Could we be missing something about Musk and what he’s doing with Twitter? For several weeks now he’s eliminated most of its organization that keeps the site running and keeps discourse from being taken over by hate groups and bigots. Now, in his latest move, he’s changing the rules about content moderation. He’s announced he’s […]
Everyone is trying to figure out what Elon Musk is doing with Twitter. Since he took ownership a month ago, he’s fired half the employees, laid off another 5000 contractors, lost most of his advertisers, and eliminated the company’s system of verification. While he needs to reduce the losses, his actions are contrary to common […]
Remember when your cellular provders would increase your monthly bill whenever you tweaked your plan? If you added a line or made a minor change, certain discounts would be removed or your monthly charge would go up. Well, I encounterd a new scheme from Verizon that does much the same. When I made a slight […]
Last week’s post described our horror-able experience with Southwest when trying to fly from San Diego to Savannah, GA. I said I’d never use them again once we concluded our trip, but didn’t expect that getting back home could be just as bad. As I arrived at Savannah Airport for our return to San Diego […]
When we plan a vacation and make airline reservations, our expectations are that our airline will get us to where they agreed to take us at the time they committed for the cost we paid. In the occasional case of having difficulty in fulfilling their commitments, we would expect some help in making other arrangements. […]
They block you when you’re reading, they flash rapidly trying to distract you, and they constantly interrupt your train of thought. They’re interspersed in the middle of a story you’re reading or a video you’re watching. They’re like mosquitos that you can’t get away from. Slap one down and another pops up. Go elsewhere and […]
In my column here on August 10 I predicted that Facebook was about to collapse and gave a number of reasons why I came to that conclusion: Lack of product innovation – In spite of having almost unlimited funds, Facebook has had a poor track record in creating follow-on products, and their latest idea is […]
For more than thirty years, China and our consumer technology industry have been partners that helped each other to thrive. Product innovation and design were done in the U.S. and manufacturing was done in China. But now China’s president Xi Jinping is killing that relationship. China became the default manufacturer for a wide range of […]
Apple’s AirTag is a tiny $30 device about the size of a quarter that attaches to an item to help you find it, should the item be lost. An AirTag contains a Bluetooth transmitter powered by a coin cell to detect nearby Apple phones to determine its own location. Since Apple iPhones are most everywhere, […]
It’s become clear that many companies have no interest in hearing from us. The difficulties we have to go through to reach a live person at a company to help us seems worse than ever. They have no hesitation to contact us, even flood us with messages, but when we have to contact them, they […]
If there’s one element of the travel industry that has failed to realize it’s in the hospitality business, it’s the major rental car companies. We constantly hear horror stories, examples of gouging, and sometimes much worse. Still, when I read last year about Hertz having their customers arrested, I was astounded. From CNN, 47 Hertz […]
No, I’m not talking about travel insurance. I’m referring to keeping an eye on your home while traveling without giving it much thought, knowing that it’s safe and secure. It’s become remarkably simple and inexpensive to do so with some of the latest security gadgets. I once envisioned having a laser beam encircle my home […]
Technology has come to used car selling and buying. This may not be news to many of you, but it was to me when I recently accompanied my daughter on her quest to purchase a new car. Thanks to the internet, it was a lot easier, helped by the new car dealers’ websites that list […]
There have been huge improvements to travel chargers in recent years. They’re smaller, lighter and more powerful. You no longer need to carry one of those large white charging blocks for your MacBook, a huge power block for your PC notebook, or a a large multi-port charger for simultaneous charging of your computer, phone, tablet, […]
This week Apple announced their next generation of iPhones, Airpods, and watches. The new products are the annual upgrades to their current versions, which always raises the question of whether the new features are a good enough reason to upgrade. That’s because after years of evolving, the previous year’s models are hard to improve upon. […]
If you like Tumi products, you’ll love this new line from Waterfield that includes a backpack, a messenger bag, a duffel, and a small carry bag. Both Tumi and Waterfield use ballistic nylon, but the Waterfield bags are less than 1/2 the cost and are made in the U.S. Tumi bags are made in China […]
Apple has grand ambitions to move into the healthcare field. The company’s CEO Tim Cook once referred to health as the company’s “greatest contribution to mankind.” CNBC has reported that the company has built up a huge internal team staffed with doctors, health coaches, and engineers, and has developed health-focused software and hardware, and even started medical […]
When four of my family members traveled to Europe last month for seventeen days, they all traveled with their Verizon-enabled phones that are on my family plan. If they all chose to use their phones’ cellular service, even for a minute a day, the cost would have been $40/day x 17 or $560. That’s because […]
With the increasing number of power outages, many of us are looking at ways to protect ourselves when we lose power, something that seems to becoming more frequent. Loss of power means no Internet, spoiled food, no heat or air conditioning, no hot water and darkness. The conventional solution to power loss has been using […]
Rarely do huge companies suddenly collapse. Instead they peak and then begin to slowly erode. It’s not aways visible because these companies have a lot of inertia and have PR departments working with compliant analysts and press to mask their troubles and paint a rosy picture. I’ve been around the high tech industry for more […]