Solid State Podcast

Episode 80 - We return to the Metaverse!

Several aspects of the “human condition” will forever remain funny to me… one of which is our never ending desire for “the next best thing”… when I was a kid I distinctly remember dreaming of a future promised to me by the Science Fiction tv shows, movies, and books of the day… communicators, video calls, holodecks… I wanted it all! 
So now, in 2024, I sit here with my smartphone beside me that can place me in contact with anyone I’ve ever met, complete with a built-in camera that places them in front of my eyes at the push of a button, and just beside it is a white and black contraption of plastic and glass that, when pulled over my face, has the ability to transport me to far off worlds, impossible realms, or even a 3D rendered conference room in a virtual high rise overlooking a city that doesn’t exist… 
With all of that near-magical technology at my fingertips, is it bad (or even wrong) that my first inclination is to stare at that headset and ask the question… why isn’t this better? Why aren’t people clamoring to spend every spare moment exploring a digital frontier that is limited only by the imagination and creativity of the developers on the other end…
That same kid in the 90’s that craved “the future” would have picked up my headset, turned it on, and never wanted to come back! The “me” of 2024 though, can hope on a good day to make it an hour before the headaches set it, the edges of vision start to get far too blurry, and the “off” button starts calling my name. But this is the promise of the technology, right? The next one is going to crack it, the displays will improve, the latency edging close to zero… we’re so close!
The questions that remain, though, is what is close? Does camera tech need to evolve? Is placing an 8K display millimeters from my eyes the answer? Or is there something just beyond the horizon that stands to disrupt everything we think we know about Virtual, Mixed, and Augmented Reality? 
They call it the metaverse, I call it a fun way to spend exactly one hour at a time, but that kid will never stop dreaming of it being “the future”…

Episode 79 - What's in the box with the Apple M3 MacBook Air

Several years ago, we had a fire in our garage that claimed several of our cars… I am (if you haven’t figured it out yet) something of a creature of habit… So, seeing as a very much liked the truck I drove at the time, I promptly went down to the dealership, worked with Insurance, and purchased effectively the same truck I had sadly lost. It had, for all intents and purposes, the same engine, the same tires, the same… everything. But, for some reason, to this day I can remember that first drive home from the dealership and thinking to myself that no matter how hard I tried, I knew this was a new vehicle, a different truck…
The engine, while identically spec’ed, picked up off the line just a little bit different. The first few turns on the way home, and I felt the suspension sway in subtly different ways. Even the electronics seemed to respond… differently. Not necessarily better, certainly not worse, but in the end not the same. 
Now, if this feels even more off the rails, you’re not wrong but I promise to bring it full circle… because this week I had such a similar experience I couldn’t help but go back to that drive home…
See, sitting on my desk were two MacBooks… both identical in design, build quality, and materials. The screen was the same resolution, the keyboard switches unchanged… the only difference between these two devices was, in all fairness, their heart. With Apple upgrading their smash-hit Air line of MacBooks this week, even they knew it wasn’t the most “event worthy” affair… instead we got a pretty forgettable press release, and a smattering updates to the Apple Store website promising the best MacBook Air yet. 
And you know what, I think they’re right… these laptops look identical, feel identical, but don’t perform identically… and that could be a big deal to a lot of people. Is it a game changing “revolution of the laptop space?” Absolutely not, not even close… but when you already make the oft-described “laptop for everyone”, every refinement should put the broader market on notice, there’s a new MacBook Air in town…

Episode 78 - The thing about Encryption... and why you should use it

There are a lot of tired cliches in the world… everything from “bring an umbrella and it won’t rain” to “a watched pot never boils”… but the funny apart about them is often times they feel like an inescapable truth of reality! I know full well keeping an umbrella in my car is not going to keep the sun shining, but I swear to you my tea kettle only heats up if I leave the room…
So when we start talking about “layers of security”, it sometimes feels like we’re doing nothing more than parroting back old, tired clichés... constantly advising people to “slow down to speed up” or the classic “you can’t help those that won’t help themselves”… but really these reminders to stay vigilant, to be mindful about the threats that surround us in the hyper-connected world we live in are as valuable today than ever before… 
So what then, does all this have to do with today’s episode? Well we’re here to talk about a topic that is both near-and-dear to my heart and also comes off as about as dry and boring as something can be… Encryption…
It’s a word that, like so many others in tech, has nearly lost all meaning to the average person… they know it exists, it sounds kind of important, and they’re pretty sure they’re using it… right? 
And there, in the end, is the problem… the techno-babble of it all has reduced a very important piece of day-to-day protection to a seemingly table steaks security function that many could be forgiven for assuming is just “there all the time”, requires zero setup or upkeep, and “just works”… 
Sadly, this couldn’t be less true, and the conversations about where, when, and how to encrypt your data and messaging has never been more crucial, or more at risk… 
I swear we keep this more-or-less light and on the rails, but the lesson at the core of it all is one too important to gloss over… slow down, be safe, and take an active role in securing your digital self… 
Now, I did just wash the car yesterday, so let me go find an umbrella to throw in the car before heading out…

