The same year Apple launched the iPhone, it unveiled a massive upgrade to Mac OS X known as Leopard, sporting “300 New Features.” Two years later, it did something almost unheard of: it released Snow Leopard, an upgrade all about how little it added and how much it took away. Apple needs to make it snow again.
Microsoft gave it a try in 1999 and failed. The same tantalizing possibility returns every few years: a single place to communicate rather than an ever-expanding cacophony of apps, each with its own quirks. Are we any closer to this hope a quarter century later?
The Humane Pin has died and HP has killed it. The burial of last year’s tech darling, DOA as its concept was from the get-go, isn’t that important in itself, but continues the troubling trend of things we buy dying unnatural deaths.
KiiBoom isn’t exactly a name that rolls off the tongue. The company’s Phantom 81 is what their name is not: smooth, with glossy acrylic keys and custom lubricated switches.
Last week, I praised Meta’s move from censoring information to using Community Notes to provide transparent, crowdsourced accountability. This swift reversal is encouraging, but its speed and decisiveness warn of the dangers of centralized social media like Facebook, X and even Bluesky.
OFB's Timothy R. Butler has been being putting gadgets, serious tech and useful bits for around the home to the test for almost two decades. He's testy so you know it passed the test.
More guides coming soon.