Tom Merritt Fired from TWiT

venom600 · May 14, 2014

I stopped watching/listening to TWiT podcasts primarily because the panel is usually so incredibly out of touch with average people that they get into a sort of group think on topics. Listening to MacBreak Weekly or TWiT has become a painful circle of Leo saying something and everyone else just agreeing because no one in their circles lives outside of Silicon Valley and they can't imagine anyone using a phone for more than a year.

The other, equally big reason for me was the ads. I've timed some of them, and he will spend upwards of 10 minutes going on about Audible. While most aren't that bad, a 5 minute ad about SquareSpace or Stamps.com isn't unusual. None of the other podcasts I listen to spend that much time trying to sell you something (even with the same sponsors).

saukriver · Jun 24, 2014

venom600 said:
I stopped watching/listening to TWiT podcasts primarily because the panel is usually so incredibly out of touch with average people that they get into a sort of group think on topics.

Agreed. Jerry Pournelle was on TWIT again this week. Painful to listen to. TWIT has become very spotty.

Mike Elgan has been a positive surprise. He really opened fire on Amazon last Friday. He clearly has a point of view.

Usually download, but don't get around to listening to, This Week in Google and Windows Weekly. I might listen to 1 of those per month.

Quit regularly listening to Tom Merritt's show in January.

Sarah Lane's evening show is very efficient. It is about a 10-12 minute show. I actually like it.

Nalp2010 · Jun 24, 2014

saukriver said:
Sarah Lane's evening show is very efficient. It is about a 10-12 minute show. I actually like it.

Sarah Lane was never really that good performing in the role of opinionated tech pundit, something Leo Laporte and Tom Merritt are far, far, better at. Generally when asked to give an opinion she would say something obvious after umming and ahing for a while. However stick her in front of a prompter and she performs excellently. When they both hosted TNT earlier in the year she made Mike look like a complete amateur.

venom600 · Jul 2, 2014

Since we're all piling on, one of the other major things that turns me off about TWiT is how bafflingly awful Leo is at business news. He seems to have no understanding on how business works or what makes a product successful. Listening to him opine about how wrong he thinks the Beats acquisition is for Apple can be painful.

Richie4236 · Jul 5, 2014

I started listening to Security Now back in 2008, and go into the TWIT network that way. It's kind of sad that the quality seems to be dropping on all the shows. Leo positions himself as a good "everyman", but increasingly he comes across like your spiteful and grumpy uncle with a very thin skin.

They really seem to be scraping the barrel with guests on TWITs flagship show this year. All the first-rate (IMO) guests like Om Malik, Baratunde Thurston and ohdoctah haven't been on for months, and I guess there's a reason for that; either money, or perhaps Leo's ego.

I've found SN increasingly hard to listen to, even though I have massive amount of respect for Steve. Leo seems to be be more and more an argumentative jerk, making it less and less enjoyable.

When Leo announced that he's off on holiday, and Fr Robert Ballecer would be standing in, I was actually pleased. Recently these Leo-less shows have actually been better. Perhaps Leo just needs to hand it over to people who don't rub the talent and the audience the wrong way.

gbredneck · Jul 6, 2014

I have to agree with Richie4236, last weeks macbreak weekly was the first one i've enjoyed in several months, Sarah Lane actually did a bloody good show.

webbuzz · Jul 6, 2014

Richie4236 said:
I started listening to Security Now back in 2008, and go into the TWIT network that way. It's kind of sad that the quality seems to be dropping on all the shows. Leo positions himself as a good "everyman", but increasingly he comes across like your spiteful and grumpy uncle with a very thin skin.

They really seem to be scraping the barrel with guests on TWITs flagship show this year. All the first-rate (IMO) guests like Om Malik, Baratunde Thurston and ohdoctah haven't been on for months, and I guess there's a reason for that; either money, or perhaps Leo's ego.

I've found SN increasingly hard to listen to, even though I have massive amount of respect for Steve. Leo seems to be be more and more an argumentative jerk, making it less and less enjoyable.

When Leo announced that he's off on holiday, and Fr Robert Ballecer would be standing in, I was actually pleased. Recently these Leo-less shows have actually been better. Perhaps Leo just needs to hand it over to people who don't rub the talent and the audience the wrong way.

