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| Techmoan | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Personal information | ||||||||||
| Born | Matthew Taylor (1971-01-18)18 January 1971 (age 54) | |||||||||
| Occupation | YouTuber | |||||||||
| YouTube information | ||||||||||
| Channel | ||||||||||
| Years active | 2009–present | |||||||||
| Genres | ||||||||||
| Subscribers | 1.39 million[1] (February 2025) | |||||||||
| Total views | 346.2 million[1] (February 2025) | |||||||||
| Associated acts |
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Matthew "Mat" Taylor, better known by hisYouTube handleTechmoan, is a BritishYouTuber andblogger, specializing inconsumer tech reviews andretrotech documentaries about technology of historical interest.[2]
Apart from reviews and tests, Taylor's videos often include disassembling (and repairing when possible) products and, in the case of older technology, reporting on the product's history and reception via references in publications of the time. For audio and entertainment devices this is oftenBillboard magazine, which at the time covered both consumer and trade electronics devices through articles and old advertisements. Bonusoutro skits often feature a trio ofmuppet-like puppets, parodying YouTube viewer comments.[3]
Taylor's videos have been referenced by sites such asThe A.V. Club,[4]Gizmodo,[5]Hackaday,[6]El Español[7] and print publications such asPopular Mechanics[8] andThe Daily Telegraph.[9][10][11][12] Byratings onReddit,MarketWatch listed the YouTube channel 6th in its "binge-watching" top ten.[13]
Current product reviews on miscellaneous tech items, mainly on consumer products like action anddashcams, sometimes sponsored or donated, participating in theaffiliate marketing associates program ofAmazon Services LLC,[14] and aPatreon membership, are how the channel is funded.[15][16]
In 2006, Taylor started a YouTube channel called "Vectrexuk", with videos of similar tech items like installing a home cinema and controlled toasters[17][18] "just to prove a point that people will watch anything on YouTube".[19][20]
The channel "Techmoan" started on 31 May 2009, uploading a tour of a 2009Piaggio MP3, taken at480p and very basic sound quality.[21] For additional non-tech videos, in 2015 he started another channel, called the "Youtube Pedant".[22] In a 2016 video covering theD-VHS format, he uncovered a1080i video ofNew York City filmed in 1993.[23][24] This footage was uploaded separately to his "Youtube Pedant" channel where as of September 2024, it has gained 7.3 million views as well as being shared widely on sites such asReddit[25] andThe Verge.[26][27] As of September 2024, the main channel has over 1.3 million subscribers and over 338 million views.[28] His videos often get millions of views, and his video on theNixie watch has had more than 5 million views.[29]
Documentary videos about forgottenmagnetic tape recording formats show theOMNI Entertainment System[30] which used8-track tape storage, theHiPac, a successor of thePlayTape and related applications of it. Other videos show some of the smallest and largest analog recording tape cartridges ever made like thePicocassette[31] for dictation machines orCantata 700 background music system.[32] Further videos show other former quarter-inch-tape cartridge formats like theSabamobil[33] which used existing 3-inch open reels for mobile use, and the portableSanyo Micro Pack 35,[34] as well as theRCA tape cartridge[35] and the SonyElcaset[36] with another compromise of playtime and sound quality, oddities and gimmicks onCompact Cassettes as "reinventing the reel",[37][38] several ways ofautoreverse,[39] automatic multiple cassette players,[40][41]endless loop cassettes,[42] and cassette mass production technology.[43][44]
Documentary on formats ofvinyl recording show theTefifon[45][46] endless cartridge, or theSeeburg 1000 background music system,[47][48] vertical turntables,[49] and other audio encodingsCX anddbx for noise reduction on vinyl analog recording.[50]
Other documentaries show the mechanicalCurta calculator,[51] devices withNixie tube displays,[52]wire recording,[53] and theWikiReader.[54]
Techmoan was referenced in aDennis & Gnasher Unleashed strip inBeano, with Dennis referring to Techmoan as "total Dad-Tube".[55]
