Old Fire Alarm Enthusiasts

Based off this topic: <URL url="Anyone remember a collector by the name of "Scottparsons2008"? text=“viewtopic.php?f=3&t=10448”>Anyone remember a collector by the name of "Scottparsons2008"?

This topic is about old fire alarm enthusiasts, ones that are defunct. Anyone remember any old enthusiasts?

I remember quite a few and am really sad that they are no longer here but it seems like they were ready to move on and I can’t blame them.

People I remember are:
simplex29
Simplex 4030
samburner3
TheRealSimplexTech
Charlie Davidson
willbill808
Samson
Robert A
NickyVeee
TheAlmightyZach
NewEnglandElevators

Anybody remember SimplexTech? He used to make a lot of videos in the past.

Oh yeah, I do, haven’t seen him (SimplexTech) active in years though. I guess you can think of SAFETECH as SimplexTech’s spiritual successor, as both are fire alarm technicians who work for Simplex, even similar usernames.

[quote=CarsonFireAlarm post_id=86697 time=1585703722 user_id=2958]

Oh yeah, I do, haven’t seen him (SimplexTech) active in years though. I guess you can think of SAFETECH as SimplexTech’s spiritual successor, as both are fire alarm technicians who work for Simplex, even similar usernames.

[/quote]

For some reason I think they might be the same person.

[quote=randomperson post_id=86698 time=1585703803 user_id=3878] [quote=CarsonFireAlarm post_id=86697 time=1585703722 user_id=2958]

Oh yeah, I do, haven’t seen him (SimplexTech) active in years though. I guess you can think of SAFETECH as SimplexTech’s spiritual successor, as both are fire alarm technicians who work for Simplex, even similar usernames.

[/quote]

For some reason I think they might be the same person.

[/quote]

I doubt it

Who remembers Gamealarm? He mostly collected smoke alarms, but did fire alarm videos as well. He stopped making videos around 2013.

Ah yes, know him as well. He always used a camera with HORRIBLE quality video, though I guess that could be forgiven as it was the mid-2000s he made the majority of his videos in, IIRC at least.

Who remembers Firealarm101?

I don’t, had to actually go visit his channel to see if I did know him or not.

Thesdx was another one I remember. He said he would make a video soon, but that hasn’t happened yet.

Gamealarm is doing well, he’s still in the FA industry and is actually still working since he is considered an essential service. We’re friends on FB and he’s in the FA group although he’s not active there.

You know, NewAgeServer and thesdx are in very similar situations right now: both announced their semi-retirement from the fire alarm community fairly recently, but said they’ll still produce videos every now and then, however we have yet to see any more videos from them so far.

[quote="Fire Alarm Fan" post_id=86719 time=1585841323 user_id=56]

Gamealarm is doing well, he’s still in the FA industry and is actually still working since he is considered an essential service. We’re friends on FB and he’s in the FA group although he’s not active there.

[/quote]

Interesting!

Thesdx’s original collection video is what got me into fire alarm collecting

The only one’s I can name off the top of my head are:
[list]

  • []videogamer24385[/]
  • [*]NewAgeServerAlarm[/*]
  • [*]CoffeeandSugar20(?)[/*]
  • [*]2plyboy[/*]
  • [*]Thesdx[/*]
  • [/list] It's fascinating how much has changed though...

    My good friend Robert Aslin and I have spent many hours discussing the shifts that we have seen in the hobbyist community over the years. Personally, I have been active in the community since 2011, so many of these names are of people that I used to watch, like many of you did as well. There are two large changes that I have noticed in the YouTube side of the community since “the older generation” have stepped away from content creation.

    1. The audience is becoming younger and younger. With unfettered access to YouTube and other forms of social media, it has become increasingly easier for younger enthusiasts to post their content and to comment on the creations of others. In my experience watching the comment sections of some of the larger channels, the age range of the audience members now has a lower-bound value closer to 9 years old. This is quite abnormal from the age range that we once saw “back in the day.”

    2. Audiences for the large channels have become extensively mutually exclusive. What I mean by this is that “back in the day,” people would watch Andrew, Destin, Charlie, AND Jake. Moreover, audience members wouldn’t limit themselves to a single creator, and had the willingness to explore new creators (This is how I gained what little following I once had). Now it appears that audiences will only watch S.E.R. Safety or will only watch ExitSign250, or will only watch a combination of the more popular channels. In many instances, the younger audience members get very defensive of these creators when anything negative is said in commentary. (I once stumbled upon a YouTube comment calling one of the aforementioned popular creators “the Fire Alarm Jesus.”)

    I believe that these changes have lead to a massive polarization of the greater community, especially with the increased use of alternate social media platforms by these bigger creators. With Instagram becoming a facet of everyone’s social media arsenal, this brings the younger audience closer to the popular creators. This references back to my earlier point of garnering a very defensive following, such that nothing negative could ever be said about these fire alarm deities, lest you be burned at the stake by an armada of ill-informed youthful fans.

