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I could watch stuff like this all day. Tim's stuff is so great. Easy to be jealous of, since being YouTuber seems easy, but to make quality content, it really

I could watch stuff like this all day. Tim's stuff is so great. Easy to be jealous of, since being YouTuber seems easy, but to make quality content, it really can't be. And then he's going around the moon, it's really mind blowing to see the success he's had. His interviews with Musk are a treasure trove as well, whatever you think of Musk.

adolph 4y ago
To pile on the Tim Dodd praise, be sure to check out his music too (which is used in the videos). Solid stuff that reminds me of Tycho. So glad he got picked for the Dear Moon mission.
samwillis 4y ago
> His interviews with Musk are a treasure trove as well, whatever you think of Musk. My main take away from those interviews is just how knowledgable Tim is, he's able to engage in low level and in depth conversations about how these engines work. It's not just superficial high level knowledge from making videos, he is thinking himself how to optimise and improve these things, and leading that conversation. The passion for it is electric. In another life Tim would have been an incredible engineer, but that value he brings as an educator is immeasurable. Thats how he has earnt his way to a space flight. (They also show that the common argument that Elon doest know his stuff is wrong (at least for rockets), but I really don't what to derail this conversation into that.)
- oger 4y ago
  It's absolutely worth to go on a tangent here - Tim did a great job in explaining Elon (or showing him to the public in a probably not too filtered way).
- ragebol 4y ago
  Absolutely. Imagine if all journalists had this level of depth in all of the topic they covered? I don't think that's possible though.
  - prox 4y ago
    I agree. You need that intersection of interest, presentable qualities (listening, digesting,responding, speaking) and quest for accuracy. Hard to get those all in one person.
  - nordsieck 4y ago
    > Imagine if all journalists had this level of depth in all of the topic they covered? I don't think that's possible though. It helps a lot that Youtube seems to have become the home of long form video. Not really something that fits into traditional media. But for the people that really want to dive deep into a topic, it's great that there are now often high quality creators that cater to those tastes.
    - ragebol 4y ago
      Does not fit in traditional media indeed. When I was a kid/teen, Discovery Channel, at least in my native Netherlands, had some interesting content. I could also gobble up something like How it's Made all day. Content like Tim's could definitely fit in there too. YouTube enabled everyone to publish this type of content, for good and bad...
      - kitsunesoba 4y ago
        When I was younger I loved shows like Modern Marvels on History Channel that presented the engineering behind the various amazing everyday things that we take for granted in a format accessible to the layman. It's depressing that good shows like that were killed off in favor of the "reality" TV and conspiracy/aliens/etc show junk food that took over Discovery and History from the mid-00s onward.
- LargeTomato 4y ago
  To be honest he's regurgitating a lot of information. He has large gaps in his knowledge but presents himself as extremely knowledgeable. Understanding a rocket engine as a layman is easier than understanding a diesel engine. EDA acts like he's a genius but he is not. I work in space. Some of my coworkers have met EDA. He is insufferable and extremely arrogant. A very difficult person to be around.
  - peterfirefly 4y ago
    > He has large gaps in his knowledge Yes. > but presents himself as extremely knowledgeable. No.
    - LargeTomato 4y ago
      Yeah he has an extreme level of confidence. Tweeting Elon about how to architect the landing fins to use "fish scale biomimickry"? That's ridiculous.
      - LawTalkingGuy 4y ago
        He didn't. He tweeted that he's surprised the tiles don't need to be overlapped to avoid blowing off but didn't suggest that Elon change them. https://mobile.twitter.com/Erdayastronaut/status/1442631530224959488 https://mobile.twitter.com/Erdayastronaut/status/14426315302...
