talented people who create the products and experiences that we love so much, and yet 79 00:07:05,500 --> 00:07:08,500 we are mad. We're super mad. 80 00:07:08,500 --> 00:07:17,020 So why is that? Well, that's going to be a deep one-to-one pack because it is both kind of hard to justify, 81 00:07:17,020 --> 00:07:22,700 as we've demonstrated already, and yet still also completely understandable. 82 00:07:22,700 --> 00:07:27,740 Let's talk about that. I don't know about you, but my housing costs have gone from less than 20% of my monthly 83 00:07:27,740 --> 00:07:30,860 expenses to above 40%. 84 00:07:30,860 --> 00:07:36,900 So sure, yeah, my Xbox controller might cost the same as it did 18 years ago, but the share 85 00:07:36,900 --> 00:07:42,940 of my disposable income that I can allocate to it is being chipped away on all sides. 86 00:07:42,940 --> 00:07:47,100 And I recognize that I am one of the lucky ones. I didn't go into major debt for school. 87 00:07:47,100 --> 00:07:50,940 My parents gave me a deal in my first car, and I stayed healthy enough that I've never 88 00:07:50,940 --> 00:07:54,460 missed more than a couple of days of work for an hockey injury here or there. 89 00:07:54,460 --> 00:08:00,020 When you feel like things have gotten harder, it's not your imagination, and it sure as 90 00:08:00,020 --> 00:08:09,660 hell isn't your avocado toast. You are right to be tired of hearing, um, actually, it's not more expensive if you account 91 00:08:09,660 --> 00:08:15,060 for inflation. Yes, inflation is part of the equation. 92 00:08:15,060 --> 00:08:19,860 But it doesn't tell the whole story, and it can also be a bulls*** way to justify the 93 00:08:19,860 --> 00:08:26,340 rising cost of everything and normalize corporate greed that directly affects wages. 94 00:08:26,340 --> 00:08:32,140 A better measure of affordability over time is consumer buying power, which has fallen 95 00:08:32,140 --> 00:08:39,220 behind inflation for decades. Couple that with corporate consolidation and the new threat of AI. 96 00:08:39,220 --> 00:08:45,660 No wonder people are at their breaking points, but I do want to make sure that we're not 97 00:08:45,660 --> 00:08:50,740 muddling our passion for technology and our anger about the state of the world. 98 00:08:50,740 --> 00:08:58,620 Let's look at the affordability of tech a different way. By tracking it relative to wage growth, which is broadly considered a more representative 99 00:08:58,620 --> 00:09:08,380 measure than just raw inflation. According to Fred from 1995 to 2024, there was just over a 40% increase in real median 100 00:09:08,380 --> 00:09:16,180 personal income. That means that if we compare the $300 launch price of the PS1 to the current price of the 101 00:09:16,180 --> 00:09:21,260 PS5, we're actually tracking pretty damn close. 102 00:09:21,260 --> 00:09:25,460 Not with inflation, but with real world wage increases. 103 00:09:25,460 --> 00:09:30,540 Yes, I know that the base PS5 doesn't come with the Blu-ray drive, free cloud saves, 104 00:09:30,540 --> 00:09:38,020 or even online play. But neither did the PS1, and it's not hard to find similar examples where the tech industry 105 00:09:38,020 --> 00:09:43,460 has come through for us, delivering more value over time rather than less. 106 00:09:43,460 --> 00:09:47,740 It's also not that hard to find areas where we've been let down though. 107 00:09:47,740 --> 00:09:52,580 Hard. Gotcha Mechanics and in-game gambling have created financial incentives for developers 108 00:09:52,580 --> 00:09:56,540 to prey on people with addictive personalities, which is something I fell victim to. 109 00:09:56,540 --> 00:10:01,140 I actually opened up about it on WAN Show. It really sucks. 