    As some of you may be aware, Robert and I have been moderators on the Fire Alarm Technicians and Collectors Discord server since its inception. This has allowed us to build a massive platform (relatively speaking) upon which to stage real-time discussions pertaining to our hobbies. Gone are the days of posting a question to a forum and hoping to get a timely response. With the instant messaging and voice communication tools that Discord offers, we have seen an even larger shift towards using instant communications to get assistance with technical questions, or to discuss other topics related to life safety. In this way, I feel that the members of that server are more open to seeing a diverse range of content creators, and can easily see just how human these people are. Most unfortunately so, the largest creators are not members with us, and we cannot foster that human viewpoint that seems to be so desperately necessary. Additionally, members can communicate with their favorite creators one-on-one and can see the side of them that is exposed when the camera is off.

    For the creators that cloak themselves behind the static posts of YouTube and Instagram and refuse to actively participate in community discussions, we see those mutually exclusive audiences procure. I feel that the utmost important thing that any YouTube creator can do is to express how human they truly are. Taking CallMeCarson as an example, he was placed upon a pedestal by his exponentially growing audience, and now has expressed how deeply disturbed by “stan culture” he has become. Placing these creators on metaphoric pedestals can only act as a detriment to this hobby. It cannot be denied that what we do is quite esoteric and to many people is seen as “weird.” If we allow ourselves to hold these popular creators to a god-like status, then we have no avenue for an active community discussion. I believe that this was what these older creators sought to impart upon us during their departures.

    [quote="Simplex 4051" post_id=86673 time=1585538578 user_id=18]

    I remember quite a few and am really sad that they are no longer here but it seems like they were ready to move on and I can’t blame them.

    People I remember are:
    […]
    Robert A
    TheAlmightyZach
    […]

    [/quote]

    I’m still here, and so is Zach!

    I’ve been busy with college, an internship, and a Discord server I help moderate (a bit of an open secret at this point that the moderation team there is the same as the moderation team here now), so I’ve never had the time to make many fire alarm videos. Though, given the pestilence that shall remain unnamed, perhaps I’ll have a bit more time to set up a little demo system. Who knows?

    I do miss Andrew, Destin, and Charlie, but I understand that all three of them have moved on to what they are passionate about. For me, my passion is fire protection, but in a much broader sense. It includes fire alarms but is not just limited to alarms.

    Elaborating on what Johann said, I’d really like it if the “new collectors” took a while to familiarize themselves with the old guard and how they chose to make their videos. It used to be people just sharing their collection, setting up a demo system, and making noise. Now everyone is so focused on “life safety education” that they don’t realize that they themselves aren’t really in a position to educate. It really is quite frustrating, honestly. It’s even more frustrating when they’re presented with corrections to their information and they refuse to accept it or any constructive criticism. Or, even worse, when they act like some sort of motivational figure when they’re not much older than their average audience member.

    I may have the most academic knowledge of life safety than just about all of them, but I don’t frame my (admittedly sparse) videos as “education” so much as just sharing what I know. I think that’s what separates the old from the new, actually. Andrew, Destin, and Charlie shared their knowledge with the community, and as a result, everyone stood to gain from it. If they were wrong, they’d correct themselves and everyone was happy. It’s not like that anymore, and that disappoints me.

    For me, that aspect of the community is what I miss the most, what I hope to bring back to the community, and what I wish more people would do in the future.

    [quote="Simplex 4051" post_id=86673 time=1585538578 user_id=18]

    People I remember are:

    Robert A
    TheAlmightyZach

    [/quote]

    TIL I’m old. :stuck_out_tongue_winking_eye: Nah but seriously. I’m still here! My YouTube is FireAlarmTech. As for all those names others are mentioning, I miss watching all those videos. Watched an old NewAgeServerAlarm video today for nostalgia… He was the first hobbyist I found, and ultimately who inspired me in the first place.

    [quote=TheAlmightyZach post_id=86867 time=1586908092 user_id=3249] [quote="Simplex 4051" post_id=86673 time=1585538578 user_id=18]

    People I remember are:

    Robert A
    TheAlmightyZach

    [/quote]

    TIL I’m old. :stuck_out_tongue_winking_eye: Nah but seriously. I’m still here! My YouTube is FireAlarmTech. As for all those names others are mentioning, I miss watching all those videos. Watched an old NewAgeServerAlarm video today for nostalgia… He was the first hobbyist I found, and ultimately who inspired me in the first place.

    [/quote]

    NewAgeServerAlarm was also the first enthusiast I ever watched. One of my favorites will always be System Test 20 with those glorious mechanical horns.