I work many mornings from a coffee shop near my apartment before heading into the office.

When people come in for coffee, being Americans, they politely form a rigidly hierarchical queue. And being Americans in 2016, they almost immediately pull out their phone and start fiddling with it.

We’re less than a decade into the smartphone era, and the device has become so ingrained in our lives that spending a few minutes with our own thoughts is less compelling than what’s on our magic internet-connected pocket computer.

I mention this not to judge my fellow humans (for a... More

I learned to type on a manual typewriter.

By college, computers and word processors had taken over, but in grade school and high school it was still click click click ding.

Getting the letters to swing the 8- or -10 inch arc and strike the paper with a solid thwack took some force. A typist on one of these machines had to hit through the key and do a clean followthrough.

The IBM Selectric that came after was much easier to use. I recall it hummed menacingly when switched on. The keys felt more like switchgear – hard... More

The Apple Watch is very nice.

It’s nice to use. It feels nice on your arm. It looks nice, too, and is quite nicely built. It’s surprisingly nice to make phone calls from, and it’s a nice way to get notifications on the go.

The haptic feedback buzz feels nice when a new push alert pops in. The alert sounds are nice, and the digital crown has a nice smooth, precision feel when rotated. The inductive charger that effortlessly drops into place is very nice compared with the fiddly plug on a cell phone.

Even the packaging is nice. All... More

My Apple Watch is quite literally the most nicely made thing that I own.

While it might not have the heritage and mechanical engineering of a Rolex, it has the feel: a smooth, heavy ingot of the watch itself and a lovely stainless link band crafted to what seems like aerospace tolerances.

The software has that same general fit and finish, too. It’s a device that just feels good in all ways.

Well, all ways but …

I am left-handed, like 10 percent of people in the world, Ned Flanders, and five out of seven of our most... More

Marco Arment drew ire – and admiration – for his blog post arguing that Apple software had lost “the functional high ground.”

Arment isn’t a typical user – as a developer his view is somewhat more like a mechanic with a car up on a lift – not the person who drives it every day. His view may not be that of a typical user. In addition, he wrote later that he “looked back at what I wrote with regret, guilt, and embarrassment.” But further statements suggest he stands by his central idea that Apple software has not... More