The single biggest cultural benefit of the Internet is the ability to find and devour meaningful content. Yes, we often have to wade through an ocean of crap before we find it. But it’s there. And a lot of it is on YouTube. While rekindling my interest in radio and maker hobbies, one question always seemed to lead to another. I have found many answers on YouTube. But more than answers, I found inspiration. The quality of some of these videos is very good. So here is a quick look at four of my favorites. I would love to hear about yours.
I stumbled upon The Ben Heck Show while researching 3D Printers. Ben Heckendorn (top left) found his original fame taking apart, modifying and re-purposing video game consoles. More recently, he became the host of a popular online TV show sponsored by Element14, the design engineer community for sharing electronic engineering solutions. Three very useful episodes are Ben Heck Answers Your 3D Printer Questions, Let’s Try PCB Etching and CNC Router Tutorial. Ben combines theory and practice with hands on projects. He gives you confidence to try things.
A similar approach but with more of a wild man personality comes from Australia in the form of Australian electronics engineer Dave Jones (top right). His EEVBlog is approaching a thousand episodes featuring technical tutorials, equipment reviews, and of course, opinions. Like Ben, Dave takes the time to explain things. But where electronics and science are concerned, he dives deeper. He also has a lot of fun doing teardowns, occasionally rescuing consumer electronics from dumpsters, taking them apart, and actually explaining how they work in detail. In one episode, Dave takes you on a tour of the guts of a plasma television. EEVBlog is useful for learning about test equipment, especially oscilloscopes.
To learn a lot about 3D Printers, head over and spend some time on YouTube with German engineer Thomas Sanladerer (lower right). His videos include Tom’s Guide (how to) and Tom’s Reviews. They focus on build guides, tutorials, tips and basics around the open-source RepRap-style 3D printers.
Last but not least, I stumbled upon the amazing Khan Academy which provides free, world-class educational content. My first exposure to this resource was Crash Course Biology, a series of 40 micro-lectures by Hank Green (lower left) also available directly on YouTube. I highly recommend the Crash Courses as fast and fun ways to learn a lot about life and history. My favorite is Big History.
So, what do these video resources have in common? Two things. First, they represent the best of what the Internet should be, at least at this point in time. That is, individuals that care, communities that work together, sponsors that create value. Second, they represent a celebration of intellectual achievement put to good practical use. All these guys come across as “nerds” but in a way that is more mainstream than ever before.
Many years ago, I had a dream that one day people would be able to assemble their own personalized radio station. They would do this by finding the content and personalities they wanted to hear, and have these delivered when they wanted to hear them. This dream has become very real through YouTube.