Jan 10Member-onlyWith COVID, the odds are never in your favorI went to CES and all I brought back was COVID — Three years into the pandemic, I was feeling, if not invincible, then at least a kind of anomaly. I’d never had COVID and began to think that maybe I never would. Granted, I took precautions throughout the years, steering clear of crowds, wearing masks in public, the office, and on…Technology4 min readTechnology4 min read
Aug 28, 2022Member-onlyMedium RareWhere is this platform going without me? — Beginnings are hard. Endings are harder. It’s been a seven-year ride with Medium. That’s as long as I was with Mashable and just a few years less than I spent with PCMag (the second time). It’s been a long and meaningful relationship that is, sadly, coming to an end, but…Technology6 min readTechnology6 min read
Aug 26, 2022Member-onlyI Don’t Want Your AI ArtistBad art doesn’t have to be real — Artificial intelligence is being increasingly assigned not to just the mundane tasks we no longer want to do but to the inspiring and creative pursuits once the sole purview of the human species. And it’s not going well. Recently, I read about Capitol Records signing a new rapper, FN Meka…AI3 min readAI3 min read
Aug 21, 2022Member-onlyThe 5 Stages of a Social Media BreakI think I need it a little too much — It wasn’t a plan, but for more than a week, I’ve been almost entirely off social media. The sum of my posts was four: Two on TikTok to show off new Samsung gadgets, two on Instagram to, first, share one of the best pieces of French toast I’ve ever had…Social Media5 min readSocial Media5 min read
Aug 7, 2022Member-onlyA Lesson in the Dangers of Blindly Trusting TechnologyMy lawn has a tale to tell — Half my lawn is dead, and I blame technology, though I should also blame myself. Years ago, I replaced my manual sprinkler system controls with a Rachio Smart Sprinkler control system. Whereas the original system — supplied by my sprinkler guy — was an analog setup where I used sliders…Technology4 min readTechnology4 min read
Jul 31, 2022Member-onlyTech Nostalgia Matters Because it’s the History of UsWe can retire technology but not the memories of 40 years of computing — It doesn’t matter if you’ve been using computers for five or forty years, there’s an impulse to cherish the technology of your youth. Millennials, for instance, wax rhapsodic over AIM, Myspace, and their Nokia and Sidekick phones. Gen Xers corner you to tell tales of their first bulky Toshiba laptop…Technology4 min readTechnology4 min read
Jul 24, 2022Member-onlyWhat Apple Giveth, it Taketh AwayOne small change turns the app world upside-down — These are difficult days for most established social media platforms. A rough economy is strangling their biggest source of revenue: advertising. Even before the not-quite-a-recession of 2022, Snapchat, Twitter, and Facebook have been citing another villain in their efforts to stay in the green: Apple. When Apple launched its App…Apple4 min readApple4 min read
Jul 17, 2022Member-onlyAmazon rules the retail universe because we let itThere are few buying decisions it doesn’t influence — After almost 30 years of operation, my trusty Emerson Quiet Cool dehumidifier was doing performative art, running but not actually sucking moisture out of the air. It was time to buy a new one. We have an appliance store less than a mile away from my home, which is why…Amazon4 min readAmazon4 min read
Jul 10, 2022Member-onlyCan We Trust TikTok?Sometimes I worry TikTok lied to us — I want to trust TikTok, the wildly popular social media platform that’s put every other platform on notice. But do I want to trust it because I like it so much? Back when the Trump administration sought to ban TikTok, I wrote a vehement defense, much of it based on…Social Media4 min readSocial Media4 min read
Jun 27, 2022Member-onlyTime to Lock Down Your Digital PrivacyPrivacy is an assumption we can no longer afford — I’ve been wrong. Whenever someone told me they were concerned about tech companies reading their emails or someone surreptitiously slipping into their Wi-Fi connection, I told them that no one was all that interested in what they, specifically, were doing. Call me Pollyanna. Recent events remind me that personal privacy…Technology3 min readTechnology3 min read
