Welcome To Release Notes | Making Personal Technology Make Sense

I’m Dwight Silverman, Forbes’ new consumer tech staff writer, and your host for this newsletter, which aims to make personal technology make sense for you. I’ve been writing about the topic since the late 1980s, reviewing products from the very first multimedia PC to the earliest and latest smartphones to the newest MacBooks with Apple Silicon processors. Along the way I’ve gained an understanding about what works and what doesn’t, and what tech trends are likely to stick and which will flame out. I want to share what I’ve learned with you.

As the name implies, Release Notes covers what’s new, but also I’ll show you how to keep the gear you’ve got up to date and running well. Do you really need to upgrade to the latest phone? Are your PCs woes the result of malware or just old age? Should you switch from an Android phone to an iPhone, or vice versa? And should you invest in – or care about – 5G, WiFi 6E, DOCSIS 4.0, or any other geeky acronyms? I’ll dive into all this and more, and also share with you some of the most useful tech writing from the web. 

I try to keep the language clear and simple, but I won’t talk down to you. And more importantly, I want you to talk to me. I think of this newsletter as a conversation. I want to hear what you want to know, and I’ll ask you often.
Just email me.
Must Reads
Mac Memory: Apple’s new M1-based MacBooks are a technical tour-de-force, but if you want more than 16 gigabytes of memory, you’re out of luck. Here’s why that may not matter.

CES Trends: The annual CES electronics show may have been held virtually in 2021, but strong trends still emerged from the online-only event. Here’s what you’ll be seeing in coming months.

Into Leather:
Smartphone cases made of leather look great, developing a patina as they age, but some aren’t as protective as they could be. This case is both beautiful and tough – and costs less than you’d expect.

Social skepticism:
The audio-based Clubhouse is the social media darling-du-jour, drawing speaking appearances from Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg. But there are good reasons to be skeptical about its future.
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