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00:00This video is sponsored by Surfshark VPN.
00:03Where do I even start with this?
00:05I asked you guys on Twitter and Instagram
00:07for the biggest tech fails and disappointments of the year
00:11and there's so many to choose from.
00:13Let's start with quite a big one and it is still a bit of an open wound
00:16but I think we have to talk about Cyberpunk 2077.
00:19The first time ever a AAA game has been removed
00:23and refunds offered on console.
00:25Even the shareholders are threatening to sue CD Projekt Red.
00:29Don't get me wrong, it's a brilliant game
00:31if you're on a next-gen console or a high-end PC
00:34and haven't suffered from any game-breaking bugs
00:37but really it's a victim of its own hype and viral marketing.
00:40Give it another six months and maybe we'll see it turn into a success story
00:44a little bit like No Man's Sky perhaps.
00:46And credit to CDPR, their 1.05 and 06 patches
00:50have already made a big difference to performance and crashes
00:53especially on older consoles.
00:56But for now, I'm just enjoying all the memes and crazy bug compilations.
01:08Next up, I want to talk about graphics cards
01:10and you can probably guess why.
01:12Both Nvidia and AMD have just failed to meet the demand
01:15for their latest graphics cards.
01:17For Nvidia particularly, this has been going on for months now.
01:20I mean, their RTX 3000 series cards offer huge performance boosts
01:24and much better value for money than the previous gen
01:27so unsurprisingly, there's been unprecedented demand for them
01:30but it's been incredibly difficult to actually buy one.
01:33Although of course, the pandemic and scalpers have made things even worse.
01:37To get real with you for a second, I've made a whole bunch of videos
01:40on the 3000 series, reviews, roundups, testing it in Cyberpunk and all that
01:44and while it's been great to show off how capable they are
01:47and genuinely good value, it's just been really frustrating
01:50to say all this stuff to show them off
01:52but then you guys simply can't buy them.
01:54To be fair, it is just as bad with AMD
01:57not to mention how hard it's been to get a PS5 before Christmas
02:00although no doubt the pandemic's had a huge impact on production.
02:03So it's not just Nvidia, but I think stock issues
02:06have been one of the biggest tech fails of the year.
02:09Okay, we have to talk about Quibi
02:12which you've either never heard of
02:14or more likely just read the news about this up-and-coming streaming platform
02:18which was created by a former chairman of Disney Studios
02:21and had billions of investment
02:23has now shut up shop just months after first launching.
02:27So Quibi was kind of a mashup between YouTube and Netflix
02:31quick and accessible, but with high production, short TV shows.
02:34But with the pandemic basically getting rid of commutes for a lot of people
02:38a lack of any real must-watch content
02:40and hundreds of so-called executives
02:43who didn't really know what they were doing
02:45despite the best of intentions
02:47Quibi's going down as one of the biggest tech flops of the year.
02:50I'll tell you what isn't a tech fail though
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03:22Okay, this one is a little bit more controversial
03:25but I think Huawei has to be on this list.
03:28The P40 Pro and the Mate 40 Pro
03:30I think are two of the very best phones of the year
03:33especially in terms of design, camera quality and battery life
03:37but without Google Play services or access to the Play Store
03:40it's been incredibly hard to recommend them to the average consumer
03:43which is such a shame.
03:45Separately, I think the Huawei Matebooks
03:47continue to be among my favourite thin and light laptops
03:49but Huawei's phones specifically have been so hamstrung
03:52by the software restrictions
03:54that while there are workarounds
03:56with phone clone, downloading APKs
03:58and of course their Huawei App Gallery
04:00it's still a gigantic pain in the arse
04:02although maybe this is more of a shame than a fail situation
04:05but I am looking forward to seeing what Huawei does in 2021.
04:08Now sticking with phones, sort of
04:11the LG Wing and Microsoft Surface Duo
04:14both popped up in a bunch of your replies.
04:16Now I didn't actually get a chance to review them properly
04:19so no final judgements from me
04:21but the Duo, while offering an interesting mobile Windows form factor
04:24was just let down by dated hardware, rubbish cameras
04:28and a pretty hefty price tag.
04:30The LG Wing definitely got a more positive
04:32or at least curious reaction
04:34I mean the fully articulating second screen
04:36definitely turned heads
04:38and it looked great for shooting and watching video
04:40but it's just a bit impractical and gimmicky.
04:43However, I don't think either of them are really a fail
04:46because the last thing I want to do is
04:48discourage brands from innovating
04:50trying new things and experimenting
04:52that's what drives this tech industry forward
04:54and while we can easily criticise things
04:56for being gimmicky or a bit silly
04:58at least they're trying something different
05:00so even if maybe you shouldn't actually buy one
05:02it is great to see these sort of experimental
05:04innovative products
05:06and fingers crossed for better second gen models this year.
