Tech's Last Call | Techies Talking Tech Tonight

It may be old news to some diehard techies, but we finally got our hand on an Apple Watch of our very own. It's beautiful, and notifications work great. However, it's not a particularly good watch as it is unpredictable how to make the watch face actually show up. You can't be subtle about it, which means one can only make rude, "I am definitely looking at my watch now," type gestures. Also, it's still too expensive, and the battery life is somewhat lacking. We also got an Xbox One TV tuner, which may be a Cord-Cutter's dream - if only it had a DVR. It may not sound, but we are fairly positive on both of these products - at least a little bit.

Usually, technology getting cheaper is a beautiful thing. The world has been democratized by cheap smartphones. Laptops have become a commodity that almost anyone in the US can afford (even if that means a Chromebook). However, cheap DSLRs just means that people who don't know how to use cameras end up with WAY more camera than they know how to take advantage of. For instances, Jimmy encounter a man with two filters attached to his lens - two filters. There are cameras out there for people like this, but they are not DSLRs. Technology has also changed what we expect of shipping. Amazon has ruined our expectations of other companies who cannot take advantage the same scale. It's all your fault, Amazon. 

Have you ever had thoughts about the best way to spy on your children or monitor your baby's every bodily function? If you answered yes to either of those questions, then, ladies and gentlemen, this is the episode for you. Trey and Jimmy talk parenting tech with a hands on review of Nest by Google's Dropcam Pro and an extended discussion of the Mimo Baby Monitoring System. Also, Jimmy get annoyed at how the general tech press covers the Microsoft Surface family of devices. They just don't understand what it's like, Man. Also, this episode somehow dissolves to discussions of people pants-less on couches. No one is really sure how. You'll have to tune in to find out. 

After a long hiatus, to allow Trey to finish his documentary, the team is back to review and content on some more devices and trends. This week, Trey tells a tale of woe - about his MacBook Pro dying and his buying more Beats headphones. It may be sickness. Jimmy talks about life with the Galaxy S6 Edge, and most importantly, how it is less slippery than the iPhone 6 Plus. This is becoming an important metric as the iPhone seems to want to instantly fly out of your hand as quickly as possible. Hold on tight. 

Ready for the Apple Watch? Well, right now, Smart Watches in general are ruining Trey's profession and sleep pattern. Motorola ruined Jimmy's Moto E, and pretty much everyone is Brazil uses WhatsApp, which kind of ruins the idea of a non-mobile Internet. The real story here, though, is that not only has the team shifted on Samsung, but Trey is now buying a second pair of Beats headphones. How can this be? Tune in to find out!

Reality has been challenged. Some see a gold/white dress, when it is objectively blue/black. Then, Trey's vision switched briefly, and his fragile reality exploded - or something like that. Also, the reality of the desktop PC market shifted. They used to be the defacto reality for most users and had great upgradability. Now, however, they are still a pain to work with and have ended up less upgradable. Speaking of upgrading, you may not need to upgrade your phone, as Jimmy has found that a mid-range phone does most of what everyone needs. Maybe the world needs just a little less tech.

Consistently Sony wins the Console generations or at least comes close. They blew the competition away wit the PS1 and PS2, and the eked out a win over the Xbox 360 but lost to the Wii last generation. This time around, it is the same story. PS4 hold a wide margin over the Xbox One. Why does this keep happening? Tune in to find out! Also, you'll get Jimmy's thoughts on The Order: 1886 at no extra charge. It's really a good deal. 

There is a lot to celebrate in technology right now. Jimmy is trying out the new Windows 10. It has actual improvements over both Windows 7 and 8. Trey got his hands on the New 3DS XL. It may have a stupid name, but as a game playing device, it is Nintendo at its finest. With joy comes rage - rage that Apps are a thing, rage that Amiibos aren't better, and rage that the most technologically advanced generation in the history of the world wastes it all on social apps. There is rage. 

As one ages, one develops nostalgia for the simpler times of youth, for the times when you could pick up a console cartridge/disc from Blockbuster, jam it into your console (maybe blow on it a couple of times), and second later be enjoying your game. In this "vastly improved" modern world, it is not always so simple. Xbox One games can take hours to install or crash during the installation of an update leading to the need to reinstall. Forza Horizon 2 require the reconfiguring of some home Internet routers to enable port forwarding. For two chaps raise on PC gaming and tinkering, there aren't impossible tasks, but console gaming used to be the bastion of simplicity in a sea of complication. 

Video game technology has shifted drastically over time. The vintage stuff that is now so hip (and overpriced) to collect were simple machine where you could only play the games with people in the same physical space as you and were priced what they were because of high cost of physical media. Now, with things like the Vita, you may not even be playing a game that is installed on your system. You may be playing a game on a different system in a different house. All of this presumes your Wifi works, which isn't a given. Yes, this is Techies Talking Tech Tonight, and yes, we are down yet another rabbit hole.