Field notes for the curious
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The universal connector was supposed to end the drawer of incompatible cables. Instead it produced a drawer of identical cables with wildly different abilities, none of which is visible from the outside. One charges a laptop and carries a monitor…
Posted by Ines Whitfield · · 4 min
Read the article →A computer rarely gets slower in the literal sense. The processor is doing exactly what it did on the first day. What changes is everything around it: more software running unasked, a drive with no room to work in, a…
Posted by Ellis Ibarra · · 4 min
Read the article →A device usually dies of one small thing. A charging port that stopped holding the cable. A battery down to half its capacity. A cracked screen, a failed fan, one key that no longer registers. Whether that small thing ends…
Posted by Alice Penrose · · 4 min
Read the article →Spec sheets are written to be compared, which is not the same as being written to be informative. They list what can be put in a number and leave out what can't, and the things that decide whether a machine…
Posted by Ines Whitfield · · 4 min
Read the article →Every rechargeable device in your house runs on roughly the same chemistry, and that chemistry wears out in a predictable way. A battery holds a bit less charge each month, and one day the phone that used to reach bedtime…
Posted by Ines Whitfield · · 4 min
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