Billet labs responded saying Linus didn't agree to reimburse them until after Gamer Nexus posted their video. Linus responded to the email telling them they would reimburse them and then made this post.
Just reimbursing them for the prototype isn’t enough. How many millions of people watched that video? The damage done is irreversible.
And the “we want them to make something they can bring to market” is real bullshit. That’s not his job to force companies to make things. He doesn’t own Billet Labs.
There’s nothing wrong with a company making a niche product where they only sell maybe 10 things. The company is 2 guys, they aren’t Cooler Master.
And flat out refusing to retest it properly is mind-blowing. Tuck your tail, take the old video down, retest it, and apologize.
I still don't believe that they don't have any 3090's in the building. But let's give them the benefit of the doubt in this scenario. They're LTT, talk to one of the GPU manufacturers to get one. Buy one on eBay, Kajiji, or Facebook Marketplace. Shit, even an ad on social media saying they need to borrow one from someone in the local area for a video, and they'll throw in some swag like a hoodie, to borrow the card. They'd have people lining up to lend them their card.
It feels like Linus was trying to trash the product/company intentionally.
To play devils advocate its a culmination of his initial retirement announcement, massive expansion of his media group and acquiring with trying to hold onto highly sought after department heads.
For me, the backpack warranty is what made me throw in the towel.
The community did exactly what Linus has been telling his community to do for years when a company offers a shitty deal to consumers. An "I got you" warranty isn't good enough. When the community called him out on it, he got all butt hurt about it.
edit: I missed the part where Billet supplied LTT with a 3090ti to use, and they lost it. Holy shit....
