Monday, March 13th 2017

Hype Trains and You: A PSA

Editorial by

Mar 13th, 2017 21:21 Discuss (74 Comments)

Hype Trains are bad. They are not just bad because a random frog on the internet told you so either, they are bad because they build upon themselves to the point that you would believe a random frog on the internet if he said something beneficial about your chosen product.

It's not just technology either. It can happen in politics, religion, whatever. But they are bad, and not to be trusted. They aren't just bad for humanity and all that, they are bad for the products they represent. Yes, they actually hurt what they are hyping. Ryzen didn't benefit from the hypetrain anymore than Trump benefited from the "Trump Train." Allow me to explain (and please, put the foam back in your mouth for me uttering "Trump" in a tech article. That's the only time I promise).

Bottom line is, hype trains take everything good and compound it, true or not. This raises expectations into the stratosphere and make them impossible to satisfy. Once the product, candidate, or what have you is brought into general existence, it will never satisfy what it has been built up to be. This leads to disappointment. Disappointment will not help sales long-term, nor ensure a safe re-election for a politician. The higher the hype, the bigger the disappointment.

I remember a game I was really hyped for circa 2003 or so. GolemLabs premier geopolitical simulator "Superpower 2." It was a game that let you control any nation on earth in modern times. It also got hyped on its own forums into the stratosphere, and guess what? When I got it, I thought it sucked really hardcore… only it didn't. Most critics ranked it as somewhat novel and mediocre, but to me, it was utter and complete garbage because I couldn't do everything they promised me on the forums, things that likely were never even on the drawing board, let alone ever implemented.

I'm still stung from that hype train. The only way a hype train can work honestly is if it is sustained by an outside force. The political example of this would be Robert Mugabe (have some Wikipedia fun there), President-until-I-say-otherwise of Zimbabwe. The interesting thing about Mugabe by the way, is his hype train is still going in elements of his country, despite him mismanaging its economy to the point he literally added 0's to his bills to "control inflation."

So, don't be an idiot, don't vote for Mugabe, and for god sake man get off that hype train before it kills all our realistic expectations. You aren't helping anyone.

EDIT: Thanks to Kerbel Space Program for the Hype Train in space image.

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74 Comments on Hype Trains and You: A PSA

#26

ArchStupid

Serpent of Darkness1. I don't really see how you can associate a hype train as bad or good. Hype trains are just another way of saying Idiot A is making a big deal about something to one or a crowd of listeners and viewers. Hype Trains are typically dependent upon something either meeting it's hype aka up-lifted expectations, or it will fall short of the bar that was set for it. Only after it fails, the viewer, listener, or person having a bro-mance with the person, idea, or product can then label something as being bad. Technically it's not bad, it just sucks that the expectations were never met. This situation could lead to the shattering and nuclear devastation of a persons' dreams and the person intent to use that product or message because it never followed through.

2. Every time you mention the word "frog," I get the impression that your talking about Donald Trump more, but you aren't directly stating his name. Since the 2016 presidential election, a frog dressed up in a suit with a bad toupee is a metaphor for Donald Trump. Since there's no other moment in the past relating to a frog, I can only conclude the obvious.

3. I feel I am immune from the hype train because I have no passion for things in general. Passion meaning that you invest strong feelings towards a person, place, thing, job, product, etc... I don't see the need for passion, but on the other hand, people feel their passions are a vital key to make something or complete something to its greatest point. The question then becomes does passion really bring out the best in things or is it a delusion created by humans. I think passion plays a role in the hype train that magnifies something's value and need. Supplement a person's passion for a product with hype, and you have people who love something to the point that they will invest money in it.

4. People who don't give into the hype naturally resist or act out against it. What support their thinking is the fact that a product or brand continuously doesn't meet expectations. Bad personal experience could influence their thinking to.

