Solid State Podcast

Episode 13 - Solid Bytes on... Digital Security

If you’ve listed to this show for more than a minute, you know we love this tech and the possibilities it opens up to the world every day…
But as with quite literally everything else in life, all of that wonder and amazement comes at the price of responsibility and an imperative to try and stay one half-step ahead of those out to do you harm… be it for profit, hate, or sadly even simple boredom…
We strive to keep it positive here on Solid State, and in the end this week is no different, so join us as we take a first of probably many looks at getting the most out of that tech while also keeping you, your family, and your work safe in an ever-evolving digital world…

Episode 12- Apple WWDC 2022

This week on the Solid State Podcast, it’s the one you’ve all been waiting for, if what you’ve been waiting for is a pair of mostly brand new laptops… that you can’t buy yet…
A tour de force of highly sought-after features for your phones, tablets, and computers… that you can’t download yet…
And a thousand-dollar “solution” to the Studio Display’s basically un-usable webcam…
It’s an over-sized episode that’s even willing to be broken up into 4 easy installments at 0% interest…
Let’s dive right in, it’s time to take a walk through Apple’s World Wide Developer Conference 2022…

Episode 11 - iPod... a History

Throughout tech, there have been category-defining products since Day Zero…
A lot of Nintendo Switch owners remember their first Game Boy, performing a web search is too commonly called “Googling”, but very few have both disrupted an industry AND held onto relevance long after their sales fell off the proverbial cliff…
Today, we’re here to bit adieu to an old friend, while also considering how it’s been sticking with us for the long haul all along… 
True, Apple has finally shuttered the sale of it’s last branded “iPod”, but let’s take a look at it’s past, affirm it’s impact on the present, and admit that maybe iPod’s effect will carry well into our future…

Episode 10 - My first PC... a History

First’s are really important… first car, first job, even your first high-score on Space Invaders.
But for us, equally important were our first PCs. They weren’t flashy, fast, or necessarily made from compatible parts, but they were ours.
Looking back we owe a whole lot of who we are today professionally and even personally to those trusty machines, so today we’re giving them the moment in the podcast spotlight they deserve.
Taking more of a sprint down memory lane, it’s time to reminisce about our very own First PCs…

Episode 9 - Google I/O 2022

In a world where our largest companies are effectively the scale of some entire countries, it’s a true statement when people refer to I/O as Google’s own “State of the Union”... 
Countless departments, teams, and visions colliding, inviting us to see through the haze of rhetoric and showmanship, attempting to piece together Google’s grand strategy for market dominance...
But it’s that very strategy that, too many, has appeared to elude Google for such a long time. Countless abandoned products, roads not taken, and big bets that delivered nothing short of vaporware...
This years I/O, though, seemed to feel a little different… and not just because some people were finally attending in person... but a thread could almost be seen, woven through each of the products, platforms, and feature announcements.
Let’s dive in both feet then, and see what lie’s ahead for Google, Android, and beyond at I/O 2022.

Episode 8 - The thing about The Metaverse is...

If you’re someone that embraces tech as a hobby, a job, or a “lifestyle”… you know it’s a space that’s literally got a term for everything…
Believe it or not, once upon a time smartphones were just “phones”… apps were just “software”… and meta just meant you were being a bit too self-referential…
But alas, as quickly as the technology evolves, so too does the phrasing, buzzwords, and outright meaning of otherwise common terminology…
So this week, were taking a deep dive into a word that once meant it was well after midnight in a grad school coffee house and is has now been co-opted by one of the largest companies in the world…
This is going to be a fun one, because it’s time to enter the Metaverse. 

Episode 7 - What’s next... for arm?

In tech, like virtually every other business, for better or worse there’s just names you know… whether it’s green aliens, four equal squares, or a certain fruit-shaped sticker on your friends rear window… these brands are the result of billions of dollars of marketing, strategy, and raw impressions. 
But, what about some of the brands “behind” those brands? Chances are some of you can probably list the designer of every component in the custom PC chassis on your desk… For everyone else, though, their iPhone really was “designed by Apple in California” without a thought about the architecture of that A15 chip and the UK-based firm that makes it possible… 
So here we are this week to ask the question, what's next… for arm?

Episode 6 - What’s next... for vinyl?

When we agreed to sit down a make a show about “tech”, I don’t think we actually knew the depths and rabbit holes we were setting ourselves up for.
See it turns out this industry and the many gadgets it inspires long pre-dates the cloud, your smartphone, or even the PC itself.
This week we take a short-but-eventful trip in the way-back machine, to the heady days of turn tables and amplifiers, only to find out we’re actually talking through issues plaguing the industry this very moment. 
Turn if up to eleven folks, it’s time to talk what’s next… for vinyl.

Episode 5 - The thing about building a PC in 2022 is...

Building your own PC isn’t just one of the great pass-times for a gadget nerd… to many of us it’s more a right of passage. Countless hours of research, the restless wait for parts to arrive, and the rush of powering up your build the first time...
In direct contrast to this experience loved by so many, is the cold truth of the world we find ourselves in today… one of component shortages, sky-rocketing costs, and outright price scalping run rampant…
As with any good challenge, though, your hosts took it upon themselves to outmaneuver the system and are here this week to tell the tale, share some tips, and already start planning the NEXT custom build because, well, that’s just what we do…

Episode 4 - Hangouts... a History

There was a time, at least it doesn't FEEL that long ago... when my day was tied together by a single app that existed on nearly every device I owned and lived safely in a browser tab of those that didn't. That ubiquitous green bubble lived on every dock and was pinned in every favorites list. The same went for all of my friends, and we channeled everything from dinner plans to DragonCon through it. Many years later, that platform is on life support and has been "replaced" by an entirely-too-long list of successors. Oh yes, it's time we talked Google Hangouts... a History.