What ever happened to "for love of hobby"?

Having been pretty involved with the beta testing for Byte Frost, I got to see a lot of review videos both from the usual youtube suspects as well as from new faces.  Almost every single one of these content creators had affiliate links in their descriptions ... many, ironically, to DJI lol.  I used to run some pretty active forums myself one for surfing and one for mini multirotors.  I recall there being an FTC rule that required bloggers to clearly state in the main content of the article whether you were compensated in any way to do the review.  Not sure whatever happened to that rule but I am sure some incarnation of it still exists.

I am not naive.  I've spent the majority of my life advising on distressed mergers and acquisitions and capital raising so believe you me, I've seen the worst of the worst.  My skill is to very quickly understand on an intimate level how an industry ticks and how a business makes a buck in that industry.  I spent over 2 decades honing that skill.  And I can tell you this affiliate links and sheisty youtube reviews and some friggin patreon account aint gonna cut it bruh ... unless you particularly like Cup 'O Noodle.

Or then maybe I am naive.  I've always been a romantic when it comes to my hobbies.  I recall being very active in promoting local surfboard shapers when the surfing industry was being inundated with "popouts" - mass produced foam surfboards from China flooding the market through Costco.  I guess in some way I see DJI as doing the same thing to this hobby.  And to see all these desperate people pitching DJI with their affiliate links just boggles my mind.  See, unlike in FPV, every single surfer whether kook or Kelly Slater banded together to defend our local shapers.  Here ... in FPV ... you got some of the biggest names pitching DJI.  Yes, I'm talking to you, "DJI Riot." 

And look, my point isn't to blindly defend the encumbant.  We would not have defended the local shapers if they were shaping us crap that may as well have been from China.  We were defending them because the products coming out of China were obviously VERY subpar - to a surfer that knew the difference.  Beginners were buying them up like bubble gum.  That took a huge chunk of money away from local shapers driving MANY of them out of business.  That was just wrong.

To be clear, I am not saying that DJI's products are subpar.  But with all the affiliate links and money being exchanged, how the heck are we supposed to know the truth????

Perhaps that's why I always come back to forums like intoFPV.  Here, the posts made by a lot of people I now recognize by name are for the most part for love of hobby.  It is a shame that has become a rarity these days.

Welp, Rotor Riot has been hemorrhaging money for years - I guess they have to keep the ship afloat somehow. They do tend to drop in a "*cough* sponsored by DJI *cough*" or "*mumble mumble* thanks for XHover for *mumble mumble*" in there somewhere when they have to.

The way I see it, you have 3 kinds of FPV content creators:

• Reviewers - these guys can't afford to not be impartial. When you suspect a reviewer is shilling, their content is dead. I'd probably lump the technical channels into this section.
  
• "Professionals" - Anyone who makes a living off of FPV. Rotor Riot and the higher-profile vlog-style people. I enjoy their content in a lot of cases, but I ain't taking buying advice from them. Putting out Youtube videos isn't enough to sustain a business. Not with the numbers FPV has. They're making money somewhere ...
  
• Soul surfers - People who fly for the fun, and don't make a living off FPV. As long as they're explicit about any sponsors they have, I'll still value their opinion.
  

Sure, DJI can sling money at all the 'influencers', but the world is not all going to switch to digital. And while there's demand, there will be supply. As for the state of the hobby? I'm actually more worried about FrSky at this point - I think they have the opportunity (and the temperament) to do more damage than DJI.

But at the end of the day: you're enjoying the air? Congratulations, you won ;-)

Thanks Banelle.

I think what I was getting at more is that the companies (DJI, Frsky, etc) are doing what they do ... pursuing profit. I'm more concerned about the customers. It seems they believe they are so entitled to make money in this industry - to your point, at any length - that we end up destroying ourselves.

I've seen this before. Desperation breeds all sorts of bad things.

I follow RR closely in particular their leader. I know his ilk VERY well. He is all marketing and zero finance. And his level of desperation is through the roof.

I agree, so many people with affiliate links and sponsered. I'm guessing also that some of it is implicite, without a contract. The reviewer receives the product and says good things so he keeps receiving stuff. To be honest RR is entertainment and for me not buying advice. I agree with Banelle except I think that some reviewers (like Oscar lol) have value to their opinion. Also I often look at multiple reviews.

(16-Oct-2019, 04:36 PM)the.ronin Wrote: I follow RR closely in particular their leader.  I know his ilk VERY well.  He is all marketing and zero finance.  And his level of desperation is through the roof.

That's 21st century business - grab all the eyeballs you can, then burn through venture capital while desperately trying to work out what your product is and how to monetise it, then implode, call yourself an entrepreneur and then slide into the next doomed, half-baked idea.

NOT THAT I'M A BITTER EX-START-UP EMPLOYEE OR ANYTHING ¬_¬

^^ BINGO!!

Interesting observations. 
Have a walk through the world of information security with me sometime. There is not a single platform, operating system or device depending on such outside the staunchly defended open-source community that does not profit in one way or another on some part of your thought process through carefully crafted strategies of targeted advertising. Anyone believing they make a buying decision without being influenced in some way against their will has only to read a few user agreements. That they invariably are invited to read but ignore. Then there's the darker side. Not going there. 
The implications for those associated with this hobby in any way, I leave to your imagination but I do suggest anyone who enjoys fpv, or quads in general, actively supports my brethren in the open-source community that live on the front lines and thanklessly, for the most part, continue to provide a source code everone can see but few think about as they carry around a powerful micro compter in their hands. Or fly one through the air. 
Not that I have reason to be a bitter information security professional -_-

(16-Oct-2019, 04:52 PM)Banelle Wrote: That's 21st century business - grab all the eyeballs you can, then burn through venture capital while desperately trying to work out what your product is and how to monetise it, then implode, call yourself an entrepreneur and then slide into the next doomed, half-baked idea.

NOT THAT I'M A BITTER EX-START-UP EMPLOYEE OR ANYTHING ¬_¬

anyone go to fyre festival?