5. Hype trains relating to politics has different mechanics in play. Not a lot of people realize it, but people who supports a bad or unpopular president will still support that president as if they are a saint. They'd still support that president even if said president was dropping armed nuclear bombs in their backyard. My biggest question that I would ask supporters is what did you get out of this, and sadly, the answer is simply nothing. You'd get a lot of bluster and wishy-washy reasoning that justifies why they support that president, but when you decode their messages, their indirect point is "they got not a damn thing." Just like Republicans, the main reason why people support them is because they spend a lot of money, trickle down economic occurs, but they keep saying it's the GOP, it's the grand old party lead by Lincoln and Regan. Truth is people are dictated by ignorant, delusions, and a lack of understanding of why things happen. Since Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, Mark Zuckerberg, and Robert Oppenheimer were highly intellectual Americans, all American are born equally and they are assumed to be highly intelligent Nobel Prize Winners. People feel entitled that the private sector and big business is obligated to invest captia on jobs to provide a service, but the truth is, they don't need to if they can get a robot or cheap labor to do it. Republicans are helping the wealthy and big businesses to give life-support to businesses. If more jobs went down, the value of the American dollar would go down with it. Supporting these business helps buffer the effects at the expense of the poor and medium class becoming homeless or dependent on drugs. Since the Bush Jr Administration, exports have been at a all time low, and imports have been at an all time high. Since more jobs went to third world countries, the economies of other countries have improved at the expense of America getting financially worst over time.

6. If R-T-B has to invoke Trump and politic to get a rise and increase in activity on TPU, it's partially sad... Please don't deny your ulterior motive.

7. I know a lot of people don't believe in this, but Donald Trump is a Gemini, and his behavior is textbook Gemini behavior. I bet there's a lot of Gemini who would say they don't agree with this because they couldn't see such behavior in themselves. Truth is the worst in Gemini can easily be brought out, Donald Trump is a good example of the worst being brought out, and I bet a lot of people born under the sign are face-palming very hard, every day.

This has to be one of the dumbest things I've ever read.
Holy shit.

GEMINI? REALLY? LOL

#27

INSTG8R

Vanguard Beta Tester

HoodThe other side of this coin is, the better companies, that make great products, don't start "hype trains". They may use a bit of showmanship when releasing a new flagship, but they don't generally try to raise expectations to unreal levels with inflated claims or outright BS. Intel, nVidia, Seasonic, Corsair, g.skill, Samsung, EVGA, and many others - they all make top products, and have no need to over-hype their products. Sure, they all use "marketing tactics", sometimes near the edge of credibility, but their excellent products speak for themselves. So, the point is, if a company has a history of creating "hype trains", you should probably avoid their products altogether, and I do.

But this is the thing. Is it AMD doing the Hype or is it us? No Mans Sky is a great example of when the publics own Hype Train is it's own undoing.

#28

Intervention

The idiots @TPU again posting nonsense and using political analogies about common marketing schemes. Its capitalism! Get used to it you socialists libs!

#29

Batou1986

I love these editorials just for the comments section :laugh:

INSTG8RBut this is the thing. Is it AMD doing the Hype or is it us? No Mans Sky is a great example of when the publics own Hype Train is it's own undoing.

It makes little difference who is responsible, if I saved all my grains of salt over the years for tech hype I would have enough to de-ice my driveway.

#30

RejZoR

Dunno, but the Ryzen hype train was realized perfectly well. It has the cores, it has the IPC and it has the power consumption, as "advertised" during the hype. And only people who got disappointed were those who expected insane overclocks (or 4GHz+ clocks out of the box) from a 16 threaded octa core made on LPP process... C'mon ppl, get realistic, not even Intel with 50 time the R&D budget could achieve that...

And same goes for RX480. People whining over it's power consumption and blablabla. It's a card that goes against GTX 980 and matches R9 390(X). With half the bus width and less of everything. It consumes WAY less power than R9 390(X) and a bit less than GTX 980. And with 2 times lower price. Sounds reasonable to me.

As for Vega, considering how it's performing in leaks you can get a rough idea and how much of new tech they crammed into the core compared to what Polaris received, it's reasonable to assume it'll perform good. I mean, R9 Fury X, despite its age performs really well even by today's standards. Now shrink Fury to a smaller node, add it all new pixel and vertex engine, tiled rendering, improved compression and HBM2 that basically has access to unlimited memory outside graphic card. It may not be the king of the hill this moment, but something tells me this capability will give Vega a longevity R9 Fury X never had because of the 4GB VRAM limit. Because Fury X still has quite some grunt as far as pushing pixels goes even today. And in DX11 games, but it's the memory that's gimping it rather badly.

