Last Time Departed

JUMP TO
Newsletter Archive | Longform Posts | Stream Posts

Newsletter Archive

The latest five issues are available to everyone. Time Travelers have access to every issue.

The Longform

A deep dive into a single topic.
The latest issue of The Longform is available to everyone. Time Travelers have access to back issues.

  • Perpetually Updating
    Later, later, later. That's what we always say to those annoying popups. They hound us. They implore us to act on them. In the end, we find them supremely intrusive and frustrating. But it's the world we now live in. … Read more
  • All The Data
    The same news comes around every few years: Friends, the TV show that shows no slowing down in popularity, moves to another streaming service. From Netflix to HBO Go Max, this is one show that always makes headlines when it … Read more
  • The Discman was amazing. The Discman was awful.
    When it comes to music in the “before times” prior to the iPod, there was a huge boon when Sony introduced its Walkman portable cassette player. It was the first time someone could go anywhere and hear their music without … Read more
  • I Spy With My Little TV
    The march of technology is inevitable. As time passes, components get cheaper. Manufacturing costs dwindle as efficiencies get established. What was once an expensive device to build can get lower in price with better ways to do things. From computers … Read more
  • Reboot Madness
    Clicking around the internet, you may be looking for something new to watch. Some TV shows look interesting while some have run their course, yet continue for another season. But then you spot it. Something familiar. A title that hasn't … Read more
  • Next Of Kin
    The unveiling of a new product is a milestone for any company. Years of R&D, hundreds of hours in meetings, immense time and money spent, all to coalesce into a single moment: the launch. Every company has high hopes for … Read more
  • Walking The Catalog
    It's a normal Saturday afternoon of browsing shelf after shelf of items for sale. Some displays are elaborately laid out. Other sections have setups that feature wonderful layouts on the walls. In the middle of it all is a jewelry … Read more
  • Permanent Deletion
    We scroll and eventually pause. Is it a funny photo that caught the eye? Perhaps it's a memory that the algorithm has surfaced. Or maybe it's simply some piece of content that's got way too many likes and comments for … Read more
  • Page ‘Em
    It's a beautiful day in the woods. Far off the grid, away from stores, people, or even shelters more stable than a tent, Jeff Wilson is backpacking through deep woods. It's a return to nature that brings him enjoyment and … Read more
  • Nuggets and Noms
    A pizza box sits on a table. Moments later two curious faces enter the frame, excited by its contents. The two keep glancing at each other while building their anticipation for what lies inside. Each speaks in a gibberish only … Read more
  • The Paid Social Network Nobody Wanted
    In the early 2010s there were two mighty giants in the social media landscape: Facebook and Twitter. One behemoth was scrapping its way in an attempt to be a third. This company was backed by lots of money, a thoughtful … Read more
  • The Contest to Steal Your Art
    "Win an iPad!" the flyer said. Quite the prize and one that immediately enticed my kids to read on. In only a few paragraphs it was evident what was being proposed to school-aged children: they draw and design something that … Read more
  • Dial I for Information
    It's the top of the 5th inning and the NY Mets have a runner on first. I'm sitting with three of my closest friends at Yankee Stadium, enjoying a crisp summer evening when suddenly it hits me: I didn't check … Read more
  • Twenty One Years and Waiting: The Fans Keeping Sliders Alive
    "What do we do now?" Those were the final words uttered by a character in the final scene of the final episode, The Seer, of the final season of the 90's sci-fi adventure show Sliders. The fate of humanity was … Read more
  • The PC Game That Stalked You
    You log on and check your inbox. A new message has been sitting for a few hours and you anxiously click on it. It begins: Due to a fire at our Anim-X studios, we at Electronic Arts are forced to … Read more
  • Streaming Movies at Home Will Always Be Better… and it’s Theater’s Fault
    Forget about COVID. This is the real reason I never go to the movies It’s the summer of 2008. I'm sitting in a packed theater waiting for The Dark Knight to begin. Knowing how awesome Batman Begins told the Batman … Read more
  • Hello, Wrist
    Events happen during our lives shaping how we live from that moment on. Steve Jobs introducing the iPhone in 2007 changed everything we do. The Nintendo Entertainment System hitting the US in 1985 revived a dying industry and set off … Read more

The Stream

Interesting and quick reads about what’s going on. The latest 25 posts are below.
Use the search at the top of the page or browse the Deep Archive to find older posts.

