You probably didn’t realize that Google has some big problems to solve. Very few people upgrade their mobile handsets to the newest versions of Android despite touting loads of new features at I/O events. Indeed, most customers can’t upgrade, because it’s not offered to them by the wireless carrier or the handset maker. But that’s […]

I’m of two minds about Genius Bar. The idea is surely compelling enough to make it one of the most important features of an Apple Store. Assuming the Genius staff knows what they’re doing, which is usually the case, it gives you a way to get free hands-on help direct from Apple. You don’t have […]

I am old enough to remember a very tired joke. I bend my arm and say, “doctor, it hurts when I do this.” The doctor says, “Don’t do that!” As I said tired. It actually dates back to the early 20th century, part of a famous sketch from the Smith and Dale comedy duo that was later “borrowed” by other […]

You know that, when a company turns out hundreds of thousands or millions of copies of a product, some will be defective out of the box. Others will fail a short time later. Despite the ubiquity of extended warranties to protect you after the initial warranty is up, some are skeptical. The theory goes that […]