I think this is the main issue.

impulse462 · Jul 7, 2014

Leo Laporte's been awful for a while honestly.

avanpelt · Jul 10, 2014

I haven't watched TWiT regularly for a good two or three months now -- and I have to say, I don't miss it. All of their regular folks (Thurrott, Ihnatko, Ritchie, etc.) are on other podcasts so I can still listen to them without hearing all of Leo's rabbit trails. It's amusing to me how he can go from raving about a product to saying it is absolute garbage a month or so later. Perhaps he should withhold judgement until he spends more time using the products he opines about.

About six weeks ago, I tuned into TWiT to see what was going on. I figured I'd catch the end of MacBreak Weekly, but the show had already ended since it had apparently started on time (amazing). When the stream started, Leo and Sarah were on the set getting ready for iPad Today.

She was typing away on her MacBook Pro while Leo sat there tapping on his iPad and singing "My Dingaling" -- "My dingaling, my dingaling, won't you play with my dingaling?" He kept repeating that line from the song for about 60 seconds while Sarah sat there typing away and ignoring him.

I knew then that replacing TWiT with other podcasts was an excellent decision. Any business owner who sings "My Dingaling" in front of staff and a live audience immediately gets the "bozo" designation, in my opinion.

japanime · Jul 25, 2014

avanpelt said:
I haven't watched TWiT regularly for a good two or three months now -- and I have to say, I don't miss it. All of their regular folks (Thurrott, Ihnatko, Ritchie, etc.) are on other podcasts so I can still listen to them without hearing all of Leo's rabbit trails. It's amusing to me how he can go from raving about a product to saying it is absolute garbage a month or so later. Perhaps he should withhold judgement until he spends more time using the products he opines about.

About six weeks ago, I tuned into TWiT to see what was going on. I figured I'd catch the end of MacBreak Weekly, but the show had already ended since it had apparently started on time (amazing). When the stream started, Leo and Sarah were on the set getting ready for iPad Today.

She was typing away on her MacBook Pro while Leo sat there tapping on his iPad and singing "My Dingaling" -- "My dingaling, my dingaling, won't you play with my dingaling?" He kept repeating that line from the song for about 60 seconds while Sarah sat there typing away and ignoring him.

I knew then that replacing TWiT with other podcasts was an excellent decision. Any business owner who sings "My Dingaling" in front of staff and a live audience immediately gets the "bozo" designation, in my opinion.

That sort of behavior would earn most folks a lawsuit. I'm really surprised Sarah Lane puts up with it.

vra24 · Aug 6, 2014

Glad I stumbled across this thread...
I used to listen to Twit all day in my headphones while at work. I actually started listening on Toms first day and listened almost everyday until he was fired. Twit was a lot more fun a year ago and now the hosts all seem so old and boring. I really tried to like the new TNT but I'm just not a fan of Mike. MacBreak used to be something i never wanted to miss but now it just seems like Andy rambles on and on trying to make a point about something that doesn't even matter. Rene Richie was a great addition but it was kind of too little too late. Twig was also one of my favorites but now all they do is let Jeff rant about some stupid privacy BS and talk about that for the whole show. Its sad that Sarah used to get on my nerves and now I wish she did more shows. I now only tune in for breaking news and usually turn it off after Leo, or one of the regulars, goes off on some tangent about TV shows or comic books.

Nalp2010 · Aug 15, 2014

impulse462 said:
Leo Laporte's been awful for a while honestly.

I've been watching him since he started at the cottage and he doesn't seem any different.

As for his iPad Today pre-show with Sarah Lane that's often quite funny. Leo and Sarah definitely work well together and I doubt Sarah takes Leo's joshing seriously - she does have a sense of humour(has done more risque shows like NSFW).

impulse462 · Aug 16, 2014

Nalp2010 said:
I've been watching him since he started at the cottage and he doesn't seem any different.

As for his iPad Today pre-show with Sarah Lane that's often quite funny. Leo and Sarah definitely work well together and I doubt Sarah takes Leo's joshing seriously - she does have a sense of humour(has done more risque shows like NSFW).

To each his own. Honestly, I just really miss diggnation. I watched that for such a long time. Although now, it's been a while so I'm used to not watching it anymore, if they started again I'd be so excited.

Nalp2010 · Aug 17, 2014

Well Kevin Rose has gone part time at Google to do more startups, who knows what he'll do in the future? Maybe more racoon throwing?

japanime · Sep 13, 2014

I like to check in on this thread every few weeks to see if there have been any more changes at TWiT. It's been almost a year since I stopped listening to any of the shows. Apparently, Leo's podcasts are still going strong. Unfortunately, though, it seems Tom Merritt's presence on the Internet continues to fade.

saukriver · Oct 5, 2014

TWIT Update

Been listening less and less to TWIT shows. I still like to catch the main show.

