Joel Johnson, Author at Gizmodo

Snapshot: What Our Webservers Look Like Right Now

Since I captured this screenshot it’s gone up well over 100k for just the liveblog. (A few asked: It’s Chartbeat!)

Tech News Joel Johnson Jan 27

Atoms Are Not Bits; Wired Is Not A Business Magazine

Chris Anderson has an important message from the future: Did you know you can outsource manufacturing? In the cover story of the latest issue of WIRED, Editor-in-Chief Chris Anderson makes a claim that at first, soaked as we are in the “maker” DIY culture of the internet and science fiction, doesn’t seem completely preposterous: “micro-factories”…

Tech News Joel Johnson Jan 26

Owle Bubo Review: For Hardcore iPhone Videographers

Owle Bubo isn’t an obscure Star Wars bounty hunter. It’s a $130 billet aluminum iPhone case, complete with swappable 37mm macro lens. It’s well-made, attractive, and makes iPhone video easy. But you probably don’t want this one. Products like the Bubo confuse my little retail suggestion brain. For some of you, $130 is a pittance…

Reviews Joel Johnson Jan 22

Show and Sell: The Secret to Apple’s Magic

Flash an exotic prototype, then—Presto!—get people to buy your more boring stuff. That kind of thinking still rules at most electronics companies. Apple under Steve Jobs only shows off actual products. The difference? Apple’s arcane secret to success. A specter harrows the consumer electronics industry: malaise. Like washed-up Catskill magicians unable to let go of…

Tech News Joel Johnson Jan 20

What Made You Fall in Love with Tech?

For me it was the Radio Shack TRS-80. (My family had every model up to the 4P.) Trying to load tapes to watch a little ASCII man dance in a proto-Dance Dance Revolution? Music, games, synthesis, tinkering—I was hooked.

Tech News Joel Johnson Jan 13

Robot Flower Girl Looks Adorable In Pink

When Allegra Fullerton got married last November, her niece was the flower girl. Like most her niece was a bit awkward going down the aisle, but Allegra’s sister stood in the wings and encouraged her on. What a sweet robot. Allegra’s sister Laurel is “into robots”, we’re told, and decided to built the flower-blowing bot…

Tech News Joel Johnson Jan 13

Video: Justify Your Gadget, Geneva Audio

We give them 10 seconds; they give us the best pitch they can huck.

Tech News Joel Johnson Jan 8

Video: Justify Your Gadget, PowerMat

Ten seconds. Ten chances to fail. Can a flack from PowerMat convince you to buy their gadget in just a dollar’s worth of time?

Tech News Joel Johnson Jan 8

Video: Justify Your Gadgets, Sharper Image

Can the most useless gadget company in the history of shopping justify their new incarnation?

Tech News Joel Johnson Jan 8

Video: CES in Four Minutes

Music by the ever-able Tettix.

Tech News Joel Johnson Jan 7

Shhhh: Livestreaming the Halls of CES

We’re inside the halls of CES right now, just checking things out. Maybe we’ll see something interesting.

Tech News Joel Johnson Jan 6

Improvised Press Room, CES-Style

Some editorial teams might wilt at the lack of seating in the Venetian’s press room; your faithful editors instead hunker under the closest faux-gilt Italian furniture. Meeting executives may be awkward, as we ask they bring their own chair.

Tech News Joel Johnson Jan 6

The Exploding Terrorist Underwear That Nearly Took Down a Plane

Want to see the world’s most notorious underwear? ABC News has pictures of the tighty-whiteys that nearly took down a Northwest Airlines flight, complete with Pentaerythritol tetranitrate codpiece. They are—perhaps predictably—rather soiled. [ABC News]

Tech News Joel Johnson Dec 28

President Obama, It’s Time To Fire the TSA

Today, DHS’s Napolitano’s response to the crotchbomber: “We’re looking to make sure that this sort of incident cannot recur.” But the TSA’s response to Abdulmutalib’s attempt makes one thing clear: We must stop pretending the TSA is making us safer. Security expert Bruce Schneier nails the core incompetency: “For years I’ve been saying ‘Only two…

Tech News Joel Johnson Dec 28

The Secret Lives of Amazon’s Elves

If Amazon is Santa, 400 folks living in RVs outside the Coffeyville, Kansas fulfillment center this winter are the elves. A few years back Chris Dunphy and Cherie Ve Ard flipped the bird to their desk jobs, packed their belongings in a custom 17-foot solar-powered fiberglass camper, and hit the road to live “at the…

