Phoebe It has been a while since I tried out a manual rangefinder camera. I have become used to Leica SL, its stunning viewfinder and focus peaking to use my favorite lens. Rangefinder cameras have… | Continue reading
Phoebe It has been a while since I tried out a manual rangefinder camera. I have become used to Leica SL, its stunning viewfinder and focus peaking to use my favorite lens. Rangefinder cameras have… | Continue reading
I might not be alone in thinking that Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter have distorted the notion of a friend and what really does it mean to be a friend. I have never been the one to put a lot in “… | Continue reading
Bryan William Jones, a good friend and a professor at the University of Utah, is a fine photographer. Like me, he too is biased towards Leica, and Leica SL in particular. He used Leica and the Appl… | Continue reading
Photo by Daniel Eledut on Unsplash Amazon CEO and founder Jeff Bezos is stepping down and will transition to executive chairman’s role in the third quarter of 2021. Andy Jassy, the chief of A… | Continue reading
Increased (and collective) competition from the likes of Facebook, Apple, Amazon, and Mapbox is starting to eat into Google’s lead in the map world, prompting Joe Morrison to predict that we’re “at… | Continue reading
No seriously, this is an exhaustive piece and points out what we have known after being isolated and living on Zoom for nearly a year — our video reality needs way better cameras. | Continue reading
This is my recommended read of the week. It’s a very thorough investigation into how the behemoth that makes everything from iPhones to Kindles works and abuses those who work for them. It is a ver… | Continue reading
The first month of 2021 is over. It seems as though so much has changed, and yet, nothing has changed. I have taken a few weeks to assemble my thoughts on how I want to proceed in this new year. As… | Continue reading
Photo by Clay Banks on Unsplash By now, you must have read (or at least heard) about the rebellion of normals against the Wall Street Hedge Funds. A collective of Redditers nearly took down one of … | Continue reading
According to some estimates, over 300 million new people around the world signed up for the Internet in 2020, and there has been a 13 percent increase in the number of social media users. According… | Continue reading
Photo by André François McKenzie on Unsplash He told Institutional Investor that by the fall of 2021 bitcoin could be fairly valued at $100,000 per unit based on fundamental factors such as usage a… | Continue reading
A few months ago, there were rumors that Twitter had made an offer for Substack, the hotter-than-jalapeños email publishing platform. If so, it looks like they got turned down. Instead, Twitter bou… | Continue reading
I am sure, like me, you, too, have been inundated by the photos of Senator Bernie Sanders sitting on a chair (wearing funky mittens) at Joe Biden’s presidential inauguration. It is a meme to … | Continue reading
Standing on the edge of a cliff, I took my time setting up my tripod and camera in anticipation of a sunset. The light would soon be bathing the mountains in front of me, illuminating the confluenc… | Continue reading
The actions of technology platforms such as Twitter, Facebook, Google’s YouTube, and others have generated a lot of debate. This is a pivotal moment for technology and its role in what is speech in… | Continue reading
It is not a surprise that 2021 has been very much like 2020 — the date doesn’t change the reality of the pandemic, political chaos, and all the harsh truths of post-Internet society. An… | Continue reading
The erstwhile bad boy of money has now become the establishment. Bitcoin is no longer a cryptocurrency but instead has become a speculative asset. Many now believe that, like gold, it too is a hedg… | Continue reading
“In 2005, Apple moved to Intel to gain equality. In 2020, it’s moved away from Intel to gain superiority,” writes Ken Segall. He worked for Apple and was also part of Intel’… | Continue reading
Actions taken by technology platforms in the wake of Capitol Hill’s events have generated intense debate, especially from within the tech community. But many of the loudest voices have shown … | Continue reading
It has been a mostly gray, wet, and foggy New Year Weekend in San Francisco. And while it won’t qualify as winter in many parts of the world, the weather is chilly enough to stay indoors. I h… | Continue reading
It has been a long year—the longest. I spent the lengthy days and endless nights fluctuating between nonstop working, curling up under the covers, and — mostly — writing. You might have read some o… | Continue reading
Eventually, every event becomes a memory. Every memory becomes a number, only relevant in its irrelevance. Today is the 13th anniversary of my heart attack, a good reminder of the unpredictable nat… | Continue reading
Last week, I decided to head to the Santa Cruz Mountains with a friend. The idea was to leave San Francisco, go down I-280, turn into Portola Valley, and then meander our way to Santa Cruz before g… | Continue reading
