The WAN Show - Macs Can't Handle VR!! - Mar 4, 2016

The WAN Show episode dated March 4, 2016 opens with Linus introducing a solo show due to at least one co-host being unavailable, while acknowledging that the chat is active and that an embargo prevents some participants from joining. He previews a mix of topics from this week and last week, explaining that some items are carryovers from prior coverage. The host emphasizes his interest in VR and gaming hardware, including the HTC Vive and the broader implications of VR adoption, while also touching on hardware partnerships and the evolving PC gaming landscape. Early on he notes the HTC Vive’s joint development with Valve and provides historical context about VR launch expectations, pricing, and the potential market impact of a successful Vive rollout. The discussion then shifts to practical questions for the audience, including a poll about whether viewers pre-ordered VR headsets, and Linus mentions his own pre-orders for both Vive and Rift, along with plans to review gaming experiences on these devices. There is a light, humorous tone as Dennis joins briefly and performs a playful exchange about shrimp and Taiwanese cuisine, underscoring the casual format of the WAN Show. The core VR topic is examined in depth with commentary on the Vive’s pricing at launch, around $800, and how initial high costs plus PC requirements shape early adoption, with Linus weighing whether the HTC-Vive collaboration could reinvigorate HTC’s hardware business. He reflects on HTC’s history as an upstart and compares its trajectory to other major brands, noting how the Vive and Rift represent a different class of hardware from Gear VR, and expresses cautious optimism about HTC’s future if the Vive proves compelling. The conversation also probes the role of Mac support for VR, referencing Palmer Luckey’s remarks about Mac compatibility and Apple’s GPU ecosystem, and Linus argues that current Mac GPU limitations make Mac VR experiences unlikely to match PC-based performance in the near term. The show continues with live polling results indicating that a large majority of viewers did not pre-order gaming VR headsets, and Linus shares his own purchase plans while acknowledging potential delays in hardware delivery. Sponsors are woven into the show with demonstrations of Linda.com, Squarespace, and Dollar Shave Club, including on-air remarks about how these services fit into the workflow of a tech creator and the value of ongoing learning, a polished online presence, and practical consumer goods. A rapid-fire section follows where John McAfee’s controversial discussion about hacking the FBI iPhone is summarized, with Linus and Dennis unpacking the security implications and the technical misstatements encountered in media coverage. The show then pivots to a live hardware showcase, featuring a painted 980 Ti and a broader hardware discussion including a 15 TB Samsung SSD with SAS interface, its high capacity and hot-swappability, and the trade-offs between capacity, speed, and cost in storage technology. Linus and Dennis dissect the technical details of NAND scaling, vertical stacking, and the economic realities that constrain larger consumer SSDs, emphasizing that cost, controller complexity, and scaling considerations limit desktop implementations for very high-capacity drives. The discussion returns to practical implications for enthusiasts who may consider building high-capacity arrays, and the hosts reflect on the role of enterprise-grade storage in consumer and prosumer setups, contrasting it with the needs of typical gaming desktops. The show revisits the VR adoption narrative, noting that even though the first wave of headsets ships in the near term, Mac users may face a delayed or limited VR experience due to GPU limitations, while Windows platforms continue to push forward with VR ecosystems and driver support. The program then shifts to ongoing coverage of Windows Store gaming, exploring the limitations around VSync, SLI, CrossFire, and modding in Windows Store titles, and how this might affect the enthusiast PC gaming segment that Linus and his audience represent. Linus articulates his stance that platform restrictions should not cripple high-end graphics capabilities or alienate core gamers who invest in capable hardware, and he teases further discussion about Tim Sweeney and Epic Games amidst a broader Microsoft-Microsoft Store debate. The episode also includes a segment on the ongoing debate regarding hardware acceleration and full-screen behaviors, where borderless windowed modes may impact driver-level features and the overall gaming experience, prompting Linus and Dennis to critique Microsoft’s approach to windowed fullscreen and potential consequences for multi-GPU setups. In a lighter vein, the show pivots to more sponsor content and humorous banter, with Dennis contributing a memorable segment about nail polish experiments and a visual hardware demonstration by painting a graphics card, illustrating the playful, informal tone that characterizes WAN Show. The final portions of the episode recap a major storage breakthrough from Samsung, the 15 TB SAS SSD, highlighting its vertical NAND architecture, 256 Gbit die arrangement, and the implications for data centers, while also explaining practical limits for consumer desktops, including performance metrics like random read/write IOPS and the role of SAS 12G interfaces in enabling dense drive configurations. Linus explains why larger consumer SSDs are not simply a matter of scaling up die size, detailing the economic and technical barriers around controller design, wear leveling, and capitalist incentives, and he contrasts this with the realities of enterprise storage where capacity and reliability take precedence over desktop usability. The show closes with reflections on the ongoing VR and PC hardware conversations, including how the community's appetite for high-end storage and VR experiences informs Linus and his team’s future coverage, and a final note on the evolving relationship between hardware innovation and software ecosystems. The overall episode blends enthusiast-level hardware analysis with candid, humorous banter, underpinning the channel’s characteristic mix of deep technical detail and accessible, entertaining presentation, while setting the stage for continued coverage of VR, GPU, and storage developments in the weeks ahead.

Topics · technology · gaming · hardware · virtual reality