Episode 77 - Full Circle with FreeWrite, Xbox, Fuji X100VI, and Palworld

This week on the Solid State Podcast, we’re trying something a little bit different, while shockingly still the same…
See we realize, very intentionally, this show covers a lot of ground. From big tech to tiny brands you’ve never heard of, game changing gadgets to video game controllers… it’s all over the map…
And much of the time, those stories are relatively one-and-done… Samsung announces a new phone, and people buy it… Canon refreshes a camera, and it’s shockingly similar to the last one… The tech giants unleash AI on the world, and the Cylons are born… and so the cycle continues!
Every so often, though, it’s not quite that simple… We’d love to truly predict the future, but what fun would that really be? So when a company actually surprises us and goes another direction, or a product undersells but over-delivers (or, sadly sometimes, the other way around…), the story isn’t over just yet! 
Here we are then, with a new episode format that we hope you’ll like (or at least tolerate) and that we mostly-solemnly-swear not to over use… the idea of doubling back, checking in, and bringing things Full Circle to topics we’ve touched on already, but turned out to need a second look. 
To kick things off, then, this week we’re checking in with Eric for an update on his ongoing journey with the FreeWrite family of “distraction free” typing products, we close-the-loop on last week’s Xbox “business update” announcements, Fuji finally updated its unexpected bombshell of a camera in the X100 series, and round things out with the latest from Palworld and how, somehow, they’ve managed to remain to-date un-sued…
So let’s go find out where these products and announcements really landed… buckle up, hang on…

Episode 76 - What's next for the Console Wars (and Microsoft Xbox)

Loss is one of the most inescapable aspects of the human condition… so many things that we have and enjoy can, in any number of ways, “go away” someday… Now that’s not meant to start this weeks episode off on a down note, but the stark reality is one that we often try to ignore until it rears it head…
This afternoon, Microsoft will be taking to the internet-airwaves (in Podcast form, no less) to announce, in their own words… an “Xbox Business update”… and the question on everyone’s mind is, frankly, what does that actually mean? 
Companies call events all the time, and they’re announced in countless different ways from out-of-the-blue emails to worldwide Ad spots… the concept of it being a “business update” though carries a tone that is different, unfamiliar, and I hate to say almost concerning…
Xbox as a brand means a lot to us, as gamers and as professionals in the technology space, and to consider a world without it is nothingness than just sad…
But that’s where the question marks really start flowing… is this the “end of Xbox”, is it the birth of something entirely new, or is this just the weirdest grab at the public attention span in recent memory? We’ve got an abundance of theories on that one, and let’s face it, if you’re listening to my voice right now changes are that’s what you’re here for!
Circling back to loss real quick, when the “thing” is suddenly no longer there, the other inescapable truth is that space has been created for something entirely new, possibly even great… and later today maybe we’ll find out which we’re going to get… 

Episode 75 - The Free Write Alpha, Return of the Cassette, Project ORCS, and more...

This week on the Solid State Podcast, there’s no getting around it… we’re all over the place in (hopefully) all the best ways possible!
We kick things off by taking a hands-on look at the Free Write Alpha, a device with an intentionally narrow vision of what it wants to be and how it might unlock the creativity laying dormant in our ever-more distracted minds…
Then things really go off the rails as we journey back to a world of cassette tapes, questionable audio quality, and… believe it or not… gadgets hitting the market right now enabling you to play those chunks of plastic and ribbon in new and interesting ways…
Hot on the heels of such a stark look backwards is a whiplash-ridden transition to what lies ahead for AI, this time when its baked into the phone that many of you already have in your pocket… Yep, Apple is “making it official” with AI focused tools coming to iOS later this year… What that actually means however is still very much up for interpretation… is this ushering in another era of once-complicated tools arriving for the masses, or the next step down an ever-darkening road…
Things only get more off-the-walls from there when the next way to scratch your Dungeons & Dragons itch digitally arrives later this year in Project ORCS, and who knows… maybe we sneak a few more tidbits in at the end… guess you’ll have to wait to find out? No… really… don’t just scrub ahead… I promise it’s worth it! 
All that and more coming up, if you thought the intro was bad, wait until you see what this much caffeine on a Friday morning did to us… let’s go check it out…

Episode 74 - What's in the box with the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra

We’ve talked many times on this show about how the smartphone space is reaching a state of… let’s call it “advanced maturity”… On any given day you can pick up just about any given mainstream “flagship” phone and you’re going to more-or-less have the same experience… a (normally) over-sized slab of metal, glass, and plastic that powers on to become a gateway to the internet…
But even in this period of same-phone-different-day experiences, there is just enough room for a standout… an opportunity to push the space one step further than the competition and, quite frankly, be different!
That moment very much describes the one I had when I first unboxed the subject of today’s show… on parting the cardboard and peeking what was inside, visually I was greeted by exactly what I expected… a dark metal rectangle… However it was when I picked it up I was immediately aware that this wasn’t you’re every day pocket(ish)-sized super computer…
The heft hit me first, it was weighty in the hand in a way that harkened back to the days of my first iPod, when the perceived value and quality of the object was identifiable in the sum of its parts… once powered on, the screen came to life in near-perfect blacks and popping colors that, put simply, delighted the eyes… 
Things really get interesting as you fly through setup, download apps with ease, and begin noticing the thoughtful touches in the operating system guiding you to new features, potentially game-changing AI enhancements, and suddenly the “why” behind this device is coming into focus… 
This device isn’t just a flagship… its a tour de force to showcase everything single party trick one of the world’s largest technology brands can pack into that dark metal rectangle…
So lets find out, just what is in the box with Samsung’s brand new Galaxy S24 Ultra… 

