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 […]

A recent investigation exposed how LG smart TVs can secretly monitor user activity. The report revealed that the TVs can record and store audio even when powered off, track every piece of content on the screen, and be used as covert surveillance tools. Yet, our living room television is only the tip of the iceberg […]

The three-year lease on my Lexus RZ EV ends in a few months. After looking at an EV replacement, test-driving several cars, checking reviews, and doing plenty of research, I decided to just purchase my 2023 model. While I found a number of attractive EV options—mainly from Toyota and Hyundai—none matched the combination of price […]

I’ve been watching the reaction to Apple’s new foldable phone, the iPhone Duo, announced this past Wednesday, and I keep noticing the same pattern from the tech journalists. Reviewer after reviewer runs through the specs, discusses the pluses and the minuses, and arrives at much the same conclusion: an interesting new phone, late to the […]

Tim Cook just stepped down as CEO of Apple and two of his last actions tarnished Apple Maps, just as Apple Maps tarnished Tim Cook’s reputation when he launched the deeply flawed app shortly after he became CEO. His first action was putting ads on Apple Maps, one of the few places on the internet […]

Frequent travelers can become surprisingly obsessed with the luggage they buy. The carry-on rollerboard, in particular, has become the business traveler’s constant companion where ever they go, sometimes tens of thousands of miles from home. It carries and protects their necessities and is rarely out of site. As one of those travelers, we’re looking for […]

Many of us grew up when smoking was cool, until it suddenly wasn’t. Despite an avalanche of medical reports connecting smoking with cancer, Big Tobacco insisted that cigarettes were safe. Tobacco companies spent hundreds of millions of dollars on advertising campaigns that claimed the evidence wasn’t strong enough to justify changing the way it did […]

This month, my Chase Sapphire Reserve card came up for renewal and allowed me to do my first full-year assessment of the revamped perks introduced last fall. While I used about half the benefits, an unexpected roof replacement pushed my annual spend past the $75,000 threshold. That unlocked a valuable suite of Southwest Airlines perks: […]

For frequent travelers, public Wi-Fi has become almost as routine as checking into a hotel. You arrive, open your laptop or phone, select the hotel network and accept the terms. A few seconds later, you’re online. That convenience is exactly what scammers have been exploiting. A hacking campaign linked to Russian attackers, known as CaptiveCrunch, […]

A few weeks ago, I decided to upgrade my Lexus EV with a feature found on the top model, door puddle lights that project the car’s logo when you exit the door. The light module contains a tiny LED projector that casts a crisp, illuminated Lexus logo onto the pavement. Yes, it’s nearly useless and […]

The world’s largest technology companies are spending hundreds of billions of dollars building AI infrastructure. New data centers, specialized chips, and massive electrical systems are essential to power the enormous amount of computing AI requires. No company wants to be left behind, so the spending has become a race in which participation seems mandatory. There’s […]

When GM decided to stop supporting Apple CarPlay and Android Auto in many of its vehicles, the company faced a wave of criticism. Many buyers had grown accustomed to plugging in their phones and instantly seeing their familiar apps on the dashboard. Recently I had a chance to try GM’s alternative—a system based on Google’s […]

When Apple decided to eliminate removable batteries from their phones and computers, who would have guessed it might eventually impact airline safety? With the increased usage of our phones and the need to recharge more often, an entirely new industry of power banks emerged, and these devices have become the major cause of serious airline […]

While the automotive world has been marveling at China’s electric vehicle makers—and how quickly they have surpassed many European, Japanese, and American competitors—I’ve been equally impressed by a wave of consumer electronics from little-known Chinese companies. These products aren’t just inexpensive; they’re thoughtfully designed, highly innovative, and often rethink familiar product categories from the ground […]

Every generation has its miracle technology. It arrives amid breathless predictions, billion-dollar investments and promises that it will change our lives. Skeptics are dismissed as people who simply “don’t get it.” Then reality sets in. The technology isn’t a failure, but it isn’t the revolution we were promised. Artificial intelligence is simply the latest example—although […]

For decades, the consumer tech industry has operated under the rule that adding more features to a product makes it better. We see it in smartphones that ship with dozens of pre-installed apps you can’t delete, smart refrigerators and washers that require software updates to work, and televisions that spy on our viewing habits to […]

I’ve been using the Chase Sapphire Reserve Card, the bank’s $800-a-year premium card, for about nine months and it has essentially paid for itself. But the wild swings in its customer service has left me scratching my head. I’ve taken advantage of many of the benefits including a $300 travel credit, a $250 rebate for […]