• Gadgets

    The Early Adoption Paradox

    By Tom Conlon Posted on 9.4.2008 2 Comments

    I suffer from a near-debilitating fear of tech commitment. Early adopter, I am not. With pre-orders of the first Google Android phone rumored to be kicking off any day now, early adoption is a topic I’ve been burning a lot of brain cells on lately. I mean, should I or shouldn’t I? That’s the eternal question of this transistor-dependent existence I lead. Unfortunately for my own technological evolution, I find early adoption to be a lot like playing Russian Roulette with a bullet lodged in all six chambers: I can’t possibly win. I often wonder what goes on inside the mind of an early-adopter.

    Article Rating:
    9.4.2008 at 03:50pm - Comment by JimAtJaxtr

    I think part of being an early adopter is the prestige. People like to be able to say that they were the first or one of the first ones to do something. It also becomes kind of an elite community that other people seek out to find out if they should buy or try a product.

  • DIY

    Turn Your iPhone Into a Tool

    By Posted on 8.12.2008 5 Comments

    The next time you catch crap from your tool buddies for carrying such a gadget-geeky cell, tell them to kiss your iPhone-carrying ass. Then point them here to see how handy Apple’s finest can be in the hands of a Toolmonger. I’ve found dozens of shop-friendly uses for my phone. Launch the gallery here to see five.

    Article Rating:
    8.12.2008 at 11:53am - Comment by JimAtJaxtr

    My favorite app that I've heard about is the one that turns your iPhone into a flashlight.

  • Entertainment & Gaming

    Skype: Recession Medicine?

    By Posted on 8.4.2008 6 Comments

    Like many Americans today, the economy is currently using me as its punching bag. So, I’ve decided to take a hard look at my monthly expenses and lop off anything I think I can live without—a financial amputation before gangrene sets in, if you’ll permit the metaphor. First in the crosshairs is my landline; I’m wondering if I can completely replace it with the much heralded and much cheaper Internet-based phone service, Skype. People are ditching landlines for cellphones at a record pace, and if the Web has conditioned us to hold one truth to be self-evident, it’s that anything and everything can be had for free or practically free. So why is my phone bill still so damn expensive?

    8.5.2008 at 07:01pm - Comment by JimAtJaxtr

    Hi Tom, That's a cool article that you did on skype. Obviously as you can see from my screen name, I'm biased towards jaxtr's phone service, but I wanted to see what kinds of experiences you've had around the phone services that don't require downloads or special equipment like jaxtr. Also, the voip space is filling up with a number of great solutions like skype, but I wonder where you see the tipping point where landlines disappear from the equation in a big way. Or do you not see that tipping point ever happening and that a co-existence will be struck up between, mobile, landline, and voip?



Download Our iPhone App

Stay up to date on the latest news of the future of science and technology from your iPhone with full articles, images and offline viewing



Follow Us On Twitter

Featuring every article from the magazine and website, plus links from around the Web. Also see our PopSci DIY feed



Become a Fan On Facebook

Share links with friends, comment on stories and more


December 2009: Best of What's New

In our December issue, Popular Science names the 100 best innovations of the year: bombproof wallpaper, self-parking cars, the fastest helicopter, and 97 more. Plus inventor profiles and videos.

Check out the best of what's new here.

Popular Science Photo Pool


Share your photos in the Pop Sci pool at www.flickr.com!
tags_sprite.png
POP_embeddedForm_cover_May09.jpg