Episode 73 - Parts Bin: 40 years of Mac, iOS 17.3, Palworld, and more...

On this week’s Solid State Podcast, your three presenters get a much-needed chance to “return to form” after a seemingly endless run of events, announcements, and New Year coverage… and we figured there was not better way to do that than a good-old-fashioned "Parts Bin" episode to sprint through everything else happening in tech as 2024 gets up to speed…
Apple news kicks things off with both ends of the the spectrum… a look back at 40 years of the Mac and what that meant in 1984, how it is still shaping Apple and the industry as a whole today, and a closer look at what impact we expect to see over the coming years and, more than likely, decades to come...
But as fun as it is looking back on all the fond years with Apple’s storied lineup of desktops and laptops in seemingly every shape and size, the iPhone is really where their impact is felt on the daily by countless millions across the globe. And with great footprint comes even greater responsibility as the iPhone also remains on of the most stolen pieces of consumer tech… and the latest version of iOS is here to beef up security should it happen to you… 
Contrary to popular belief though, there is plenty more going on across tech than just Cupertino has to share with us… the lens wars are heating up for Canon’s RF series, as are the mounting pile of legal bills… the gaming world has been invaded by small, animated creatures that you catch in a ball, "definitely" aren’t Pokemon, and sometimes carry… guns… and Nvidia gives its 40-series of graphics cards a “super” upgrade that may or may not be all it’s cracked up to be… 
If that seems like a lot, you haven’t seen anything yet… let’s go...

Episode 72 - Samsung's Winter 2024 Unpacked Event

Most groups of friends have their go-to inside jokes… the things you know will get a rise out of someone because, frankly, they just know you that well… my inner circle is no different: for some its a favorite sports team not performing well, others its pointing out the oh-so-specific OCD’s that make us “tick”, and for me, well, anyone who knows me well enough can walk up on any given day, ask me how many phones I’m carry, and prepare for a good chuckle at my well-deserved-expense…
My love of gadgets is, literally, very well documented at this point… and one of my favorite sub-genres is the smartphone. These roots go so much deeper than just the “modern” era ushered in by the iPhone, Nexus One, and Galaxy Note… I still have the fondest of memories for my HTC “Star Trek”, BlackBerry Curve, and even the “giant” Nokia 1520… 
So in the here-and-now, the smartphone space has indeed “matured” to the point of, dare some say, getting “boring”? They all look… pretty much the same. They are all… pretty much just as fast. And the cameras are all… well, creating just about as many pixels as they’re actually capturing anymore. But I still love them…
Until someone actually cracks the “next big thing” in consumer electronics, the metal & glass slab in your pocket will remain one of the most valuable touch-points in our everyday computing experience. 
So, much like the clockwork it is, Samsung brought us their Winter “Unpacked” event this last week and with it three new phones that sure look familiar, talked up AI advances that might be hit-or-miss at best, and even teased an upcoming wearable that might actually shake things up a bit… Sound like business as usual? It surely does, and I still love every last second of it… let’s dive in…

Episode 71 - Hot takes from CES 2024

It’s a new year on the Solid State Podcast, and we’re kicking it off the only way we know how… 
In the middle of the Nevada desert, surrounded by a halo of lights that never sleep, are miles and miles of convention center halls, meeting rooms, and shadowy corners where once a year a critical mass of the technology industry descends with their wares, ideas, and moonshots to pitch the rest of the world that their product is the next game changer…
Whether your corner of tech is giant TVs, impossibly complex gadgets, or a toilet that reads you the news… this Mecca of technical wizardry is second to none other. 
And then, as quickly as it appeared, in a few short days it will disappear beneath the sands of the desert and time itself until another January finds us to start the process all over again. 
We, of course, are talking about CES or the “Consumer Electronics Show”… many big events have come and gone over the decades, but CES stands as the beginning of the gadget-filled year, and this was certainly no exception. It would take a week’s worth of back-to-back episodes to try (unsuccessfully) to cover it all, and frankly not even I can talk that much… So instead your three occasionally-lovable presenters have decided to gather our favorites (good, bad, and most definitely ugly) to give you just a taste of not only what CES has in store for us, but 2024 as a whole…
Much like Apple disrupting the news cycle while not even being quote-unquote in attendance, let’s peruse the store shelves of tomorrow by taking a look at what CES 2024 has for us today…