Last year I did a newsletter looking back on my 2021 year.
That was fun, so I thought that I should take some time to look back on 2022 and discuss
some things that I have been thinking about.
## Some Data
First things first, I want to personally thank you for supporting the channel.
At the end of 2021, I had about 150,000 subscribers which I still think is a lot.
How many YouTube channels out there have 150,000 subscribers?
Since then the numbers have grown even nuttier.
Over 240,000 people subscribed to the channel in 2022.
And now I am on the cusp of 400,000.
This is insane.
This is madness!
I am just a deer!
In 2022 people spent over 3.5 million hours watching Asianometry videos.
It boggles the mind to think that I am able to reach so many people around the world.
And it always tickles me to see the channel pop up in the most unexpected spots.
Recently, some friends of mine who went hiking in Indonesia made some friends from Sweden.
And those Swedish pals knew about the channel!
What a coincidence!
Stuff like this makes me happy.
## 2022’s Most Popular Videos
2022 saw the most popular video that I have ever done:
**Why the Soviet Computer Failed**: This one got over 2 million views and most people watched
deep into the video even many months after its release.
To be honest with you, I have no idea why it is so popular.
Maybe it was the recent Russian invasion?
It did take an unusual amount of time, but mostly because I was working on other things
ahead of it.
I was proud of the work, but really it was just another video.
I am working on another Soviet technology video.
Like, right now.
Procrastinating on it, really, by working on this video.
Hope you will like it.
**How the Rich Ate South Korea**: Number two was originally titled South Korea’s Business
Corruption Problem.
I had been working on it for a while.
After posting it, I was disappointed in its initial performance and changed it to the
current title based on a suggestion made by a friend of the channel on the Discord.
It took off after that.
I think Wendover did great work on a similar subject.
Props to them.
**Why Russia Can't Replace TSMC**: I remember working on a video about the Soviet Union's
semiconductor efforts and going to bed.
But I could not sleep.
At about 3AM I got up and went to my office and finished the video in the early morning.
With the Russian invasion fresh in my mind, I was constantly thinking about China, Taiwan
and TSMC.
I worked so to put these thoughts aside.
**The Sad Fall of a Philippine Steel Giant**: I don’t often read YouTube comments, but
the idea for this video came from one.
Mr. Commenter, wherever you are.
Thanks for suggesting it.
And **The Debt Fueled Collapse of Korea's Daewoo Group**: I have long wanted to do a
video about Daewoo.
But I ended up finding so much history!
I remember while writing this it just kept getting longer and longer.
I kept muttering to myself, “This is too long … nobody is going to watch this crap”.
Amazing to think that it did so well.
Each video is special to me.
I can remember where I was when I researched and wrote them.
But that's a list of 2022 videos that people seemed to enjoy.
## Trends
Note the lack of semiconductor content.
Throughout 2022, I noticed a shift in interest in my viewers away from semiconductors to
new topics.
The semiconductor stuff does get a consistent level of views, but not so many breakouts
as before.
I think it is a reflection of what has been on people's minds recently.
Last year, I wondered what would happen when the chip shortage ends.
The chip shortage is now largely over, and I think people have moved on.
I think what people are really interested in now is energy.
Whether that be natural gas shortages in Europe, or what cutoffs from Russia will do to the
world economy.
Or the ever-distant dream of nuclear fusion.
For the channel, oil is the new semiconductors.
Semiconductors still jump back into the news occasionally.
But I note that the topic has been been politicized, which means everyone has an opinion about
it now.
I find it harder to make points without being called biased or even a foreign agent.
We are just talking past each other now.
## How I Work
A lot of people ask me in person or via email how I do what I do.
I thought that I should explain a bit here.
There is nothing special about how I work.
I try to research and write every day in between my real job.
About four hours in the morning at a local Starbucks, with edits done in downtime while
I am on my commute.
Videos are produced and edited at night before I go to bed just before midnight.
I work with a few researchers who help me collect information, especially in languages
I don't know.
But like I said, I script almost everything myself.
I remember reading an interview with Tony Gilroy, the creator and showrunner of the
fantastic Disney show Andor.
In it, he talks about season 2:
> It’s just such a supreme drag to hear people who are in the movie business and being
well paid and doing what everybody wants to do...
But it's a lot of work, man.
It just never ends.
Every day, it just doesn't stop ... I can't imagine what I'll do other than curl up in
a fetal position when this is over, man.
I want to live through it.
We want to maintain the standard.
We want to stay as obsessed.
This is exactly how I feel about this channel, except this channel is a TV show that runs
indefinitely.
I am constantly thinking about the channel.
New videos.
Ideas, wording, new sources, finding image/video content.
It never stops and I find it hard even trying to convey the amount of work it all is.
I post two videos a week.
As soon as I upload one video, I used to allow myself to take a break for the rest of the
day.
But nowadays, I am either uploading at midnight and the next day is already here or I must
immediately move on to the next one.
Last year, I mentioned burnout.
I managed to hold on for 2022.
Cross my fingers that I manage to stay motivated through 2023 as well.
## Meeting People
I am really happy to be able to meet people.
In my earlier videos, I told people that if they were in Taipei that they can email me
and meet me.
Through the channel, I have been able to meet some really great people.
Whether it is the New Zealand-Taiwanese who researches Antarctica or the young Taiwanese-American
deliberately going against the grain to study electrical engineering, your experiences have
been enriching and I appreciate it.
I still - tentatively - invite you to reach out via email for a coffee chat if you are
in town.
Though with work being how it is, I can't always make it happen due to busy schedules.
Oh, and I had the chance to give my first in-person talk at a Taipei HackerNews meetup
late in 2022.
It was fantastic and I loved speaking with so many of you at scale.
I don't have any more meetups planned in the future, but you never know.
## 2023
Another year for the channel.
So what is next?
Like as with the year before, I want the channel to continue exploring new topics, new concepts,
and strange new histories of various things in Asia and the world at large.
Just a hint of some of the videos coming in 2023: An early history of AMD.
An overview of image sensors.
And a profile of the ASML of gene sequencing.
And yes I still intend to work on that bubble tea video.
Thank you for allowing me to entertain you.
It is one of the great privileges of my life, and I hope you can stay with me for this coming
year.