I have been having a debate with Brad DeLong about America and if it is in decline. It is hard not to acknowledge our country’s problems, but I am biased by an immigrant’s optimism and … | Continue reading
I have been feeling a bit under the weather. I have spent the past few days in a skirmish with the common cold, scratchy throat, and low-intensity headaches. No matter how much I try and take preca… | Continue reading
It has been nearly a month since I wrote about not leaving San Francisco (Bay Area.) Since then, Hewlett Packard has decided to leave for Texas. So has Oracle. And Elon Musk. Clearly, Tex… | Continue reading
Ever since learning of the passing of John le Carre, the celebrated British author, and creator of fictional characters like George Smiley, I have been in a shroud of sadness. After tossing and tur… | Continue reading
As someone who lives in the grays, I immensely appreciate a cold rainy weekend in San Francisco. This morning, I made myself a nice cup of tea and sat down on the writing table with my iPad, hoping… | Continue reading
It is not very often that I find it hard to say goodbye to a device. But yesterday, I was sad when I packed up the MacBook Pro 13 powered by the Apple M1 chip and shipped it back to Cupertino. The … | Continue reading
Photo by Barefoot Communications on Unsplash Yesterday must have been a tough day at work in the Facebook offices. First, Apple fired off a broadside on Facebook around issues of privacy. Then, the… | Continue reading
Photo by Mathyas Kurmann on Unsplash Given that nearly “half of the media jobs lost this year were in digital, print and broadcast newsrooms,” it is no surprise that many media personalit… | Continue reading
Ever since Twitter unveiled its new Fleets, I’ve been mulling over the company’s future. What can they do that’s uniquely their own? How can they take advantage of their past and present in a way t… | Continue reading
Ever since Twitter unveiled its new Fleets, I’ve been mulling over the company’s future. What can they do that’s uniquely their own? How can they take advantage of their past and present in a way t… | Continue reading
About three weeks ago, I wrote about the Apple M1 chip, concluding that the new MacBook Pro 13 does most things for most people. Of course, most people aren’t developers, and they aren’t… | Continue reading
About three weeks ago, I wrote about the Apple M1 chip, concluding that the new MacBook Pro 13 does most things for most people. Of course, most people aren’t developers, and they aren’t… | Continue reading
Photo by Stephen Phillips – Hostreviews.co.uk on Unsplash I am sure that you have heard that Salesforce is buying Slack for a whopping $28 billion by now. And if you saw Marc Benioff in conve… | Continue reading
Photo by Mike Kenneally on Unsplash Growing up in India, coffee was a rare treat. When visiting friends from Southern India, I would taste coffee — it was generically labeled Madras Filter Co… | Continue reading
Tony Hsieh, an Internet entrepreneur and former CEO of Zappos, an Amazon company, died from injuries incurred during a house fire when visiting family in Connecticut on November 27, 2020. He was on… | Continue reading
Tony Hsieh, an Internet entrepreneur and former CEO of Zappos, an Amazon company, died from injuries incurred during a house fire when visiting family in Connecticut on November 27, 2020. He was on… | Continue reading
Things I tweeted today. Good piece! As an iPad loyalist, the only difference between MacBook Pro with M1 and iPad Pro 2020 edition: M1 has put lap back in the laptop. And the magic keyboard ca… | Continue reading
Photo Credit: Ricardo Arce @jrarce on Unsplash Like a great work of art, a good name should live forever — David Placek. It was in early 1998 when I called David Placek. His company, Lexicon Brandi… | Continue reading
The cool, crisp fall weather, the smell of roasting turkey, the prospect of soft, silky pumpkin pie, and a chance to be with family are the usual harbingers of Thanksgiving in America. In pre-pande… | Continue reading
Having been in San Francisco for nearly two decades, this movie — the one where people move here, make their fortunes, and then leave for other places — is something I’ve seen before. Some depart a… | Continue reading
Kai Brach, who once interviewed me for his wonderful OffScreen magazine, recently asked me what five things I think are worthy of our time and attention. This feature is part of his wonderful newsl… | Continue reading
Iceland 2017. Made with Fuji XPro2. Focal length: 90mm. ISO 250. f/8. 1/400th of a second. David Churbuck, a friend and a former boss, wrote an essay on his blog, exploring American indiv… | Continue reading
I found this sign when walking around the Portrero Hill neighborhood in San Francisco. Making some tiny edits, I turned this into a sign that reflects the “passive-aggressive” nature of… | Continue reading
Even as Apple’s final event of 2020 gradually becomes a speck in the rearview mirror, I can’t help continually thinking about the new M1 chip that debuted there. I am, at heart, an optimist when it… | Continue reading