Author Archives: Phil Baker

Sony’s decision to place its iconic Bravia television business under majority control of China’s TCL is not just a corporate reshuffling. It is a clear signal of how far the global balance of industrial power has shifted — and how badly the United States misread China’s capabilities. Under this new arrangement, TCL will own 51 […]

As noted in my previous column, online reviews have become one of the most powerful tools we’ve had to make informed purchases of products and services. From choosing a tradesman, contractor, or restaurant to buying appliances and electronics, user-generated reviews give us visibility into other people’s experiences. They help democratize information and hold businesses accountable […]

One of the Internet’s greatest gifts isn’t streaming video, social media, or even instant information. It’s something far more practical and revolutionary: online reviews. For the first time in history, ordinary people can share their real experiences with products, tradespeople, restaurants, doctors, contractors, hotels, airlines and just about anything else—and in doing so, help complete strangers […]

Apple has finally done what once seemed unthinkable: it has cut a deal with Google to use Gemini as the AI engine behind a revamped Siri. For a company that built its legend on owning its products end-to-end — hardware, software, and services — this is more than a partnership. It’s an admission that after more than a […]

There’s an excellent, bluntly titled article in The Verge this week — “Tim Cook and Sundar Pichai are cowards” — and if you care about the power Big Tech wields, you should read it. The piece lays out a simple, uncomfortable truth: Apple and Google loudly advertise their values — safety, responsibility, protecting users — yet refuse to enforce […]

As I read this headline today, “Google co-founder Larry Page cuts business ties with California as state’s new billionaires’ tax looms,” I felt revulsion, as many others should as well. What is wrong with these people? For decades, California has been the most productive wealth-creation engine in modern history. Its universities, public infrastructure, legal system, […]

Elon Musk has spent years cultivating the image of a once-in-a-generation genius. Tesla’s recent slide suggests something else: a CEO whose instincts are increasingly bad, whose priorities are misaligned, and whose own behavior is actively damaging the company he leads. Tesla didn’t lose the global EV sales lead to BYD because the market turned. It […]

As we begin 2026 and peer back at 2025, the tech landscape has been a mix of ambitious breakthroughs and some truly spectacular misfires. While “worst” is a matter of personal opinion, several products this year stood out for failing to meet their massive hype, suffering from critical design flaws, or simply offering poor value. […]

There’s a Verizon scam that’s been fooling many that we should be aware of, because it’s quite clever and initially fooled me. I received this text below, supposedly from Verizon, saying I had points that were about to expire and I needed to redeem them soon: I looked at the link and saw Verizon.com, which […]

More than a year ago we read how ChatGPT would just make things up and how it embarrassed a lawyer who used it by citing court cases that it just made up. After all this time, ChatGLT is no better and maybe worse. At least 25% of the time I use it, I find it […]

When a power outage in San Francisco last night caused Waymo’s autonomous cars to freeze in place, snarl traffic, and block emergency vehicles, it felt to me like a paradigm of big tech. It was a predictable failure. The tech industry loves to release breakthrough products, but consistently refuses to confront how fragile these systems […]

I remember when my December newspaper columns were filled with new and unusual tech and travel products of the year, but no longer do see the swarm of new gadgets that we experienced in past years. Instead we’re mostly seeing refinements, improvements, and miniaturization of existing categories of products. This week I look back at […]

There was a time when the under-seat bag barely mattered. It carried a book, a computer, a boarding pass, maybe a sandwich. The real action lived in the overhead bin. The focus of interest was the rollerboard bag category, with every luggage company creating a line of bags measuring precisely 21 x 9 x 15 […]

My phone messages are being filled with a continuous torrent of requests for donations from our politicians. Day and night, I, a stranger they’ve never met, receive texts telling me I hold the key to saving their campaign. The tone is always frantic. “We are begging you.” “We are collapsing.” “We will not survive the […]

It’s becoming one of the real annoyances of our daily life: the constant request to rate, score, or review every transaction we make. Buy a sandwich, rate the sandwich. Order an item from Amazon, rate the packaging. Call customer support, rate the agent. These days it feels like every business we interact with is less […]

I just returned from Paris with tired legs, achy feet, hundreds of photos, and a renewed appreciation for something that most cities lack: the enjoyment of walking. Paris is a city built for the pedestrian in a way few modern cities are. While other places require cars, busses, and rideshares to get around, Paris invites […]

Google recently withdrew its Gemma AI product from the market after a letter from Senator Marsha Blackburn accused it of making up false allegations. When the AI model was queried if she had been accused of rape, Gemma responded with a completely fabricated story involving a state trooper, prescription-drug pressure, non-consensual acts, and fake news […]

For years, owning an iPhone meant accepting a trade-off: unmatched user inteface, strong ecosystem, and excellent build quality — but battery life that was barely good, and never great. Even as Apple’s hardware improved dramatically, many users remained frustrated that Apple paid less attention to the battery than its thinness. Consider the latest iPhone 17 […]

After more than a decade of hype, driverless taxis are finally becoming a reality. We’ve heard the promises for years — cars that would pick you up without a steering wheel or a driver in sight — but this time electric vehicles are actually navigating city streets around the world, picking up passengers, dropping them […]

General Motors’ decision to remove Apple CarPlay and Android Auto from its upcoming electric vehicles has set off a wave of frustration—not only among tech enthusiasts, but increasingly among everyday drivers who expect their phones to “just work” when they get into a car. The move was strongly defended this week by CEO Mary Barra […]