YouTube: To record, or not to record?
I have a confession to make: if you know me and you’ve sent me a YouTube link about something technical - and the video was over 5 minutes long - then I’ve likely not bothered watching it.
Now it’s not that I’m ungrateful - oh no. It’s just I’m a bit of a luddite and find it much easier to process information when it’s written. I’m a bit like the timeless classic of a dash of bitters, a sprinkling of sugar, and a generous serving of whiskey - i.e. Old Fashioned. (Alternatively, I’m a pensioner hiding in a young man’s body, which could also explain my utter confusion with TikTok, top 40 music, and Apple AirPods.)
Yet here I am, contemplating throwing a few videos on to YouTube.
Discipline, Confidence and Wistfulness#
My reasons basically come down to three things:
- I lack the discipline to follow up on personal projects, or often to even write about them. A conversational approach to documenting things sounds good, and the accountability of having a running progress log will also be healthy.
- My confidence has hit quite a low in the past year or two, and that’s even impacted how I feel about driving pair programming sessions; this is hugely out of character for me! I figure that if you’re awkward pairing with one person, then pairing with the entire internet will likely make that feel like a walk in the park.
- Most importantly, I miss mentoring. Even as a contractor I always had the privilege of being able to mentor junior members of staff. This is sadly something I no longer have, and I genuinely miss the satisfaction of explaining things and trying to be helpful.
With those points in mind, I’m currently mulling over a few ideas for videos: a mixture of electronics, software engineering, and maybe some good ol’ garage tinkering thrown in for good measure. I actually have the scaffolding of two - rather dry - videos already lined up: an introduction to Bluetooth, and an introduction to digital circuit protocols - i.e. Dallas Single Wire, SPI, and I2C.
So watch this space!