is editor-at-large and Vergecast co-host with over a decade of experience covering consumer tech. Previously, at Protocol, The Wall Street Journal, and Wired.
Posts from this author will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed.
Hi, friends! Welcome to Installer No. 113, your guide to the best and Verge-iest stuff in the world. (If you’re new here, welcome, please send hot cocoa to my freezing-cold house, and also you can read all the old editions at the Installer homepage.)
Bit of an abbreviated issue this week — it’s a short week, and has also been an unusually bananas one both personally and professionally. But too much good stuff to just take the week off! So consider this an Installer Lite. A Mini Installer. A “bug fixes and performance improvements” update, if you will. But we’ve got a smartphone you need to check out, a new soundtrack to work to, some smart thoughts on Hollywood, and more. Let’s do it.
(As always, the best part of Installer is your ideas and tips. What are you watching / listening to / playing / buying / reading by the fire this week? Tell me everything: [email protected]. And if you know someone else who might enjoy Installer, forward it to them and tell them to subscribe here.)
The Drop
Todoist Ramble . This is one of my favorite AI things on the internet, and it just came out of beta. You just start an audio recording and brain dump everything in your head, and Todoist does an impressively good job of turning it into projects, tasks, and deadlines. A perfect way to start the workday, if you ask me. This is one of my favorite AI things on the internet, and it just came out of beta. You just start an audio recording and brain dump everything in your head, and Todoist does an impressively good job of turning it into projects, tasks, and deadlines. A perfect way to start the workday, if you ask me.
The NexPhone . One phone, three operating systems. This midrange Android phone (which is more than a decade in the making) also One phone, three operating systems. This midrange Android phone (which is more than a decade in the making) also comes with Linux and Windows installed , so you can in theory use it as your primary computer as well. It won’t ship for a while, and I do have some questions. But I love that this phone exists.
Mel Brooks: The 99 Year Old Man! A two-part, star-studded HBO documentary about one of the funniest, most important comedians of our time. Watch the Judd Apatow-directed series, then use it as an excuse to watch Blazing Saddles and Young Frankenstein and Spaceballs and all the other incredible work Brooks has done. A two-part, star-studded HBO documentary about one of the funniest, most important comedians of our time. Watch the Judd Apatow-directed series, then use it as an excuse to watch Blazing Saddles and Young Frankenstein and Spaceballs and all the other incredible work Brooks has done.
Crossplay . The newest New York Times word game, and its first multiplayer one! Big win for Wordle-ing couples everywhere. It’s basically Words with Friends with nicer design and fewer ads, and I mean that as a pretty high compliment. I just wish it didn’t require downloading a separate app. The newest New York Times word game, and its first multiplayer one! Big win for Wordle-ing couples everywhere. It’s basically Words with Friends with nicer design and fewer ads, and I mean that as a pretty high compliment. I just wish it didn’t require downloading a separate app.
... continue reading