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Every now and then I find a video tutorial for some computer thing very helpful—specifically, the kind where someone does something beginning to end with a scre

Every now and then I find a video tutorial for some computer thing very helpful—specifically, the kind where someone does something beginning to end with a screencast—simply because every single damn text tutorial was skipping one or more steps or pieces of context that I guess they thought were too obvious to mention. This is usually for set-up or config stuff, though. For programming I agree that videos are almost universally painful to watch and low-value. I can't begin to understand people who head straight for YouTube when picking up e.g. a new programming language or library(!). However, for cooking technique and building/home-repair/car-repair, videos are a game changer. Simply amazing. Actually, that goes for sports stuff, too. I find reading about all those things nearly worthless, and watching someone do it while explaining, a much better use of my time.

NoPicklez 5y ago
For me it depends on my mood. If I am in a rush and I quickly need to find how to do something, it can be hard to find Youtubers who are concise. But other times I want to hear everything there is to know about the process. As a good example, across the PC building space, there are two Youtubers who actually refer to each other both Gamers Nexus and JayzTwoCents. In Jayz videos he knows he provides a summary so will refer you to GN for more in-depth detailed content.
tmm84 5y ago
I 100% agree that for repairing stuff and sports related topics that videos help a lot. When I used to work on my car it was helpful to see how things were typically done and then when I read the repair manual it filled in the gaps of knowledge because I knew the way it is usually done. When I was doing a lot of power lifting it was really helpful to learn from video how to do lifts safely and correctly. Then as I went from lifting to cycling and eventually to endurance running it provided me a way of learning good form by watching a real human explain and demonstrate instead of just imitating what I see in real life. Sometimes though technological tutorials/videos end up being this 80% junk to 20% treasure ratio for me. However, that 20% is stuff I have watched very intently and actually learned something.

NoPicklez 5y ago

For me it depends on my mood. If I am in a rush and I quickly need to find how to do something, it can be hard to find Youtubers who are concise. But other times I want to hear everything there is to know about the process. As a good example, across the PC building space, there are two Youtubers who actually refer to each other both Gamers Nexus and JayzTwoCents. In Jayz videos he knows he provides a summary so will refer you to GN for more in-depth detailed content.

tmm84 5y ago

I 100% agree that for repairing stuff and sports related topics that videos help a lot. When I used to work on my car it was helpful to see how things were typically done and then when I read the repair manual it filled in the gaps of knowledge because I knew the way it is usually done. When I was doing a lot of power lifting it was really helpful to learn from video how to do lifts safely and correctly. Then as I went from lifting to cycling and eventually to endurance running it provided me a way of learning good form by watching a real human explain and demonstrate instead of just imitating what I see in real life. Sometimes though technological tutorials/videos end up being this 80% junk to 20% treasure ratio for me. However, that 20% is stuff I have watched very intently and actually learned something.