When was it ever a good time to build a PC? And I’m not talking about simple web browsing and office work level of hardwares — the ones the hobbyists are building are never the most common spec. For hobbyists, there is a news we often see almost every year, like a halloween scare, ‘check your candy for razors’, that the price gouging is on going.
From Op-ed
Trade-in and E-waste
It’s nearing the end of the year, and before we start preparing Christmas gifts some of my friends and I started discussing how are we making rooms of new stuffs. Or to put it more bluntly, we were asking each other how we are getting rid of old electronics.
Steam Deck 2 and PS6 Handheld
In the beginning of current generation consoles, there were questions as to why Nintendo seems to be fighting a different kind of competition. Gamers generally buy Nintendo consoles for Nintendo-branded games, and currently Nintendo Switch line of products (at the time of writing, Switch 2 has been on the market for half a year). It meant that for gamers seeking specifically Nintendo’s curated game selections and Nintendo’s own offerings, there are no alternatives.
iRobot Bankruptcy, Robots, and Smarts
iRobot filed for Chapter 11. The news shouldn’t surprise anyone. Since the Amazon deal faltered, it seemed only a matter of time until some form of reorganization is needed. This bankruptcy may be that catalyst, a second chance. That’s likely the business side of iRobot’s saga. I believe the current downfall of iRobot has less to do with robots themselves, but softwares or “smarts”.
Ever-growing Graphics Card
It is without a doubt the easiest solution to improve the speed of any computer chipset is to simply bundle two in one. I’m not exactly suggesting that is the phenomenon we are seeing, though there could be an argument about Moore’s law and efficiency somewhere. This post is more or less a complaint on the trend of consumer level graphics card. The cards are simply getting larger and too heavy.
Call for USB-C Micro?
I am somewhat surprised not many reviewers or analysts mention the elephant in the room with the latest trends toward thinner smartphones: the USB-C port. It’s not just iPhone Air and thinner bar type smartphones that suffer from its own design choices. Foldable smartphones that are supposedly the future form factor are also severely impacted how thin the overall phone can be by the port, otherwise it will be too thick when folded.
Satellite Connectivity and End of Voice Calls
My Korean phone number is quite old. The number is as old as it could get, as South Korea began numbering 010 for all mobile numbers. Same goes with my American, still alive, number. I don’t think the American numbering scheme is easily accessible, but some websites do decline my number over it being an internet-based — Korean counterpart would start with 070.
Ads on ChatGPT
As a home baker, one of the most frequent accusations thrown at content creators I see — gadget reviewers, recipe authors, or just plainly writing about baking experiences — is their transparency: ties to the manufacturer, ties to the brands, ties to the producers, and so on. It boils down to a simple question — whether or not the content was sponsored behind the scenes. Those were the problems we had with human content creators with legal liability, not AI giants with an army of lawyers.
E-Ink Tablet and eBook Reader
Recently I was asked what e-ink tablet I use for all my ebooks. Short answer: I don’t. I prefer to carry one device, and OLED on the smartphone has gotten better to the point where I can read comfortably outside. In fact, I think it has come to the point where e-ink displays now have backlights for more comfortable indoor reading experience, as the competition was never about reading outdoors — this is not a camping gear.
Stock Image, Wallpaper, and AI Slop
MKBHD’s rather unpopular side gig, Panels app is shutting down on coming this December 31. The app has been receiving incendiary receptions to say the least; it charged $50 per year for wallpapers. I have no interest on making arguments for or against the app — I was obviously not in the target demographic. I pay roughly the same amount for Parallels subscription and still call it too expensive. Whether or not wallpapers are worth $50 is a pricing decision I don’t need to comment on.
IoT, Bluetooth, and WiFi
Few months ago, I wrote a spiel on a new Dyson PencilVac vacuum cleaner. It didn’t merit to be called a full-scale review, as I wasn’t testing the product against any other vacuums in the market, and quite frankly my research was limited to what fits into my needs and routines. Regardless, at the time, I knew the vacuum had Bluetooth capability and an app that were lackluster overall. The modern expectation of IoT apps would be somewhere near or above entry level robot vacuums.
Early Access and Narrative Work
Of all things Valve is pushing, I find Early Access program to be easily abused because it demerits the narrative element of a game. Any games that are heavily based on its narrative or storytelling have limited shelf life; the moment it is released it will slowly sip through any and all social medias. But developers can choose not to use Early Access. The fault truly lies on the games that use Early Access and laser focus on the system’s weakness for its advantage.
Positioning Foldable iPhone
The new onslaught of foldable iPhone rumors have been released: a. it will feature under-display camera for innards, b. it will feature Touch ID instead of Face ID, c. it will feature a larger battery, d. the foldable display will be crease-less, and finally e. it will be priced at $2,399. The prudence dictates we don’t jump to conclusions, but the rumors are suggesting the Californian company wishes to sell one iPhone at the price of two, possibly by bundling the two in one.
Mac Pro, Mac Studio, and Mac Clusters
macOS 26.2 is expected to release a new Mac Cluster feature that runs on full Thunderbolt 5 bandwidth (80Gbps) compared to what is available now at 10Gbps. The coverages surrounding the end of Mac Pro line, which I happen to agree with, suspect Mac cluster update will be the final nail in the coffin for Mac Pro.
Valve Reboots Steam Machine
As many have undoubtedly have seen, Valve announced yet another hardware product. This time it is called Steam Machine, not to be confused with Steam Machine (2015) from the same company. The first Steam Machine was announced DOA by reviewers soon after, even though some had previously expected Valve is finally making a landing in the living room against the console giants. From pure sales figures, the first Steam Machine sold around half a million units. That might mean something in gaming PC arena, but for consoles, where day one sales figure alone goes upward of a million unit, it…