Hello friend,
After Apple announced the iPhone Duo, I had a spare half hour before a MacSparky Labs meetup about the new announcements. On a whim, I turned on the camera and talked through my thoughts on the new device. I posted the video a few days later without expecting much, but for whatever reason, the YouTube gods loved it. That little video now has over a million views.
Between the Field Guides and the MacSparky Labs, I've made thousands of videos. Very few of them get published publicly on YouTube, but I've been trying to do that a bit more lately. I'd like to hopefully get "found" by a few more like-minded people who may want to sign up for the newsletter or the Labs. I've also got a few things I want to get off my chest.
This unexpected viral video gave me a chance to see the impact of a million views on the MacSparkyverse. The answer, honestly, is not much. I didn't see much change in newsletter subscriptions, Labs subscriptions, or Field Guide sales. It did add a few more subscribers to my YouTube channel. I feel like that's good to know.
Granted, this video was just me talking about the new iPhone, and I didn't make any pitch for people to buy anything or sign up. That makes this a pretty limited test of what YouTube can do for the business. Still, I think it's a good data point. It doesn't change my opinion that I should be making a few public YouTubes every month, and I intend to do so.
There's also another piece of this. We all have to deal with metrics, whether you're a doctor, a plumber, or a silly nerd making videos about iPhones. It's very easy for us to let those metrics take the wheel. I can tell you that after my big successful video, there was a part of me … just for a minute … that thought, "Hey Sparky, how can you make every video a million-view video?" The answer is to start letting the algorithm drive and planning content around views rather than whatever it is I actually want to say.
Fortunately, I didn't think about that too long. I'm not looking to become a world-famous YouTuber here. This is just another little thing I want to do in addition to the rest of the things I do as MacSparky, and by no means is it the most important. It's a good reminder that it's very easy to turn views, praise, rankings, or other metrics in on themselves and let them quietly displace the purpose of the work.
For me, I'm always going to ask myself, "Would I still want to make this video if it got my usual number of views?" before I'll ask myself, "Is this topic going to blow the roof off YouTube?" I bet you've got a similar metric that could easily derail you. What's your test to make sure you don't fall into that trap?
Your pal,
David
P.S. Here's my most recent one, talking about where we should draw our lines with AI. You'll see that one's doing just fine, but isn't anywhere near the success of the iPhone Duo video.
The 2027 Focused Calendar Is Here
The Focused Wall Calendar for 2027 is now available. Mike and I have been working with the NeuYear folks for years to make a calendar that helps you see what you're getting yourself into. They're available now.
Order the 2027 Focused Calendar.
This Week in the MacSparky-Verse
Here's what ran at MacSparky.com this week.
In the MacSparky Labs, we covered a lot:
- Cocoatech announced a Path Finder discount for Labs members.
- I posted the recording of our Deep Dive on local and private AI on a Mac.
- I made a video on Maclock, the miniature Macintosh clock with a floppy-disk power switch.
- I tried Instinct AI in a video, testing an assistant that works over text messages.
- I published The Lab Report podcast on the iPhone Duo's first reviews and the apps adapting to its extra screen.
Next week, we're getting together for the Meditations for Mortals book club.
That was a single week, and the Labs run like this every week. If that sounds like your kind of place, come join us.
Your Mac, Now With a Soundboard: Farrago from Rogue Amoeba (Sponsor)
This week’s newsletter is sponsored by Farrago, from my friends at Rogue Amoeba.
Farrago turns your Mac into a soundboard. Load it up with sound effects, music beds and pre-recorded segments, then play any of them instantly with a single keypress or click. Arrange your tiles in a grid for fast access, or switch to List mode and run a show in order. Podcasters, streamers and theatre folks love it, and it can make your next video call a lot more fun.
It’s not just about the keyboard, either. You can drive Farrago from MIDI controllers, OSC or a Stream Deck. And the new Farrago 2.2 brings much deeper Shortcuts support: new actions play an entire sound set or reconfigure one, so your soundboard can become part of the automations you already run. You can even trigger your own shortcuts from inside Farrago.
Farrago has a free trial, so you can put it through its paces first. And as a MacSparky reader, you can save 20% on Farrago, or anything else from Rogue Amoeba, with discount code SPARKYNEWS1026 at their online store through November 15.
My thanks to Rogue Amoeba for supporting MacSparky.