#31

LocutusH

The biggest heater of the hype train is AMD itself. They are literally shoveling PR slides from the coal wagon into the engine. And yet, they fail every time to break the speed records.

#32

Scrizz

No Man's Sky

*walks away*

#33

ZoneDymo

LocutusHThe biggest heater of the hype train is AMD itself. They are literally shoveling PR slides from the coal wagon into the engine. And yet, they fail every time to break the speed records.

I think you need the learn the definition of the word "literally", because literally is the exact opposite here..

#34

Prima.Vera

ScrizzNo Man's Sky

*walks away*

Star Wars Episodes I,2,3.....

#35

R-T-B

Serpent of Darkness6. If R-T-B has to invoke Trump and politic to get a rise and increase in activity on TPU, it's partially sad... Please don't deny your ulterior motive.

I can't help it if I see parallels. No ulterior motive here, I made fun of Obamas hype train he used to get elected pretty briefly thereafter. They are all bad because they raise expectations to unrealistic levels. This is part of why Obamas train crashed so bad, IMO.

Also note I wrote far more about Mugabe than Trump.

Every time you mention the word "frog," I get the impression that your talking about Donald Trump more, but you aren't directly stating his name. Since the 2016 presidential election, a frog dressed up in a suit with a bad toupee is a metaphor for Donald Trump. Since there's no other moment in the past relating to a frog, I can only conclude the obvious.

Good god no. I'm the frog. It's my avatar on the forums.

RejZoRDunno, but the Ryzen hype train was realized perfectly well. It has the cores, it has the IPC and it has the power consumption, as "advertised" during the hype.

Where is my "100% efficiency IMC?" Where is my 5Ghz overclock on water/good air?

Sorry, not seeing it personally. I was told from various individuals throughout here and elsewhere we'd have these things.

It IS a good product. But it could never meet the demands of the hype train. There isn't anything I know of that can.

Harry PalmsThe idiots @TPU again posting nonsense and using political analogies about common marketing schemes. Its capitalism! Get used to it you socialists libs!

It's also bad for everyone, including the instigators who think they are helping. AMD, Trump, Obama, none of them benefit from this. You try to say I'm playing it political, but I'm really not, I'm only pointing out how it applies to politics. The issue is bipartisan.

Mugabe was thrown in because he is the exception and did benefit (at least, within his own nation), but then, he used military force to hold power. Doesn't really apply to anything in the tech realm, admittedly, or most functional democracies. I think I included him basically to show the only way it can ever work, and it isn't pretty.

#36

RejZoR

I like to use the phrase "citation needed". Where has AMD ever stated you'll be able to overclock Ryzen to 5 GHz ? Ryzen is everything AMD leaked or hyped. If anyone expected a 5GHz 16 threaded octa core with same IPC as Intel, only way to describe that would be to use word "delusional".

#37

john_

Too many hype trains in the front page makes it look like a hype train station. Not as much informative as a page with news.

I believe, I might be wrong, that posting in threads shouldn't be confused with news posting in the main page. Even if it is for the good of mankind.

#38

R-T-B

RejZoRI like to use the phrase "citation needed". Where has AMD ever stated you'll be able to overclock Ryzen to 5 GHz ? Ryzen is everything AMD leaked or hyped. If anyone expected a 5GHz 16 threaded octa core with same IPC as Intel, only way to describe that would be to use word "delusional".

I didn't say AMD did. AMD knows better than to equip it's own hypetrain, I blame the users really. However, everything I just said was put forth on these very forums at one point or another by fanboys thinking they were doing AMD some kind of good favor. They weren't.

#39

R-T-B

john_Too many hype trains in the front page makes it look like a hype train station. Not as much informative as a page with news.

I believe, I might be wrong, that posting in threads shouldn't be confused with news posting in the main page. Even if it is for the good of mankind.

There are two threads on my hypetrain thing, and they were intended to sort of lead into each other, but maybe the "train station" effect was too strong, lol.

To our credit, there are many more news threads today (although only two came from me, admittedly).

#40

RejZoR

I didn't see many people with unrealistic expectations to be quite honest. Non geeks don't really follow leaks and details and those who do already had optimistic expectations but for the most part, they were realistic. I ahven't seen anyone yelling "Hell yeah, Ryzen will demolish everything Intel has".

