Category: technology

Just Tell Me What to Buy: The Verge’s This Is My Next

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this is my next logoI didn’t think I’d be as enthralled as I am by The Verge series This Is My Next, but the central idea and its deft execution are really working for me. This has shifted me into exactly the mindset the series has in mind, a mindset that perhaps I should have had for a while in this age of consumer electronic abundance: tell me what’s the best out there—the best smartphone, the best digital camera, the best whatever—cut down my information overload, my choice fatigue, and I’ll gladly take it from there. Sure, there’s a bunch of tech options this trust I’ve placed in The Verge is filtering out, but as a recent episode nicely sums up,

…the truth is, most of them are garbage.

Coming from a long readership tenure with Engadget, my attitude had previously been “show me everything that’s out there, lay out the whole consumer tech smorgasbord, and I’ll figure out a supremely well-informed decision.

Then along came The Verge, and they know what they’re doing. Continue reading →

The Ease of Laundering Pocketable Technology, part 2

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What the sliz? It still works!

laundered iPod nano still woks!

With the poor contrast in this image, it’s hard to tell, but as far as I can tell, but after two days of letting this laundered iPod nano sit unactivated, it’s totally functional: touchscreen responds normally, battery charges, sound output through headphones sounds fine… wow.

Is this device sealed up really good or was it because the iPod went through an efficiency washed with a full load (and therefore didn’t get totally soaked through)? Or both? Whatever the case, looks like I may still be able to recommerce this one!

( And in case you’re wondering what’s on the iPod screen, it’s one of the recent Story of Stuff podcasts. )

The Ease of Laundering Pocketable Technology

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This week, my iPod nano went through a colors cycle in a washing machine, forcing me to update my iProduct Consumption chart: nearly 1.5 decades of Apple devices. In case you’re curious, the 4th-gen iPod shuffle worked fine after it made it out of the laundry and dried; I’m waiting to see what happens with this 7th-gen one.

iProduct-consumption,-July-2014

And no, I don’t have tons of disposable income. My major expenditures on consumables fall into the categories of food, books and tech Continue reading →