Monthly Archives: October 2026

General Motors has just agreed to pay $220 million to settle allegations that it secretly collected information about its customers’ driving habits and sold that information to data brokers, who then provided it to insurance companies. Here’s how it worked: You buy a car from General Motors, trusting the company with your safety and your […]

The new $2000 iPhone Duo folding phone has received a generally favorable response, with reviewers praising its build quality and form factor, but also identifying some real compromises. After reading more than a dozen reviews, and spending about an hour using the phone at an Apple store, I have some opinions and recommendations that I […]

I’m tired of being asked to rate everything I do, everything I buy, and everyone I encounter. Apparently, my paying for a product or service is no longer enough; now I’m expected to give them reviews. It seems that whenever I conduct a transaction online, I invariably get an email or pop-up window asking how […]

When I unpacked my order I brought home from Costco, a pair of windshield wiper blades I had just bought were missing. I checked my receipt and they were rung up. Did the cashier forget to add them to my cart or did I leave them in the cart when I went to my car? […]

Artificial intelligence companies are attracting enormous investments and commanding valuations that rival some of the world’s most successful businesses. Investors are betting hundreds of billions of dollars that AI will transform the economy and generate extraordinary profits. But there’s a fundamental problem receiving surprisingly little attention:  Many of these companies are selling products that are […]

For years, we’ve watched technology companies like Meta operate with little accountability for the damage their products have caused. Their platforms have encouraged addictive behavior, exposed children to predators, spread misinformation, and put user engagement and profits ahead of public safety. Now artificial intelligence companies are facing many of the same accusations, with potentially even […]

Premium credit cards such as the Chase Sapphire Reserve and American Express Platinum come with an impressive collection of benefits. The problem is that few of us cardholders use all of them. Although I managed to get plenty of benefits from my Chase Sapphire card this year, I had no need for their $500 credit […]

An article I wrote for Fast Company Magazine was published today. You can find it here or read it below. 10-06-2026TECH Why America can’t build the iPhone A veteran product designer and Apple alumnus explains how Asia earned the world’s electronics manufacturing business—a shift he helped catalyze. For six decades, I’ve worked on product design […]

With the uncertainties of an ongoing war, El Niño, cyberattacks, increasingly severe weather, and who knows what else, it seemed timely to have a plan for a managing a prolonged power failure. So I’ve been looking at the options available to someone like me, living in a 2,800-square-foot suburban home in San Diego County. My […]