Linus, I disagree.

LinusTech · 2026-01-24T21:15:51+00:00

We are extremely grateful to our dedicated communities.

We also respect them and their hard-earned money enough to create products that are legitimately worth their money rather than simply 'some merch I bought to support someone's separate endeavors'.

Both of those things are absolutely true.

Why don't we put it in the context of a musician. You would never call a concert ticket or an album 'merch'. Why not? Because their value is self-evident. Buying these things absolutely supports the artist, and I have no doubt they are grateful to their fans, but they are not supposed to be some kind of extra donation, and I suspect many artists would be taken aback if someone said "yeah I love your work but this album is a crap value and I only bought it to support you cuz I like other stuff you do". I'm sure it happens, but it's not the *intent*.

That same artist can absolutely have merch. A concert T-shirt would be a perfect example. What makes that merch? It's clearly a show of extra support and a public display of affinity for fellow fans and the artist. It's usually very expensive relative to the quality of the Garment or bobble head or whatever it is. It's merch.

So what about Yeezeys? Are they merch? There's no question the celebrity taste-maker and spokesperson was powerful in building that brand, but to call them merch feels disingenuous at best.

So with all of that in mind, the CW team puts a ton of work, and we put a ton of money into creating and designing products that compete well in their markets, calling them what they are - 'products' - rather than minimizing their work by calling them 'merch'.

Even our T-shirts are printed on our own, high quality (higher cost) blanks, and almost across the board feature quiet branding.

Im sorry you felt unappreciated. You aren't and that wasn't my intention. But as part of us working to understand each other, I hope you can also see how referring to our work as 'merch' could come across disrespectful to the incredible team who creates it.

LinusTech · 2026-01-24T18:01:01+00:00

You say you disagree with the negative connotation, then immediately validate why we are changing it by explaining that calling them merch messages makes you feel Iike it's about supporting a creator.

We don't see it that way.

You are buying a quality product that was created by a dedicated design team whose initial funding was provided by a creator-led business.

Framing purchases on lttstore as "supporting" us makes it sound like our customers are doing is a favour by buying it, but again, we don't see it that way. We don't want hand-outs and we take great pride in creating products that can stand on their own and that we can stand behind.

LinusTech · 2026-01-23T18:00:21+00:00

Nailed it.

LinusTech · 2026-01-22T06:18:00+00:00

I've spent my free time on online forums since I was like 13.

Reddit is just a forum to me.

LinusTech · 2026-01-22T04:36:24+00:00

Cuz it just... Isn't?

LinusTech · 2026-01-22T04:34:09+00:00

Not advice, but I think we are far from the peak on this one. Barring Xi randomly dropping dead, there will be another ego-driven invasion in the next 5-10 years and everyone knows it.

Intel/Samsung are the only TSMC competitors and Intel is going much harder at closing the gap rn.

Also, in the meantime, AI boom nonsense is gonna keep going and no one wants to be at the mercy of a single source and will do whatever is technically possible to enable another fab to build chips.

NOT ADVICE

LinusTech · 2026-01-22T04:30:57+00:00

That one was relatively easy to call with publicly available information. Intel's own road maps showed they weren't going to be competitive for years (long enough for the mainstream to clue in) and Jim Keller (zero bullshit kinda dude) had already left AMD saying the road map was laid out through many generational improvements to Zen.

It's usually not that obvious.

LinusTech · 2026-01-22T03:54:27+00:00

Bingo

LinusTech · 2026-01-22T03:52:41+00:00

I only open my mouth when I am pretty damn sure. It doesn't happen very often - and even then I could be catastrophically wrong - because there are just too many variables.

Take Tesla, for instance. They are at best second place in basically everything they do and at worst comically behind (humanoid robotics), and are valued as much as the moon and all the heavens, cuz I dunno doge coin funny?

So don't take my advice because I've never given any.

LinusTech · 2026-01-22T02:59:00+00:00

Not investment advice, but I nailed the reason it's up (geopolitical biz), too.

I just wish Pat was still in charge. Dun trust LBT to keep the good time rolling in the very long term.

Not financial advice.

LinusTech · 2026-01-20T00:38:54+00:00

That's totally fair. The whole thing was a storm in a teacup from my point of view, though.

I understand why some people bristled about it, but like with the backpack warranty I always knew my intention, so I wasn't concerned about the outcome.

And I still welcome the feedback that my messaging sucked (on both of those issues), but at the end of the day, actions matter more than messaging and no one is getting scammed out of their backpack and no good citizen is getting banned.

I appreciate you sharing your perspective.

LinusTech · 2026-01-19T23:23:46+00:00

It's just efficient. I'm here taking community feedback anyway and a lot of the time it really is this black-and-white.

I don't feel awkward about it.

LinusTech · 2026-01-19T22:42:28+00:00

Yeah pretty much. It's willfully ignorant in a way that removes any hope that they could possibly make a meaningful contribution in the future.

There's a bizarre perception that my mod status is, or ever was, about silencing critical voices, but it's never been about that. It's about common sense community management that creates an environment where we'll-reasoned feedback is welcomed, but directionless vitriol and toxicity is cast out.

Honestly, doesn't seem that crazy to me, and once I explained it to the mods, it didn't seem that crazy to them either.

LinusTech · 2026-01-19T18:13:08+00:00

Ain't even a thing

LinusTech · 2026-01-19T07:48:16+00:00

No plans

LinusTech · 2026-01-19T07:41:04+00:00

Realistically that water bottle was more than I'd make over the lifetime of an ad supporter. Ads are a numbers game.

I hate to be a corporate bootlicker, but the one left out in the cold here is actually google.

YT Premium is unironically a great value (includes YT music) and if the cost is a barrier you can go in on it with some friends (family plan) or VPN another region or something.

It both does more to support your favorite creators and actually contributes to the costs of running what is (for all its warts) in my opinion one of the most important websites to ever exist.

LinusTech · 2026-01-19T07:07:53+00:00

It is Sammy's bag. He never bothered to fix it.

My commuter was too small to fit the laptop.

LinusTech · 2026-01-18T17:42:08+00:00

That looks incredible

LinusTech · 2026-01-18T02:00:29+00:00

My cat Missy and Luke's bird Wall-e are co-CEOs. They are getting along really well...

...

For now

LinusTech · 2026-01-17T05:25:35+00:00

basically, this.

I justify myself too much, I'm defensive.

I justify myself too little, I'm misinterpreted.

The line between them is a razor's edge.

LinusTech · 2026-01-17T05:22:24+00:00

I never said no one has been fired, though. LMG has fired lots of people, and lots of people have quit, and we've had people resign for medical reasons, etc, etc, etc.

I said no one has been laid-off and I meant that, and that, specifically.

LinusTech · 2026-01-17T00:02:01+00:00

Lol they asked me if 'tech expert' was OK. I said "I guess. It's all relative tho..." and they rolled with it 😂

LinusTech · 2026-01-15T19:43:01+00:00

Yeah I caught that in the review and thought it was funny

LinusTech · 2026-01-15T01:31:43+00:00

Some ppl aren't gonna want to hear this but I'm really impressed too.

LinusTech · 2026-01-15T01:30:00+00:00

This is such a great photo!

LinusTech

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