Commerce Joel Johnson Dec 24

The Future of Vehicle Apps Are—You Guessed It—on the iPhone

Thirty minutes north of the city, Chen waits to meet us for ramen. We’re late. Brian’s at the wheel of his late-model Audi station wagon, turning the control knob from letter to letter, dutifully twisting-and-clicking the noodle shop’s name. In the passenger seat, I’ve already got the address and driving directions up on my iPhone.…

Tech News Joel Johnson Dec 23

Blotto, a column

CRAFTING is the sort of activity that anyone thinks they can do until they do it. We may have a genetic propensity for making tools, but it is easier to make another meat human than to whittle one from wood. CRAFT IN AMERICA is a 3-part television series from PBS, which is like NPR but…

Tech News Joel Johnson Dec 22

Blotto, a column

A SCOTTISH NERD named Charlie Stross opined on the FUTURE OF PHONES on his text blog, joining the overly washed millions of other future-abusers in imagining what it will be like when iPhones and gPhones can do convincing augmented reality, wirelessly stimulate the male G-spot, et cetera. The only difference was that Stross is incredibly…

Tech News Joel Johnson Dec 21

For Airplane Gadgets, Change Is In The Air

Since last week’s “Take Back Takeoff” post, I’ve had the pleasure of talking to executives & engineers from most of North America’s major airlines. First: the bad news. https://gizmodo.com/can-my-ipod-make-this-airplane-explode-5420641 The biggest airlines aren’t budging—yet. Here’s something Tim Smith of American Airlines sent me. It typifies the response from the big carriers: The fact is (and…

Tech News Joel Johnson Dec 17

AT&T Has Spent Less on Network Construction and Capital Expenditures Every Quarter Since the Q4 2007

If you like your links hyper, here is that AP story, AT&T’s financial sheet [PDF], and the post in which Fake Steve Jobs originally pointed out this disparity. Namaste.

Tech News Joel Johnson Dec 17

Joel Johnson

Snapshot: What Our Webservers Look Like Right Now

Atoms Are Not Bits; Wired Is Not A Business Magazine

Owle Bubo Review: For Hardcore iPhone Videographers

Show and Sell: The Secret to Apple’s Magic

What Made You Fall in Love with Tech?

Robot Flower Girl Looks Adorable In Pink

Video: Justify Your Gadget, Geneva Audio

Video: Justify Your Gadget, PowerMat

Video: Justify Your Gadgets, Sharper Image

Video: CES in Four Minutes

Shhhh: Livestreaming the Halls of CES

Improvised Press Room, CES-Style

The Exploding Terrorist Underwear That Nearly Took Down a Plane

President Obama, It’s Time To Fire the TSA

The Secret Lives of Amazon’s Elves

The Future of Vehicle Apps Are—You Guessed It—on the iPhone

Blotto, a column

Blotto, a column

For Airplane Gadgets, Change Is In The Air

AT&T Has Spent Less on Network Construction and Capital Expenditures Every Quarter Since the Q4 2007

RAM Shortage Expected to Continue Into Next Year or Later

Marvel Studios’ Former Art Staff Discuss ‘Shortsighted’ Layoffs

Amazon Delivery Drones Involve a Perilous 10-Foot Drop. Users Are Posting the Apparent Results

Organ Transplants Without Lifelong Meds? New Trial Shows It’s Possible

The AI Doomers Who Are Playing With Fire

Mysterious ‘Red Dot’ Galaxies Could Have ‘Relic’ Black Holes Predating the Big Bang

What Discoveries Might Be Hiding in the Artemis 2 Images and Data?

Disney Is Trying to Make Up for Its ‘Avengers: Doomsday’ IMAX FOMO

Anthropic Launches Claude Design, Figma Stock Immediately Nosedives

‘Avatar: The Last Airbender’ Has Always Deserved Better Than This

Alienware’s $350 QD-OLED Gaming Monitor Nixes Everything for a Pretty Screen

Sony Inzone H6 Air Review: A Perfect Case for Open-Back Gaming Headsets

Anker’s EufyMake E1 Finally Brings Printers Out of the Dark Ages

The Soundboks Mix Is Going to Make You the Most Popular Guy at the Park

Asus Zenbook A16 Review: Start Considering Snapdragon on PC, for Real

Aqara Thermostat Hub W200 Review: Almost Better than My Ecobee

HP Omen Max 45L Review: 4K60 Gaming Has Never Been So Easy

Ecovacs Winbot W3 Omni Review: Window Cleaning Robots Have a Long Way to Go

AirPods Max 2 vs. Bose QuietComfort Ultra Headphones (2nd Gen): Which ANC Headphones Win?

The Best Gadgets of March 2026