Mike Elgan - Author - Good Gear Guide

Stories by Mike Elgan

Article | 8/02/2011 Why there's no such thing as an Internet kill switch

My iPhone rang yesterday evening. It was my 22-year-old son calling from his iPhone to ask me how to do something on iTunes. It was a pretty unremarka...

Article | 1/02/2011 How Apple and Google will kill the password

Imagine sitting down at a public PC, surfing the Web, visiting Facebook, checking your online bank account and buying something on Amazon.com -- all w...

Article | 18/01/2011 Elgan: When the iPhone feels your pain

We love our gadgets. But they treat us with an indifference that sometimes feels like contempt. They're like cats.

Article | 16/11/2010 Big Business is watching you

In the 1949 novel 1984, George Orwell imagined a brilliant but depressing future in which the government, a.k.a. "Big Brother," broadcast propaganda w...

Article | 9/11/2010 Five solar gadgets that charge themselves

I believe that someday most buildings, vehicles and devices will be solar-powered. And that includes our personal gadgets -- phones, laptops and digit...

Article | 2/11/2010 Why Facebook Places is going nowhere

Only 30 million people have used Facebook Places, one report finds. If that sounds impressive, consider that it represents just six per cent of Facebo...

Article | 26/10/2010 Why HP's Slate isn't anything like the iPad

HP released its Slate 500 tablet this week. Immediately, everyone started comparing it with Apple's iPad. But the two devices have nothing significant...

Article | 13/10/2010 10 things I don't 'get' about consumer technology

We live in an age of invention and scientific discovery. But there are things about some inventions that science simply cannot explain. Here are 10 th...

Article | 14/09/2010 The wristwatch will rise again

Conventional wisdom says people don't wear wristwatches anymore -- especially young people. The story goes that because we now have cell phones, we no...

Article | 10/08/2010 Is augmented reality just a cheap gimmick?

Augmented reality, long a staple of science fiction, is here, there and everywhere. A search on Google News brings up nearly 700 recent stories about ...

Article | 24/07/2010 Why the $35 tablet will never exist

"India unveils $35 computer for students," says CNN.com. "India unveils prototype for $35 touch-screen computer," reports BBC News. "India to provide ...

Article | 15/06/2010 Why you'll use Foursquare

Suddenly, there are two kinds of people. The first kind loves location-based social networking services like Foursquare. They speak in an alien langua...

Article | 8/06/2010 Are you a social networking mutant?

Have you ever tried to get an older person to use Facebook?

Article | 20/04/2010 Why the iPad is a creativity machine

You've heard the case against Apple's iPad. It's a media consumption device for mindless couch potatoes. It's a step back in the evolution of computin...

Article | 2/03/2010 15 iPad mysteries remain

Steve Jobs is such a great salesman that he can actually give us a sense of familiarity with something we don't know anything about.