10 months later, several observations:

1. Find Tom Merritt's show boring.
2. Very surprised by Mike Elgan. His daily show is good, and he can really let it rip. I initially thought he was frightfully boring, but he is not afraid of calling people out.
3. All but stopped listening to WW and TWIG.

Microsoft is near irrelevant. I have 7 Windows computers and like Paul Thurrott on What the Tech on the GFQ network. (My reservation is that the GFQ shows do not run regularly. Scheduling is a bit erratic. I wish Andrew Zarian were more disciplined and predictable that What the Tech and Tech News Weekly would run each week.) But WW is too ponderous to listen to.
All but stopped listening to TWIG. Could never stand Gina Trapani, and Jeff Jarvis is largely full of himself. Trapani, Jarvis, and Leo just seem to apologize for Google. TWIG meanders, and is less and less interesting.
WW and TWIG are the last podcasts I will listen to, and most weeks I just delete them. They are too long and aimless. I have to be stuck in an airport waiting 6 hours for a flight to be able to muster the energy to start listening to WW or TWIG.

4. Before 10/5/2014 TWIT, someone told Leo that Brian Brushwood and Justin Robert Young made a video saying they were "banned." As expected, Leo got all irked, "Well, now they are banned." Pretty funny; very thin-skinned.
5. I like Sarah Lane's Tech News Nightly show. Short. Often skim through Before You Buy as it takes 5-10 minutes to watch products of interest. Catch Mike Elgan's daily show 3+ times per week. Often listen to TWIT on Sunday. Most of the other TWIT shows I have deleted.

AustinIllini · Oct 6, 2014

Leo is a clown at this point. His review-type discussion is uninformed and out of touch.

You can't just say "I don't like the iPhone because it's bad" and have that be the whole review.

aaronvan · Oct 6, 2014

John C. Dvorak is about the best of TWIT. I like Security Now simply because Steve Gibson clearly enjoys talking about security. FLOSS Weekly is virtually unlistenable. MBW is OK, but has a lot of inane discussion.

AustinIllini · Oct 6, 2014

aaronvan said:
John C. Dvorak is about the best of TWIT. I like Security Now simply because Steve Gibson clearly enjoys talking about security. FLOSS Weekly is virtually unlistenable. MBW is OK, but has a lot of inane discussion.

Agreed on this. However, it's not as bad as iMore.

"Ally, tells us one positive and one negative about the iPhone 6"

"Ummm...there aren't really any negatives for me. It's just really good. Ummm... my phone doesn't bend... I wrote a how to ummmm"

Honestly, I listen to a lot of Android Central for some of the quality discussion.

NewYorkCritic · Oct 22, 2014

Check the truth blog #TotalDrama about TWiT here: bit.ly/1yoyGtN
We gather to discuss the comings and goings the ups and mostly the downs of Leo and his gang.

webbuzz · Oct 26, 2014

NewYorkCritic said:
Check the truth blog #TotalDrama about TWiT here: bit.ly/1yoyGtN
We gather to discuss the comings and goings the ups and mostly the downs of Leo and his gang.

lol... I love the nicknames.

Seriously though, I tried to watch Security Now last week. Leo makes it unwatchable.

After reading through some of TotalDrama, I am amazed that Sarah and others put up with his attitude.

MacNut · Oct 27, 2014

With Elgan gone last week I was actually watching TNT and enjoying it. Now that he is back the show reverts back to the boring train wreck that it is. I really wonder if Leo will admit this experiment was a huge mistake. Or will we see his contract renewed in January.

webbuzz · Oct 27, 2014

MacNut said:
With Elgan gone last week I was actually watching TNT and enjoying it. Now that he is back the show reverts back to the boring train wreck that it is. I really wonder if Leo will admit this experiment was a huge mistake. Or will we see his contract renewed in January.

Not sure if his ego would allow it. I really miss the old TWiT and TNT shows.

MacNut · Oct 29, 2014

So as the TWiT Turns continues. Chad is the latest to be fired from the network.

rhett7660 · Oct 29, 2014

MacNut said:
So as the TWiT Turns continues. Chad is the latest to be fired from the network.

Ouch... I actually didn't like him. Granted I only listen to one podcast from them now MBW, but if this is the person I am thinking of, he would help Leo out with the controls etc. Oh well.

Tom Merritt Fired from TWiT

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