Free speech in a post-factual world

The Internet has been a great equalising force as a platform for the spread of opinion, and it can take many shapes or forms, growing unexpectedly or quietly ignored. For many years, this meant a spread of ideas, opinions, software, music, movies, books, drugs and many other wares that spanned the full spectrum of both…

The E3 of yore is never coming back (spoiler: it never has)

I recently watched a YouTube video that went into great detail (15 minutes of detail, to give an indication) on why allowing 15,000 “members of the general public” access to E3 would spell doom and destruction for the vaunted industry trade show. The harsh truth, I believe, is the show needs these changes if it…

The Stress of VR: Why Repeat VR Usage is Difficult

With the recent release of Star Trek: Bridge Crew, Ubisoft put out a high-budget, cross-platform multiplayer VR game, spanning Playstation, Vive and Oculus’ VR platforms. It also illustrates very well the challenge with VR as an entertainment format, and that we are currently focused on VR experiences rather than VR content or, as it were,…

The Surface Laptop is the Least Repairable Ever, and That’s Probably OK

iFixit recently tore down the new Surface Pro and Surface Laptop devices. After many surface-themed puns, they hammered a verdict that these new devices were impressive “by being so much worse than [they] expected”. Like any self-respecting geek, I will read their teardowns and gleefully look at the innards of these shiny technical gadgets that we have.…

Streaming 2.0: The Quest for More TV

When Microsoft revealed the Xbox One in 2013, it was to the fanfare of TV and sports, with a smattering of Call of Duty at the end. It was utterly ridiculed for that “sin” and has not recovered since. Yet, in the intermediary period we have seen the rise of Netflix, Amazon and Hulu Originals.…