  • The Fall of CNET
    It's hard to imagine a website that has endured as long as CNET. One of the big, early websites of the mid-90s internet is still around today. CNET has been … Read more
  • Traditionally Beating It
    If it's one thing I can never get enough of, it's incredible alternative covers of Michael Jackson's Beat It. This time around we get a rendition using a traditional Chinese … Read more
  • Data Recovery Exonerates A Man
    Every justice system has failures where innocent people are wrongly convicted. A recent story I saw on Mastodon recounts how the Bloop Museum, a technology archive project, was called upon … Read more
  • Atari Tries Again
    When it comes to video games, there is always a sense of nostalgia. Nintendo had a hit on its hands when the NES Classic came out a few years ago. … Read more
  • ABC’s 1980’s All-In Promo
    Television's landscape 40 years was a big push for eyeballs. When only a few networks were in existence, each of the national broadcasters were in fierce competition for viewers. In … Read more
  • It’s-A Time To Retire
    Since the first Mario game where the famed plumber needed a voice, one man has held the role: Charles Martinet. For over 25-years he has voiced Mario, Luigi, and a … Read more
  • SegWhy
    The Segway is two things: a thing mall cops ride and a thing you may ride on a tour. That's it. And what a fall from grace it is for … Read more
  • This Flying Car is Electrical
    The year is 2023 and we still don't have flying cars. We likely never will and based on how many people drive, I am not optimistic it's really a good … Read more
  • Bike Brick
    Yet again we find another glaring example of why you should never buy physical devices that depend on a cloud service or app or company remaining in business. This time … Read more
  • 4K Nirvana
    One of the most influential bands of the 90s, Nirvana has endured through its short span of existence. The band had incredible hits and musicians. The unfortunate suicide of Kurt … Read more
  • Gotta Catch ’em All
    There's a time when things that were popular as kids becomes popular again as an adult. In the 90s Pokemon was a craze. While it's never faded away, and I … Read more
  • Surf Otter
    If Wide World of Sports was still on the air today, this news out of California certainly would've made the cut. Surfers in Santa Cruz have to be on the … Read more
  • Eroding the iMessage Moat
    RCS has long been the battle cry for Google and Android in the "messaging wars". The better way to text has had an uphill battle, but Google has stuck with … Read more
  • The Prop House where One Of a Kind Props Sit in Filing Cabinets
    Every movie needs "stuff" to tell its story. Actors convey the lines and the crew films it, but the "stuff" is what everyone interacts with. Of course, we know them … Read more
  • McMerch
    While the Summer of Grimace is fading away, there's one thing McDonald's is very good at: merchandising and creating products people want. Whether it's food in the aforementioned Grimace Shake … Read more
  • Intentionally-Stupid Games
    In the past decade video games have become an accepted form of art. Millions go into producing Triple A titles in order to give gamers amazing experiences. Bad games are … Read more
  • What’s Mine is Mine and What’s Yours is Mine
    We're hot in the AI movement right now, regardless if most of the generative stuff out there is a giant BS machine. It hasn't stopped the likes of Microsoft adding … Read more
  • Grimace’s Return… To The Game Boy
    The current craze with McDonald's Grimace, the longtime purple blob mascot, is a cultural moment here in 2023. Deciding to roll out a purple shake, the fast food chain is … Read more
  • 12 Voices, 60 Seconds
    James Arnold Taylor is an incredibly talented voice actor. He may be best known for voicing Obi Wan Kenobi in the Star Wars animated series. However, he has voiced so … Read more
  • Too Good to Go
    Just when you think a brand is done for, they sometimes get a last-minute reprieve. Recently on TimeMachiner, I've written about some companies going belly-up: mainly Brydge and DPReview. But … Read more
  • We Didn’t Start the Fire: Updated
    The iconic Billy Joel song We Didn't Start the Fire was a major hit in 1989. In only four and a half minutes, Joel took us through important and notable … Read more
  • IRS’s Impending Software
    For way too long the IRS has been at the mercy of an agreement they made with Intuit and others when it comes to tax filing software in the US. … Read more
  • Wendy’s AI
    While I don't think ChatGPT is taking over the world any time soon, one technology that has come far in the last decade is voice recognition. In the early days … Read more
  • Fearless Rollerbladers
    While some of the most 90s things ever are cheesy commercials about the fledgling internet and Microsoft trying to be cool, there's another thing that was everywhere back then: Rollerblading. … Read more
  • Rivian Joins the Plug Club
    Last week I wondered how other EV manufacturers would fare in the sudden rapid adoption of Tesla's "NACS" charger plug: "Only time will tell but the dominoes are falling." https://timemachiner.io/2023/06/13/teslas-supercharger-superpowers/ … Read more