That's pretty selective statistical analysis. I could say the same thing about test equipment. I would bet that most of us are less enamored by analysis of test gear and consider it just a utilitarian tool like a screwdriver. And what's the obsession with soldering irons? As a newcomer here, I perceive that this community really has its fetishes. I strongly suspect that after Dave is finished doling out the episodes from Mr. Ford, we will likely never hear of microphones again. But I will still regularly slog through DMMs and soldering irons until the end of time. At least the mailbag brings some variety.
Dave's most popular video is/was the soldering tutorial, it's a simple fact that anything mentioning soldering or soldering irons will attract an audience. Thanks to the internet, every year thousands of people discover a need for a soldering iron and go in search for advice and information and soon learn they also need a multimeter and the knowledge that V = IR. Soldering, test equipment, basic theory make for popular videos.
I think this is great news for everyone with an interest in electronics: At the hobby level the market is increasing in size, people become more aware of the quality of the devices they buy, interest in electronics leads to the application of logical thought which hopefully will spill back out into the individual's other interests and activities... The list goes on.
Microphones:
Thousands of people out there have a web cam or mobile phone and are wondering why their Youtube videos suck. One big reason is audio quality which, of course, brings us to microphones. A quick search of Youtube for audio/microphone problems brings up a familiar list of ill-informed videos made by people with an ego, a big mouth, a video camera and often, funnily enough, a poor quality audio recording set-up. More quality information on microphones is needed.
Rod Elliott:
It was Rod's site that brought back my interest in electronics, at last I'd found a site that not only contained some interesting projects and articles but was written by someone who knew what they were talking about. That was long ago. Today I have Rod's phantom powered microphone amp in front of me ready for assembly in the hope that it will solve the problem with the low gain and noisy mic. input on my PC.