Open Letter To Leo Laporte at TWIT – This Week In Tech
TWIT – This Week in Tech with Leo Laporte and Friends
As a long listener to Leo Laporte’s show ” TWIT : This Week IN Tech” I feel moved to mention the ways that the show is being held back as the runaway success it deserves to be. The show has some great information, but the content and presentation is handled so poorly. So let us look at the ways that TWIT could be improved without a great deal of work:
Stop The Comedy
Leo Laporte’s comedy is horrible, he also laughs at his attempts at jokes, which further disenfranchises the listeners. Often humor is used at the wrong time and distracts from the subject of discussion. Usually the humor is akin to “Disney” PG 13 humor and doesn’t any value attached to it. Laporte should stop doing comedy because he is horrible at it. His timing is off, his content is middle school at best and ruins what could be a great show.
Stop Stepping On Each Other
Maybe it’s the Skype technology, maybe it’s the style of the show or maybe it’s just the way that the panel speaks, but listening to a podcast show where the panel is talking over each other is frustrating and sometimes annoying. It as if no one ever went to Broadcasting school and learnt how to operate a mixing panel. Occasionally there are actual two simultaneous conversations going on. Leo is often to blame for cutting off his members of his panel at the most interesting moment. Maybe Leo thinks that he is “moving the show along” but along to what ? The show suffers greatly when he cuts from someone finally making a statement that has some value. with Laporte instead choosing to keep the content bland. TWIT needs to learn to how present speakers at the same time, who do not talk over each other, it will greatly improve this show.
Journalists Aren’t Users
Journalists get so many mentions on the show because Laporte seems to be a complete sycophant for tech journalists. He gives them far too much credit and they really don’t have a good grasp on how to use technology in business. A good case in point is “Google Glass”, the wearable device which was released by Google way back in 2013 and provided to tech journalists before everyone else. Laporte and his fellow tech journalists would not shut up about it. “Revolutionize the world”, “will change everything”, “Best thing since Reagan” blah blah blah – they went on and on. Of course the technology was a piece of crap and went nowhere, but Laporte continued to ram it down peoples throats for a year after it had failed. It was as if Laporte had been paid to promote it, something that would negate his journalism credentials.
No Love For The Chatroom
During a TWIT show the chat room is full of techies that help the show along, but Laporte never gives a shout out to any of the members because tech journalists are so much more important than real techies. So why not give the chat room people some love, they provide great background, solutions or advice on the stories mentioned and are an excellent resource. Laporte is too busy sucking up to other tech journalists.
Stop Banning Tech People Who Don’t Share Your Opinions
A host of guests have been banned from the show for demonstrating opinions that are not shared by Leo Laporte. John C. Dvorak, Kevin Rose, Patrick Norton and Adam Curry have all been banned for talking about anything that does not Laporte’s position on the Moon Landings, JFK assassination and The Trump/Russia investigation. Its the diversity of opinion that makes a show like this great.
