In this case, I actually learned quite a bit about how map making was done in the early 1960s and the technology and processes involved. I learned more in a shorter time than many YouTube videos of today. And todays' YouTube videos suffer from self-promotion and more overt advertising than the more subtle propaganda of these old videos.
There's always a hazard in comparing a specific genre or studio's production to an aggregate average. Sturgeon's law is tremendously optimistic: far more than 90% of everything is crap.
British Pathe, especially during and after WWII, was unabashadly propagandistic. It produced short newsreels for popular audiences to view before the main feature in theatres. Themes were pro-British, pro-Empire, and pro-Industry. Technical content was minimal.
At its best, YouTube offers markedly better. One example off the top of my head is the Engineer Guy channel, with numerous phenomenally good, non-self-promotional videos. His on the RMS Titanic, the British Airship R.101, on the design (and manufacture) of the aluminium can, and his re-enactment of Michael Faraday's "Natural History of the Candle" (proving that the Brits can actually create high-quality educational content) are all excellent, and I've watched all of them.
Bill Hammack has his own biases, occasional blind spots, and does occasionally promote (he wrote a book on R.101, as he'll happily tell you, and does). But he produces excellent work, first and foremost.
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In this case, I actually learned quite a bit about how map making was done in the early 1960s and the technology and processes involved. I learned more in a shorter time than many YouTube videos of today. And todays' YouTube videos suffer from self-promotion and more overt advertising than the more subtle propaganda of these old videos.
There's always a hazard in comparing a specific genre or studio's production to an aggregate average. Sturgeon's law is tremendously optimistic: far more than 90% of everything is crap.
British Pathe, especially during and after WWII, was unabashadly propagandistic. It produced short newsreels for popular audiences to view before the main feature in theatres. Themes were pro-British, pro-Empire, and pro-Industry. Technical content was minimal.
At its best, YouTube offers markedly better. One example off the top of my head is the Engineer Guy channel, with numerous phenomenally good, non-self-promotional videos. His on the RMS Titanic, the British Airship R.101, on the design (and manufacture) of the aluminium can, and his re-enactment of Michael Faraday's "Natural History of the Candle" (proving that the Brits can actually create high-quality educational content) are all excellent, and I've watched all of them.
Bill Hammack has his own biases, occasional blind spots, and does occasionally promote (he wrote a book on R.101, as he'll happily tell you, and does). But he produces excellent work, first and foremost.