alt Hacker NewsI don’t think the intent was directly to embarrass anyone, but the standoffs and loosely stacked pcbs really did seem unfortunate. It was dropped, Mark repaired it and it was quite likely just as good as new minus the enclosure damage.
Audio equipment definitely has this issue of extreme pricing for questionable things. In all likelihood the amp on a chip is the best designed amp for the money. Sure discrete stuff might have a better noise floor and reduced noise. I’d argue few people could tell the difference.
Sure I think Mark’s primary intent was to repair the device.
But Mark also took the opportunity to mock the builder and their customers. (He does the same when he comes across other people’s repairs that are not as good as he is capable of). But this time the target was not an unknown person.
His comments weren’t just bouncing around his workshop walls. They were heard around the world and capable of putting people out of work for the sake of better YouTube analytics.