110 00:10:01,140 --> 00:10:07,700 With that said, I might just be the biggest PS1 fanboy this side of Pluto, and even I 111 00:10:07,700 --> 00:10:12,740 will literally slap anyone who says that it provides a better overall experience for 112 00:10:12,740 --> 00:10:16,500 most people than a PS5. It was incredible. 113 00:10:16,500 --> 00:10:19,740 It was influential. It was my personal favorite. 114 00:10:19,740 --> 00:10:25,420 But let's be honest, the PS5 library has way more games that people want to play today. 115 00:10:25,420 --> 00:10:31,660 And while few of them are PS5 titles in the traditional exclusive sense, that's great. 116 00:10:31,660 --> 00:10:34,700 Better access to games is what we were fighting for. 117 00:10:34,700 --> 00:10:40,300 Right? Not everything's going our way, but hey, it's good to celebrate wins, right? 118 00:10:40,300 --> 00:10:46,900 And cross-platform compatibility was a huge one for both consumer choice and for affordability. 119 00:10:46,900 --> 00:10:55,860 Same goes for things like removable media. Do you remember when saving your game meant buying a proprietary 128 kilobyte memory card 120 00:10:55,860 --> 00:11:03,460 for almost $20? Now I can just pull the SD card out of my Switch and throw it into my laptop. 121 00:11:03,940 --> 00:11:07,540 This move towards industry standards affects more than just gaming. 122 00:11:07,540 --> 00:11:14,180 The introduction of USB-C, LTT cables coming soon by the way, was a watershed moment. 123 00:11:14,180 --> 00:11:19,980 I mean, many of you will remember that not that long ago, every single device you owned 124 00:11:19,980 --> 00:11:24,940 had a proprietary charger and a proprietary cable so that the manufacturer could milk 125 00:11:24,940 --> 00:11:32,340 you for accessories profit. These days, you can pack a single power brick into your LTT backpack and that'll work with 126 00:11:32,340 --> 00:11:36,020 your ASUS laptop, your Valve Steam Deck, your Apple iPhone, your Nintendo Switch, your 127 00:11:36,020 --> 00:11:39,500 Ugreen Power Bank, your Sennheiser headphones, and your Sony camera. 128 00:11:39,500 --> 00:11:43,060 Wow, that all fits in there. Huh. 129 00:11:43,060 --> 00:11:51,620 Nice. lttstore.com. But, while I meme on it, obviously, often, it's also important for me to point out that 130 00:11:51,620 --> 00:11:56,260 you don't need to buy this or any of the stuff that goes in it. 131 00:11:56,260 --> 00:12:01,300 Yeah, or any of the shiny gadgets that we show off on this channel. 132 00:12:01,300 --> 00:12:05,740 This is going to rub some people the wrong way, but I think a big part of why we're 133 00:12:05,740 --> 00:12:11,140 so angry right now is the unrealistic standards that social media creates. 134 00:12:11,140 --> 00:12:14,900 When Linus grew up, there were cell phones that cost $2,000. 135 00:12:14,900 --> 00:12:20,140 It's just that his parents didn't have it. But it didn't bother them because no one we knew had them. 136 00:12:20,140 --> 00:12:24,220 But now, when I go to a creator convention, there are literally people who gave me funny 137 00:12:24,220 --> 00:12:28,940 looks because I didn't have an iPhone at the time to tap and exchange information. 138 00:12:28,940 --> 00:12:34,020 I mean, even on channels that aren't constantly telling us that we need the latest and greatest. 139 00:12:34,020 --> 00:12:38,180 Here are a few recent LTTs about deal hunting and getting the most out of what you already 140 00:12:38,180 --> 00:12:44,900 have. It can be hard to unsee the performance of a 5090 on a tandem OLED display, and I get 141 00:12:44,900 --> 00:12:49,860 why that can be frustrating. But does that mean that we shouldn't cover them? 142 00:12:49,860 --> 00:12:55,380 LTT has always covered cutting-edge technologies, knowing that it's a dream for most people 143 00:12:55,380 --> 00:13:00,700 today. But thanks to the magic of rich people buying two of them, they're just going to become 144 00:13:00,700 --> 00:13:07,300 more accessible over time, either as the technology matures, or more directly on the second-hand 145 00:13:07,300 --> 00:13:12,060 market. I think another issue is the way that some media frame this conversation, telling you 146 00:13:12,060 --> 00:13:18,620 to be angry that a video card exists, but it was never targeted at the 99%. 