#41

R-T-B

RejZoRI ahven't seen anyone yelling "Hell yeah, Ryzen will demolish everything Intel has".

I must've been in a different TPU than you at the time.

Or I was confusing this and reddit. Could've happened, I guess. But I don't think so.

#42

RejZoR

Reddit is weird sometimes lol

#43

john_

R-T-BI must've been in a different TPU than you at the time.

Or I was confusing this and reddit. Could've happened, I guess. But I don't think so.

Intel die hard fan boys, will single out unrealistic posts from AMD fanboys and go to sleep with those posts in their minds. Even dream about those. AMD die hard fanboys will do the same. Everyone in between will know where his opinion and reality stand, so they will ignore and forgot most of those posts.

As for the two "let's talk about hype" articles. I guess two articles pay better than one in the end of the month. And while this makes sense in the news category, because some times, big news articles with too much information, end up getting mostly ignored and with less replies, when we are talking about editorials, it is better not to flood the main page. Again, my opinion and nothing more.

#44

R-T-B

john_As for the two "let's talk about hype" articles. I guess two articles pay better than one in the end of the month. And while this makes sense in the news category, because some times, big news articles with too much information, end up getting mostly ignored and with less replies, when we are talking about editorials, it is better not to flood the main page. Again, my opinion and nothing more.

I'm always open to criticism, and in this case I agree. The two articles were probably a bit much, especially given the relevant news. I'm still learning what buttons I can push here. :laugh:

In complete seriousness, editorials probably are something I'm going to be taking a break from for now anyways, so it's all good. News will flow soon and factual stuff will wipe away the hypetrains.

PS: I get paid by the hour, not the article. Some days, I don't even post and get paid just for trying to dig.

RejZoRReddit is weird sometimes lol

Oh god, we can agree on that. ;)

#45

Basard

Harry PalmsThe idiots @TPU again posting nonsense and using political analogies about common marketing schemes. Its capitalism! Get used to it you socialists libs!

But we must be protected from ourselves! Mostly we must protect others from themselves, because others are especially stupid. :rolleyes:

#46

dorsetknob

"YOUR RMA REQUEST IS CON-REFUSED"

FOR ONE SHORT MOMENT
I THOUGHT @CAPSLOCKSTUCK MADE THE NEWS TEAM WITH A STORY ABOUT THE MUSK HYPERTRAIN

then i was derailed by a frog on a semi rant

#47

TheMailMan78

Big Member

Only kids with little to no experience dealing with computers get on the hype train.

Also I don't know why this is on the front page. This seems more like a post deep in the user forum. I don't like this new TPU.

#48

Vayra86

R-T-BIf Mugabe supporters pour out of the woodwork, I'll genuinely cry.

Thanks to Mugabe I now how a bigger figure in my bank account than ever before so wtf are you on about?

VOTE MUGABE

#49

Imsochobo

HoodThe other side of this coin is, the better companies, that make great products, don't start "hype trains". They may use a bit of showmanship when releasing a new flagship, but they don't generally try to raise expectations to unreal levels with inflated claims or outright BS. Intel, nVidia, Seasonic, Corsair, g.skill, Samsung, EVGA, and many others - they all make top products, and have no need to over-hype their products. Sure, they all use "marketing tactics", sometimes near the edge of credibility, but their excellent products speak for themselves. So, the point is, if a company has a history of creating "hype trains", you should probably avoid their products altogether, and I do.

The Kaby Lake hype was big, it offered nothing, skylake, and so on.
It's always disappointing.

It's not the companies themselfes who hype, it's users..... if the company consistently release stuff (Nvidia) then hype is less.
GTX1080 received quite a lot of hype,was the worst disappointment of this gen if you ask me
Super expensive midrange design overpriced last gen performance...
GTX1080 TI received little hype but was a great product..

I just don't understand.

Ryzen is the only late release that received Hype that actually lived up to it, maybe not specifically for gamers but no-one can take away the 319 $ pricetag for 8/16 cpu that can take on a 6800K in almost anything...

#50

Markosz

Valve knows hypetrain very well. That's why they are afraid to make Half Life 3.
No matter how good it would be, people would complain anyways, it would have too high expectations.

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Hype Trains and You: A PSA

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