Author Archives

• The Swatch Sistem51 Irony

  By Shaun on October 6, 2016 • ( 0 )

  

  In contrast to the Pebble 2 below, Swatch has done something remarkable with its Sistem51 range and produced a set of watches that are lovely to look at and which feel like much more than the asking price. You can… Read More ›

• Pebble 2 “I am not a toddler.”

  By Shaun on October 6, 2016 • ( 0 )

  

  Design will probably be the most divisive element of the Pebble 2. By the standard of today’s mob of smartwatches and fitness trackers, it’s not a looker, with a rectangular shape, monochrome 144 x 168 pixel screen and plasticky feel… Read More ›

• An open letter to bullies

  By Shaun on October 6, 2016 • ( 0 )

  “I write this letter not for sympathy, but because there are so many more children like Felix who are struggling,” she says. “His confidence and self-esteem had been eroded over a long period of time by the bullying behaviour he… Read More ›

• The Google Pixel

  By Shaun on October 5, 2016 • ( 0 )

  

  I like it, I really do. The Pixel obviously looks familiar, but I guess we need to accept that design will be completely consistent over a 2-3 year period. £599 isn’t a bad price for the 32GB model and an… Read More ›

• Amazon bans ‘incentivised’ reviews

  By Shaun on October 5, 2016 • ( 0 )

  Amazon has banned “incentivised reviews” after evidence suggested writers typically awarded almost half a star extra compared with reviews where the reviewer paid for the product themselves. Incentivised reviews involved companies giving big discounts to reviewers on products, although the… Read More ›

• The Microsoft Band is dead (maybe)

  By Shaun on October 5, 2016 • ( 0 )

  

  Microsoft gave it two tries, but the company’s wrist-worn Band fitness tracker is seemingly no more. The Band 2 has been removed completely from Microsoft’s online store, signaling that production has ceased. It’s no longer available from Best Buy either,… Read More ›

• The iPhone 7: last for battery performance

  By Shaun on October 4, 2016 • ( 0 )

  The iPhone 7 may be touted by Apple as its best smartphone ever, as is tradition, but sometimes your best just isn’t good enough. Which? testing has revealed that the battery on the iPhone 7 doesn’t last as long as… Read More ›

• When a company thinks the public is stupid

  By Shaun on October 4, 2016 • ( 0 )

  

  Southern Rail, possibly the worst rail company in the world, yesterday tweeted the following which relates to an ongoing dispute between the company and its staff- Not surprisingly, the response was less than favourable- It never fails to amaze me… Read More ›

• On Keeping a Notebook by Joan Didion

  By Shaun on October 3, 2016 • ( 0 )

  So the point of my keeping a notebook has never been, nor is it now, to have an accurate factual record of what I have been doing or thinking. That would be a different impulse entirely, an instinct for reality… Read More ›

• You pay them to make a film, they run away with your money and it’s all good

  By Shaun on October 3, 2016 • ( 0 )

  This is so clever and rather worrying at the same time. In the original Indiegogo campaign, the filmmakers made $77,000 and ran away with the money, spending it on the high life. People were outraged, rightly so, and then the… Read More ›