147 00:13:18,620 --> 00:13:21,820 I don't have a 5090. Should I feel bad about my PC? 148 00:13:21,820 --> 00:13:27,060 F*** no. I'm running a B580, and yeah, maybe I can't run the latest games with all the bells and 149 00:13:27,060 --> 00:13:31,340 whistles at 4K, but I don't need that to enjoy myself, do I? 150 00:13:31,340 --> 00:13:39,020 And frankly, neither do you. Even if you're still running a second-gen i5 and NVIDIA GTX 1030, there is a wild world 151 00:13:39,020 --> 00:13:45,380 of older, emulated games that can be enjoyed on even modest hardware, often for free. 152 00:13:45,380 --> 00:13:52,740 We've said it before, but it's worth saying again. The point of this video, guys, is not to minimize the very real frustration that you and your 153 00:13:52,740 --> 00:14:02,420 family and friends might be facing right now. It is valid to be mad, maybe even cynical and jaded, but just because it's valid, does 154 00:14:02,420 --> 00:14:10,060 that necessarily mean it's helpful? Like, I could be pissed that Halo Infinite will never get a split-screen co-op mode, and 155 00:14:10,060 --> 00:14:16,260 I am a little, but I could also be excited for the coming surge of co-op-centric games 156 00:14:16,260 --> 00:14:23,300 that look freaking awesome. I could be mad that the PlayStation 6 is likely going to be delayed, not to mention 157 00:14:23,300 --> 00:14:30,300 more expensive because of the RAMpocalypse, and I am, but okay, bright side, I can also 158 00:14:30,300 --> 00:14:35,500 be happy that in these trying times, Rockstar is going to be forced to optimize GTA 6 for 159 00:14:35,500 --> 00:14:42,700 the hardware that gamers already own. I could also be disappointed that the Steam Machine isn't a cutting-edge FPS monster, 160 00:14:42,700 --> 00:14:48,900 but maybe it was time for someone with the influence of Valve to normalize just enjoying 161 00:14:48,900 --> 00:14:54,980 PC games rather than hyperfixating on graphical fidelity, while also low-key ending the Windows 162 00:14:54,980 --> 00:15:01,060 gaming monopoly. The point is that tech is supposed to help you, it's supposed to make your life better, 163 00:15:01,060 --> 00:15:05,700 it's not supposed to dictate your mood, and if you're already working on an angry comment 164 00:15:05,700 --> 00:15:12,300 about this video, I offer you this, a reminder that your mental health doesn't need to be 165 00:15:12,300 --> 00:15:16,340 shaped by tech bros who don't give a f*** out to you. 166 00:15:16,340 --> 00:15:21,220 Staying mad doesn't mean that you're being effective in the resistance, it just means 167 00:15:21,220 --> 00:15:27,060 that you are unhappy, which is a real downer, like, I don't even feel like doing this segue 168 00:15:27,060 --> 00:15:32,620 to our sponsor. If you guys enjoyed this video, we'd love to hear a few things that you're excited for 169 00:15:32,620 --> 00:15:37,220 or grateful for in the tech space, or even in the world, we could all use a little positivity 170 00:15:37,220 --> 00:15:41,940 these days, and if you want more positivity, go hug a loved one. 171 00:15:42,020 --> 00:15:45,580 Make a walk while listening to your favorite album of all time, or maybe go watch the video 172 00:15:45,580 --> 00:15:48,980 that I got to make with my son recently about him choosing a Kindle.