    - JshWright 4y ago
      Perhaps he has gotten better at that in recent years. I got put off his early content for the very that very reason and haven't bothered to go back.
  - sho_hn 4y ago
    > but presents himself as extremely knowledgeable I don't get this sense at all. I've been watching his channel for a couple of years, and I've consistently found him to portray himself as a fan/enthusiast trying his best to understand and summarize complex information he doesn't have first-hand knowledge of. He's never pretended to be an engineer. I think the value is in getting inspired to dig deeper when he shows you something interesting.
localplume 4y ago
He, like most big Youtubers, probably have a large crew of people working with them. The article was written by Trevor Sesnic, the video was likely edited by others, I don't know if he did the graphics, but Tim still did a lot (and arguably did the most fun stuff). Smaller Youtubers need to do all of that, and from what I've heard editing is the absolute worst given how time consuming it is. Many Youtubers struggle with burnout centered around how time consuming editing becomes. Tim's content is really great though, and he does a fantastic job of explaining complex topics in a welcoming way. Very similar to smartereveryday IMO, where it is just really engaging and informative content presented in a great way.
- MichaelZuo 4y ago
  From the about page: > In 2019 the team grew from just Tim to a small army of incredible helpers who make this website amazing, the videos higher quality, and help foster a fun and positive online community. So the 2017-2019 period where the channel took off was all done by him solo, apparently.
  - somenameforme 4y ago
    I'd also add this standard. Another amazing YouTuber is Veritasium. He went from [1] to [2]. The production quality is more than slightly improved, but the "spirit" remains identical. And I think that spirit is what drives success or failure. The production quality is just icing. [1] - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JUJPyQtoB5E https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JUJPyQtoB5E [2] - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5eW6Eagr9XA https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5eW6Eagr9XA
    - Retric 4y ago
      Veritasium videos are often subtly misleading which really annoys me. It’s great for views, but terrible for science education.
      - jaywalk 4y ago
        Whenever he drops a new video, I just look for the "Here's how Veritasium was wrong" videos to get the real story.
deleted 4y ago
[deleted]
lhoff 4y ago
He recently was a guest in Lex Fridmans podcast. https://lexfridman.com/tim-dodd/ https://lexfridman.com/tim-dodd/
dotnet00 4y ago
Tim's stuff certainly has the information content nailed down better than most typical "science" youtubers, but he comes off as slightly overexcited at times, which brings up negative associations with typical misleading pop science rags for me.
speed_spread 4y ago
> whatever you think of Musk Musk is a clown but I'll give him one thing: he cares about technology. That's something that very few modern CEO in big tech have and probably gives him the edge in making his project successful.
- sangnoir 4y ago
  > Musk is a clown but I'll give him one thing: he cares about technology. His hot takes on software / software architecture have been disappointing[1], and made me question the validity of his assertions in domains I have no expertise in (rocketry, computer vision and manufacturing). 1. Also, he wants to remain in charge of "Servers and Software" at Twitter even after (if?) He steps down as CEO.
  - speed_spread 4y ago
    I was thinking of pre-Twitter Musk. I'm not sure what game the clown is playing now or even if it's a game at all anymore. It's so bad that it's almost like a trash artistic performance. GG Allin billionaire.
hoot 4y ago
Did anybody else feel like the musk interview got really awkward towards the end? It seemed like he became really bored of it and just shut down.
- raylad 4y ago
  Tim was trying to be too knowledgeable and not letting Musk shine enough. I would be surprised if Musk gives him another interview any time soon.

