It’s a few minutes shy of six on a Friday, and Gabriel strolls into the misty San Francisco evening. Seeing his ride, he walks past his ninth-grade classmates loitering around their prep school’s entrance, waiting for a parent or babysitter to shuttle them home. He approaches the van parked at the curb with the bright pink kangaroo pasted on its side, slides open the door, and jumps into the back seat. As Gabriel buckles in, Ariana Garcia begins her last ride of the day.

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At the 2018 Worldcon, fantasy author N.K. Jemisin became the first person to ever win three consecutive Hugo awards for Best Novel. Given that level of success, science fiction editor John Joseph Adams felt she’d be the perfect guest editor for the latest edition of his anthology series The Best American Science Fiction and Fantasy.

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Attempts to reinvent the humble monitor have in recent years seen mixed results. Some are curved, some are huge, some are huge and curved, and, well, you get the idea. But Samsung’s latest design suggests an alternative: A monitor that dazzles by demanding less of your space rather than more. That’s not because the aptly named Space Monitor is tiny. It comes in 27-inch and 32-inch sizes, the latter of which offers full 4K resolution and costs $500.

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Tesla has built its business on being a pioneer. It was the first automaker to produce electric cars that were fast, fun, and desirable, with battery ranges measured in hundreds instead of dozens of miles. Now, it’s pushing into another new, less welcoming, frontier. Elon Musk's company just became the first automaker to lose access to the full $7,500 federal tax credit designed to spur the adoption of electric cars. As of January 1, its customers only qualify for a $3,750 credit.

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By nearly any measure, Netflix has had a ridiculous year. When all is said and done, the company will have spent upwards of $10 billion (and perhaps as much as $13 billion) to produce more than 550 new movies and shows. Those new movies and shows, in turn, have helped to attract some of the more than 27 million new subscribers that Netflix signed up in 2018—adding to a customer base that was already close to 120 million strong worldwide. (And picking up 23 Emmys in the process.

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In early February, the technologist Tristan Harris stood in front of a crowd at a tech conference and held up his iPhone like Martin Luther presenting his Ninety-five Theses. He was there to warn of the plain and common dangers of our phones, which he has compared to slot machines and to cults, while announcing a coalition called the Center for Humane Technology to liberate us.

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For eight months this year, I used a flip phone. For most of those eight months, I hated myself and everyone else. Frankly, I’m embarrassed to write about this semifailed experiment. Disconnection has become the most congratulated, least convincing narrative gimmick of recent times, a widely excusable hypocrisy.

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The death of the Chevrolet Volt was a quiet one. It came in early December amid news that General Motors was cutting 14,000 jobs, closing three assembly plants, and also ending production of the Chevy Cruze and Impala, the Buick LaCrosse, and the Cadillac CT6. It made sense: Sales have been slowing, Americans aren’t buying compact cars or sedans anymore, and GM is repositioning itself for a future that includes both bigger vehicles and many more electrics.

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