05:08Okay, moving on
05:10and there's just one word for this
05:12Exynos.
05:14I've made several videos basically ranting
05:16about Samsung's Exynos chips
05:18and how the S20 and the Note20 phones
05:20in the UK and other parts of the world
05:22simply aren't as good as the ones
05:24powered by Snapdragon chips
05:26which you get in, say, North America.
05:28Now fingers crossed the new Exynos
05:3021 will create some kind of parity
05:32between them but it's incredibly frustrating
05:34that what is essentially the same
05:36phone with the same price
05:38can be 20% less powerful
05:40and have an hour or two less battery in one
05:42country than another.
05:44I do appreciate Samsung giving Qualcomm some
05:46proper competition but not if the
05:48customer loses out.
05:50Okay, this one feels like a million years ago
05:52but do you remember back in May
05:54when the OnePlus 8 Pro came out
05:56and one of the new features was an infrared
05:58photochrome lens which
06:00in the face of it just gave everything a weird
06:02sepia negative look but we
06:04quickly realised it could see through some
06:06materials including plastics and
06:08even clothes. So privacy
06:10concerns around OnePlus's
06:12x-ray camera that can see through clothes
06:14got picked up pretty quick by news outlets.
06:16So it didn't take long for OnePlus
06:18to update and remove the feature
06:20which meant we basically ended up with one extra
06:22useless lens on the phone but it was
06:24definitely one of the bigger faux pas of the year.
06:26So lots of things have gone
06:28wrong in 2020, clearly
06:30but I'm a pretty positive guy, I like to
06:32look on the bright side of things so there
06:34were also some very big positive
06:36tech stories as well. Firstly
06:38Apple's M1 chip. It's not very
06:40often that we see a genuinely
06:42revolutionary jump in PC hardware
06:44but the M1 just blows the
06:46Intel Macs out of the water
06:48and for some apps that are optimised for Apple
06:50Silicon, the entry-level MacBook Air
06:52is faster than a top-spec
06:54Pro 16. I actually had
06:56the opportunity to interview two senior
06:58Apple VPs about it as well as
07:00review the MacBook Air and Pro
07:02and it's properly exciting stuff.
07:04We've also had the big console
07:06launches this year which some of you
07:08will probably think is a massive fail
07:10especially if you still can't get your hands on a PS5
07:12or a Series X but both Sony
07:14and Microsoft's next-gen consoles
07:16are huge leaps forward.
07:18Performance, load times, even
07:20how they boost old games. And for the
07:22£450 or $500
07:24price tag, a similarly specced
07:26gaming PC would cost you probably
07:28three times more. And also I think
07:30the DualSense controller is one of the big
07:32surprise highlights of the PS5.
07:34So while there aren't a ton of next-gen
07:36games just yet and they're still
07:38kind of hard to come by, I think the PS5
07:40and the Series X deserve a mention here.
07:42Another big success story
07:44is video conferencing apps.
07:46Your Teams and your Zooms and your
07:48Skypes and Discords. As
07:50annoying and frustrating as those Zoom meetings
07:52can be, I think it would have made this pandemic
07:54a whole lot harder both professionally
07:56and socially, hanging out with your friends.
07:58Which brings me to the big one.
08:00The most underrated big tech
08:02success story of the year. All the
08:04scientists, engineers, technicians
08:06and doctors who have worked together
08:08to come up with a COVID vaccine
08:10in about 10 months.
08:12When science, technology and
08:14dare I even say humanity comes together
08:16we can really achieve great things.
08:18Of course lots of money also
08:20helped make this possible so they could streamline
08:22the process, but I think the
08:24important thing is to not get bogged down
08:26by the silly cyberpunk glitches
08:28and the Apple headphone cases
08:30that look like bras or the fact that
08:32graphics cards are still out of stock.
08:34We forget that tech literally changes the world
08:36all the time. I love the fact
08:38that they're trying something new and if they have
08:40failed or if something has disappointed
08:42at least they've tried. And most importantly
08:44particularly say in the case of
08:46CD Projekt Red, they are doing their best
08:48to turn things around and fix things
08:50in cyberpunk. So if you fail
08:52that's fine, learn from your mistakes
08:54and then make it even better, but
08:56good on you for trying. What about you though?
08:58What do you think has been the biggest disappointments
09:00and maybe even the biggest win in the world
09:02of tech and gaming this year? Let me
09:04know in the comments below and can't wait
09:06to show you all the great tech coming
09:08in 2021. So stay tuned.
09:10Oh and also don't forget to give
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