HouseholdHacker was launched in November 2007 and quickly attracted interest, becoming YouTube's most subscribed channel for the month of December 2007. By January 2009, HouseholdHacker was the 22nd most subscribed YouTube channel. and hundreds of other blogs. Within its first week, the video had been viewed over 4 million times.
By the following November, the video had been viewed more than 7 million times and attracted the attention of ABCNews.com, who asked "Can an Onion Charge an iPod?" ABC put the video to the test, but failed to obtain the promised result. Reporter Emily Friedman remarked "this appears to be an iFraud." 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. 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. However, it is possible to get minijack cables for under a dollar online. While the focus of the channel has become more social, they have taken humor into the truthfulness of their early videos. In the first "Ask HouseholdHacker" video, when questioned the validity of the speaker video, the camera was panned, revealing a surround-sound stereo system presumably constructed out of paper plates and aluminum foil.
In addition to high profile hoaxes, the HouseholdHacker channel hosts a number of less provocative videos such as "How to Prank your Roommate on April Fools" and "How to make a secret, disguised safe." Scientific Tuesdays, a relatively new approach from Dylan, has set a stage of a series of scientifically based segments using mostly commonly found items in the home or some that he instructs his viewers on how to obtain. There has been a recent association with Revision3, the online video show provider based in San Francisco, Ca. REV3 is made up of a group of talented movie and TV pro's that work directly with advertisers to disseminate the ad content they provide with revenue coming from those sources to grow the programming they produce.
Dylan has been associated with REV3 recently in a few episodes of SCIENTIFIC TUESDAYS, and whether or not this becomes more entwined is unknown. The creativity and "ODD SCIENTIFIC" mysteries unveiled are both thought provoking and delivered with a panache somewhat unique on You Tube. Not only are the presentations done professionally, but also with a constant hint of humor, you never know what he may say or do next adding to the addictive nature of the segment but the channel in general.
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