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Template:Infobox Internet celebrity

Household Hacker is a YouTube channel and website that posts videos of various "hacks", or quick solutions, to common everyday problems. As of July 2009, the channel was the second most subscribed "Guru" channel on YouTube, and the 23rd most subscribed overall.[1]

Background

The Household Hacker channel was launched in November 2007 and gained popularity quickly, becoming YouTube's most subscribed site for the month of December 2007.[2]

Household Hacker is the work of two anonymous editors known only as "Spencer and Dylan" who reside in San Jose, California and Peachtree City, Georgia.[1] The duo makes money by offering subscription downloads and T-shirts, but told the LATimes that they don't make enough money to "live off comfortably at this point."[3]

iPod Onion

Household Hacker is known primarily for their alleged demonstration of how to recharge an iPod using little more than some Gatorade and a white onion. In November 2007, they released a video entitled "How to Charge an iPod using electrolytes and an onion." The video was an overnight success, attracting the attention of hundreds of blogs and over 4 million views within its first week.[4] The video drew the attention of the normally reliable Unofficial Apple Weblog, which reported it as fact.[5]

By the following November, the video had been viewed more than 7 million times and attracted the attention of ABCNews.com.[6] ABC put the video to the test, but failed to obtain the promised result. Reporter Emily Friedman remarked "this appears to be an iFraud."[6]

MythBusters also put the onion video to the test in 2008. In a segment dubbed "iOnion", Grant was unable to get any charge from the onion setup found in the Household Hacker video.[7] He explained that the setup lacked the crucial anode and cathode that would be required to get the electrolytes found in Gatorade moving and concluded the video was a complete hoax.[7] In an interview with ABCNews, Adam Savage called the video "complete horseshit."[6]

Appeal

The iPod onion video fooled a number of normally savvy folks, or at least had them trying the technique out for themselves,[8] which has led to several theories as to why it was so appealing. Farhad Manjoo of Salon.com speculates that it is the style in which the video was delivered. "He's got a friendly, helpful voice, but he's not casual -- he speaks in the formal, confident manner of a TV how-to guy," says Manjoo.[8] Anna Solana of La Vanguardia, on the other hand, speculated that it was the "science" itself that attracted the viewers, remarking that something so magical "freaks" people out and makes them want to believe.[4]

Follow up videos

After the iPod onion video, Household Hacker has released a number of additional videos that have generated some attention, but none has risen to the level of the iPod onion. A March 2008 video entitled "How to Cheat on any Test" has attracted 4 million views and some ire some school teachers. While a video entitled "How to Create a High-Def speaker for under a buck" again drew the attention of MythBusters. Tory followed the instructions in the video, but when it came time to plug in the speakers nothing happened. He also pointed out that the "under a buck" part of the claim was completely false, with a single minijack alone costing about $10.[9]

In addition to high profile hoaxes, the Household Hacker channel hosts a number more mundane videos such as "How to Prank your Roommate on April Fools" and "How to make a secret, disguised safe."


References

  1. ^ a b http://www.youtube.com/user/HouseholdHacker
  2. ^ http://www.infoworld.com/d/mobilize/british-monarchy-makes-youtube-debut-271
  3. ^ http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/technology/2009/01/make-money-yout.html
  4. ^ a b http://compras.lavanguardia.es/share-ht/jedis/ad_tpl.php?ic=39&r=5643
  5. ^ http://www.tuaw.com/2007/11/14/charge-an-ipod-with-an-onion/
  6. ^ a b c http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/Science/Story?id=6339986&page=1
  7. ^ a b http://dsc.discovery.com/videos/mythbusters-ionion.html
  8. ^ a b http://machinist.salon.com/blog/2007/11/21/householdhacker/
  9. ^ http://dsc.discovery.com/videos/mythbusters-homemade-surround-sound.html
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