I’ve never been a fan of ballot initiatives. They seem like a way for legislatures to avoid doing their job. Too often initiatives are poorly worded, often making you think a yes is a no or no is a yes. But they’re with us for good and the recent election was no exception. There were […]
Who would’ve thought that my takeout lunch was decided by a restaurant’s app? In these days of the pandemic, if you choose to be extra cautious and isolate yourself, curbside pickup has become a perfect solution for restaurants and stores. Call in your order, arrive at the restaurant, and your meal is delivered to your […]
I want to bring you up to date and provide new information on some of my past reviews and stories. Too often you’ll read early impressions and rarely hear anything further. With more time first impressions often change, the novelty wears off, and new information comes to light. Moving from Cable to Streaming Living with […]
Apple just introduced four new iPhone 12 models, shown in the image below in blue. The major improvement over last year’s models are the inclusion of 5G cellular on all models. 5G promises to speed up data downloads and create the opportunity for new high-bandwidth services such as high resolution music and hi def videos. But […]
Printer companies, particularly HP and Epson. have long taken advantage of us with their outrageous costs of ink cartridges. We’re told it allows them to sell us a printer at a lower cost and make it up with the cost of replacement ink cartridges, much like the razor and blade model. But, in fact, it’s […]
For those of us that have traveled to Asia on business and pleasure, it’s been so sad to see what’s happening to Hong Kong and its people. The city is being depleted of its vibrancy, its independence and its reputation as one of the most important financial and tourist centers of the world. Most importantly, […]
Apple has just introduced the latest version of their Apple watch. Called Series 6, it’s the continuing evolution of the original design that looks and works much the same. Yet over the years the watch has transitioned from a “what do I do with it?” to “it’s hard to get along without it.” The company […]
On September 11, the US Customs and Border Protection seized 2,000 Earbuds shipped from Hong Kong to Nevada. The earbuds are made by a well known Chinese company called OnePlus. The agency claimed they were actually counterfeit Apple AirPods. But they were in packaging identified as being a OnePlus product and they were of a […]
5G is the new cellular standard being rolled out by the carriers and showing up on the newest models of phones. It uses a variety of new technologies to provide data transmission speeds up to 40 times faster than the current 4G technology, at least in theory. When Apple announces their new iPhone 12 series […]
Throughout much of my career in high tech, I’ve experienced the promise of how high tech would make things better for the world. We’d having flying cars, robots doing our housework and more time to spend with our families. Well, it’s safe to say that it was a rosy prediction that never considered the downside […]
Beginning next month when Apple rolls out its new iOS 14 for the iPhone and iPad, users will have a chance to opt out of being tracked. This is a major benefit that few companies have dared to offer. The question you’ll be ask will be something like: “Do you want this app to follow […]
I’ve been using Superhuman email for almost two months now and it’s a refreshing new take on managing email, especially if you spend an hour or more each day with it. When I first wrote about Superhuman here, I found it intriguing, but needed more time to flesh it out. I’ve now gone through a number […]
While I love covering travel technology, few of us are traveling these days and there’s little interest in new luggage from Tumi or Away. It’s much more likely we’ll be touring our home than touring another city. So rather than writing about travel tech, I thought I’d focus on some great gadgets for the home […]
According to the Digital Quality of Life Index 2020, the U.S. ranks 22nd in the world. The DQL research conducted by Surfshark, a VPN provider, examined a total population of more than 6.3 billion people in terms of 12 indicators that are interrelated and work together to provide a measure of the overall digital quality […]
Here are several technology products suited for these unusual times while isolating at home, spending more time with our devices, and looking for new things to do. Phone, iPad and Notebook Stands With all of the zoom and FaceTime calls, perhaps you want to look your best and position the camera on your device so […]
Background Superhuman email software is creating quite a buzz in the tech community. The company of the same name describes the product as “not another email client,” but a product “rebuilt from the ground up” that will make you “feel like you have superpowers.” Many of its users are equally effusive about how it’s revolutionized […]
YouTube TV emulates the cable companies Moving from cable to streaming for TV watching just became more expensive. In earlier columns, I analyzed the benefits and cost savings of making the move. While there was a small cost advantage, the main benefits were convenience, simplicity, and access to a wider variety of content that you […]
Later this month the four leaders of the world’s most powerful technology companies will testify before Congress as part of the government’s multiple anti-trust investigations. David Cicilline, a Democratic congressman from Rhode Island, will lead the questioning of Jeff Bezos of Amazon, Mark Zuckerberg of Facebook, Sundar Pichai of Google and Tim Cook of Apple. Hopefully, […]
Apple held its annual developers conference this week where they made a score of new announcements, mostly software related and not about specific new products. Like other Apple events, it was carefully choreographed and filled with presenters that exuded excitement and enthusiasm about what they each presented. It reminded me of an adult version of […]
Email has been something we’ve used for years, but works essentially the same way since its invention. Essentially it’s a collection of folders that groups a collection of incoming and outgoing emails. Improvements have included adding folders, including spam and less-important email, and a variety of other incremental features around the edges. But while email […]
