Silly as it may sound, people get attached to products. Maybe it’s a specific cut of jean that always fits, or a seasonal Trader Joe’s item that you obsessively stockpile for the inevitable day when it goes away. This happens in the tech world, too. Gadgets hop on and off the ever-rotating product carousel all the time, leaving us looking to replace the device.
On this week’s episode of Techathlon, our hosts recount some of their favorite discontinued products. Since Halloween is barreling toward us, consider this an incantation to try and resurrect those ill-fated tech products, even if it means creating zombies that will eventually consume us all.
You can listen to this week’s episode in the player above, subscribe via Apple Podcasts, join us on Stitcher, follow on Anchor, and even add the show on Spotify.
Once you’ve checked out this week’s episode, fire up your not-as-good-as-the-T-Mobile-Sidekick smartphone and send us a tweet with the device you’d like to see come back from the dead. It also doesn’t have to be a tech product. If you’re pining for the days of the Laserdisc player, we share your pain.
Here’s a look at the rest of this week’s show.
Spooky Skittles
In order to keep everything in the Halloween spirit this week, we’ve added a twist to the show. Every time a contestant answers a question incorrectly, they have to eat one of the new Zombie Skittles. Each bag contains the typically fruity candies, as well as a few “zombie” flavored pieces that unexpectedly assault taste buds with a flavor resembling a disgusting old sock. Who will get the terrible taste surprise first? If you’re a regular listener to the podcast, you probably already know.
Techathlon Decathlon
As always, Jason has cooked up a challenging cadre of technology trivia questions to torment our hosts. This week, the loser of the Techathlon gets thrown into an elaborate torture trap not unlike those from the movie Saw. Fun! (NOTE: No hosts were injured in the making of this podcast.)
Tech terms of terror
Do you know what a “power vampire” is? How about an “evil maid?” These technology-related phrases evoke spooky concepts that fit right in with this week’s Halloween theme. Test your tech vocabulary with this week’s game. Listen with the lights on. Or turn them off. It’s not that scary and it’s good to save electricity when you can.