adolph 4y ago

To pile on the Tim Dodd praise, be sure to check out his music too (which is used in the videos). Solid stuff that reminds me of Tycho. So glad he got picked for the Dear Moon mission.

samwillis 4y ago

> His interviews with Musk are a treasure trove as well, whatever you think of Musk. My main take away from those interviews is just how knowledgable Tim is, he's able to engage in low level and in depth conversations about how these engines work. It's not just superficial high level knowledge from making videos, he is thinking himself how to optimise and improve these things, and leading that conversation. The passion for it is electric. In another life Tim would have been an incredible engineer, but that value he brings as an educator is immeasurable. Thats how he has earnt his way to a space flight. (They also show that the common argument that Elon doest know his stuff is wrong (at least for rockets), but I really don't what to derail this conversation into that.)

oger 4y ago
It's absolutely worth to go on a tangent here - Tim did a great job in explaining Elon (or showing him to the public in a probably not too filtered way).
ragebol 4y ago
Absolutely. Imagine if all journalists had this level of depth in all of the topic they covered? I don't think that's possible though.
- prox 4y ago
  I agree. You need that intersection of interest, presentable qualities (listening, digesting,responding, speaking) and quest for accuracy. Hard to get those all in one person.
- nordsieck 4y ago
  > Imagine if all journalists had this level of depth in all of the topic they covered? I don't think that's possible though. It helps a lot that Youtube seems to have become the home of long form video. Not really something that fits into traditional media. But for the people that really want to dive deep into a topic, it's great that there are now often high quality creators that cater to those tastes.
  - ragebol 4y ago
    Does not fit in traditional media indeed. When I was a kid/teen, Discovery Channel, at least in my native Netherlands, had some interesting content. I could also gobble up something like How it's Made all day. Content like Tim's could definitely fit in there too. YouTube enabled everyone to publish this type of content, for good and bad...
    - kitsunesoba 4y ago
      When I was younger I loved shows like Modern Marvels on History Channel that presented the engineering behind the various amazing everyday things that we take for granted in a format accessible to the layman. It's depressing that good shows like that were killed off in favor of the "reality" TV and conspiracy/aliens/etc show junk food that took over Discovery and History from the mid-00s onward.
LargeTomato 4y ago
To be honest he's regurgitating a lot of information. He has large gaps in his knowledge but presents himself as extremely knowledgeable. Understanding a rocket engine as a layman is easier than understanding a diesel engine. EDA acts like he's a genius but he is not. I work in space. Some of my coworkers have met EDA. He is insufferable and extremely arrogant. A very difficult person to be around.
- peterfirefly 4y ago
  > He has large gaps in his knowledge Yes. > but presents himself as extremely knowledgeable. No.
  - LargeTomato 4y ago
    Yeah he has an extreme level of confidence. Tweeting Elon about how to architect the landing fins to use "fish scale biomimickry"? That's ridiculous.
    - LawTalkingGuy 4y ago
      He didn't. He tweeted that he's surprised the tiles don't need to be overlapped to avoid blowing off but didn't suggest that Elon change them. https://mobile.twitter.com/Erdayastronaut/status/1442631530224959488 https://mobile.twitter.com/Erdayastronaut/status/14426315302...
  - JshWright 4y ago
    Perhaps he has gotten better at that in recent years. I got put off his early content for the very that very reason and haven't bothered to go back.
- sho_hn 4y ago
  > but presents himself as extremely knowledgeable I don't get this sense at all. I've been watching his channel for a couple of years, and I've consistently found him to portray himself as a fan/enthusiast trying his best to understand and summarize complex information he doesn't have first-hand knowledge of. He's never pretended to be an engineer. I think the value is in getting inspired to dig deeper when he shows you something interesting.

localplume 4y ago

He, like most big Youtubers, probably have a large crew of people working with them. The article was written by Trevor Sesnic, the video was likely edited by others, I don't know if he did the graphics, but Tim still did a lot (and arguably did the most fun stuff). Smaller Youtubers need to do all of that, and from what I've heard editing is the absolute worst given how time consuming it is. Many Youtubers struggle with burnout centered around how time consuming editing becomes. Tim's content is really great though, and he does a fantastic job of explaining complex topics in a welcoming way. Very similar to smartereveryday IMO, where it is just really engaging and informative content presented in a great way.

MichaelZuo 4y ago
From the about page: > In 2019 the team grew from just Tim to a small army of incredible helpers who make this website amazing, the videos higher quality, and help foster a fun and positive online community. So the 2017-2019 period where the channel took off was all done by him solo, apparently.
- somenameforme 4y ago
  I'd also add this standard. Another amazing YouTuber is Veritasium. He went from [1] to [2]. The production quality is more than slightly improved, but the "spirit" remains identical. And I think that spirit is what drives success or failure. The production quality is just icing. [1] - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JUJPyQtoB5E https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JUJPyQtoB5E [2] - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5eW6Eagr9XA https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5eW6Eagr9XA
  - Retric 4y ago
    Veritasium videos are often subtly misleading which really annoys me. It’s great for views, but terrible for science education.
    - jaywalk 4y ago
      Whenever he drops a new video, I just look for the "Here's how Veritasium was wrong" videos to get the real story.

deleted 4y ago

[deleted]

lhoff 4y ago

He recently was a guest in Lex Fridmans podcast. https://lexfridman.com/tim-dodd/ https://lexfridman.com/tim-dodd/

dotnet00 4y ago

Tim's stuff certainly has the information content nailed down better than most typical "science" youtubers, but he comes off as slightly overexcited at times, which brings up negative associations with typical misleading pop science rags for me.

speed_spread 4y ago

> whatever you think of Musk Musk is a clown but I'll give him one thing: he cares about technology. That's something that very few modern CEO in big tech have and probably gives him the edge in making his project successful.

sangnoir 4y ago
> Musk is a clown but I'll give him one thing: he cares about technology. His hot takes on software / software architecture have been disappointing[1], and made me question the validity of his assertions in domains I have no expertise in (rocketry, computer vision and manufacturing). 1. Also, he wants to remain in charge of "Servers and Software" at Twitter even after (if?) He steps down as CEO.
- speed_spread 4y ago
  I was thinking of pre-Twitter Musk. I'm not sure what game the clown is playing now or even if it's a game at all anymore. It's so bad that it's almost like a trash artistic performance. GG Allin billionaire.

hoot 4y ago

Did anybody else feel like the musk interview got really awkward towards the end? It seemed like he became really bored of it and just shut down.

raylad 4y ago
Tim was trying to be too knowledgeable and not letting Musk shine enough. I would be surprised if Musk gives him another interview any time soon.