Systm was better.

[mshanly]

Before it was revived, the set was much better and it was more professionally done in my opinion. Now it just looks a bit tacky to be honest, the subjects are good but the videos aren't as clean as before. Does any agree with me?

[jcduerr]

im not noticing it

[optimus]

The "old set" was just a small section of a room, a window with blinds and a small shelf on the wall. I prefer Randolph's house :)

As for the video quality, yeah.. the older episodes were encoded at higher quality. But, don't despair.. IIRC, Rev3 is looking into providing HD versions of their shows.

[delf]

I prefer the new ones - Dave Randolph and Patrick Norton have a great connection.

[darknessgp]

I liked the olds ones a lot more, I think cause they applied to me more. Like making your own HD component cables, etc. Now it's stuff like "hacking the appleTV" which makes me go "Great, I don't have or want an AppleTV or a Mac." Really the last one that really interested me, other than the Maker Faire ones, was the "crane game" one.

[tempesta]

Systm was and is awesome.

[d4rk_fr33dan]

Old systm covered better topics but did it very poorly. Kevin isn't good at covering stuff like this and I just hate Dan Huard.

[tempesta]

I just hate Dan Huard.

well thats just mean.

[d4rk_fr33dan]

well thats just mean.
I tryed other ways of phrasing it to seem nicer but they just didn't get my point across as well.

[kardall]

I agree with some and disagree with others. My Views:

Older Systm had great topics, stuff that related to the day. MythTV was great, lots didn't know about it. I think it really opened a lot of peoples eyes at the time.

Newer Systm, well, the topics aren't as "breaking" as some may think. I do believe, however, that they are delving into things that are not the norm. PCB manufacturing, soldering, working with actual electronics and SHOWING you how to do it.

Remember the video cable episode... ya right... Was informational, but the quality of the instructional sense of the new Systm is way better.

Honestly, the WiFi episode actually clarified a LOT of things I had been wondering about as far as distances are concerned with WiFi, and I will definitely do some more research and calculations for my next job, taking into consideration what they said in ep 16.

Keep up the great work, look forward to the next one.

[scoobydiesel]

i love both....but the newer topics havnt had me in it as much but the look and host are great IMO.

[thrillagorilla]

Big Fan going back to the ZDNet channel. He is the reason I'm now a member of Revision 3. He is a great addition to Systm! Keep up the good work.

[dj-silent]

I liked how the most recent episode went, I learned a lot about wifi. I do think they should stray somewhat from basic things like making PCB and basic soldering and tools as there are tons of articles and videos with all that and instead focus on cool stuff we would want to do. I would like to see some large projects be under taken and be part of an episode but have them span out over a month or so, case in point, an arcade cabinet. One episode for software, one for construction, one for everything you need and basic mock up, and one for final assembly/configuration (not in that order though). I like how they go about thing Dave and Patrick are both very knowledgeable so it really helps in explaining things. I know everyone has said it but I think as well that we should stray from doing really expensive stuff as that doesn't appeal to as many people(modding the apple tv) but it is cool with me on occasion.

Anyway keep it up guys I love the show!

[sundby]

It would be hard to make a show like this and always please everyone. I liked the old shows, and I like the new shows. Part of what I like about the new show is that it is more reliable and consistent...I had Systm and thebroken as my favorite podcasts for a long time and more or less forgot about them. I'd much rather have some content than no content!

Both of the hosts have their own areas of expertise, and they have different personalities which makes it easier to watch if you can relate to one of them, instead of having two similar people you might not like..

Personally, I for example like Randolph more, because he speaks to the geekier side of me, while Patrick tends to make a lot of jokes, which I can find straining (but I still like him though:P)...Same with Diggnation, I like Kevin more than Alex, and if there were two Alex's or two Kevin's, people might not watch it!

Since they put out shows regularly now I am more hopeful that they will cover something that I care about, more so than waiting 2-4 months and getting an episode which doesn't at all, like building my own monster cables...I don't care about that, but I do care about having a little entertainment box I can hack to do whatever I want...

So instead of waiting 4 months for something I may or may not 100% enjoy, I now get the crane game which I don't find interesting, and the next week I might get Apple TV which I am interested in.

Overall, much better quality than before, and for me consistency is key to any show.

[kickarse]

Ahhh guys you fed the troll! Didn't you read the posted signs?

[lasthand]

I like the new systm. I perfer the iphone take apart rather than kevins wimpy ipor carefull dissasembly.

[nefarious]

I just try to think of old Systm and new Systm as different shows. Nothing will touch the original Systm - the more professional version of the broken as it was meant to be marketed.

But I do enjoy the new Systm, and as long as you separate the shows in your head, both are enjoyable.

[mikecat93]

I really enjoyed the older Systm. Its great that their doing Systm regularly now but I just don't care about the topics. I'll still watch the new Systm's though.

[scienceking]

Well, like another similar podcast about MAKing stuff, I think the key is to keep the production values up, they need to bring in more outside talent to run the presentations whether they be on-camera or off-camera consultants. Its just impossible after a while to have a limited staff come up with top quality stuff to do every week, especially when you actually have to build something and get it to work, safely, yadayada.
They also have to script somethings better and plan a bit better because as much as I prefer an improvised live show, that does not work well for an instructional format. Many college professors who care about their students/lectures(not many) put a ton of effort into coming up with just the right way to say something to make it come out right. Even with people as talented as Patrick and David, you can tell they are "winging" parts of the show that they really shouldn't.
Still, I am one who finds it very difficult to explain even simple technical concepts to others, and I think I'm with most technical professionals in that respect. So from that point of view, Systm still has the greatest asset a tech show like this could have, as Patrick and David both seem to be very talented at explaining what they know.

[pinfu]

The main difference between the two shows appears to be the target audience.

[nextgenxbox]

Systm is for the ultimate hands-on geek. And Tekzilla is for the consumer geek.