GizmoSapiens is a podcast about Technology and its affect on our everyday lives including the politics of technology.
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RAM prices didn't just go up — they time-traveled back to 2007. In Episode 283, "RAM-aggedon," Chris and Matt break down the memory crisis strangling PC pricing, why Jensen Huang says it isn't ending anytime soon, and how Intel, Qualcomm, and Silicon Motion are scrambling to build around the shortage instead of waiting it out. Then they head into the AI chip wars, where Huawei, Intel, and Qualcomm are all making very different bets on how to challenge Nvidia. If you've priced out a new computer lately, this episode explains why it hurts — and whether it's about to hurt more. Let us know what y
Work isn't what it used to be — and neither are the workers. In Episode 282 , Chris and Matt dig into what is reshaping the modern workplace: fresh data that's finally pushing back on age bias at work, a new report on why your Windows laptop might be failing you more than your Mac ever would, the rise of a scrappy new "middle class" of content creators quietly cashing out of the 9-to-5, and mounting evidence that return-to-office mandates are torching employee trust from the inside out. Plug in and find out what it really means to work for a living in 2026. Please send feedback to: gizmosapien
Chris and Matt discuss how age discrimination is still baked into many hiring and promotion decisions, especially in tech, even as demographic and performance data increasingly show older workers as critical to stability and knowledge transfer. At the same time, the “modern digital workplace” is creaking under the weight of unreliable, unpatched endpoints and a rush of unmanaged AI tools that sit on top of fragile basics. And in Detroit, Ford has quietly admitted that its AI-driven quality systems couldn’t replace decades of tacit know‑how, rehiring 350 experienced engineers to catch problems
Chris & Matt connect three big anxieties about the future of work and learning: students who struggle to read long‑form texts, communities racing to save endangered languages with iPads and Macs, and an AI data center boom colliding with a massive shortage of skilled workers. We zoom out to ask what happens when literacy, culture, and infrastructure all hit their limits at the same time. We want to hear from you! Please send feedback to gizmosapiens@gmail.com See you on the Digital Flipside!
Chris and Matt talk about the first Episode of the new Season of Start Trek: Strange New Worlds! Please send feedback to gizmosapiens@gmail.com May you Live Long and Prosper on the Digital Flip-Side!
Chris and Matt dive into how automation and algorithms are quietly reshaping daily life: police misusing Flock’s license‑plate surveillance to stalk people, AI tools allegedly helping gas stations nudge prices higher, and seed patents tightening control over the food system. We also look at the UK’s push for “trusted” news ranking, the fragility of old‑school checks in the era of mail theft, and why more than half of Americans say they’ve basically stopped posting on social media. Along the way, we pull the threads together into a bigger story about power: who gets to watch, who gets to charge
Chris and Matt cover everything going on in the space industry (and man is there a lot going on)! Spring and early summer 2026 have been rough, chaotic, and genuinely wild for the space industry. Here's the condensed version. Starship goes big, then goes public. SpaceX's redesigned Starship V3 completed a full wet dress rehearsal and then launched for the first time on May 22, deploying 22 mock Starlink satellites despite losing an engine mid-ascent. Weeks later SpaceX itself went public in a roughly $75 billion IPO, one of the largest in recent memory, while simultaneously unveiling an 11-mil
Chris and Matt talk of the things going on in the Entertainment arena! May and June 2026 brought box office surprises, streaming mega-mergers, and a couple of franchise casualties. Star Wars stumbles, then gets outdone by YouTubers. The Mandalorian and Grogu opened stronger than expected at $82 million domestic, but still ranks among the weakest live-action Star Wars debuts ever — though its smaller $165 million budget softens that blow. The bigger story came a week later: the film dropped a brutal 70% in its second weekend, landing in third place behind two ultra-low-budget horror hits direct
Chris and Matt discuss the Cult of Coscto, what kicked off the upgrade of PC hardware, GM laying off workers, and more. We want to hear from our listeners! Please send feedback to: gizmosapiens@gmail.com See you on the digital flip side! The Cult of Costco: https://slashdot.org/story/26/01/01/1752221/the-cult-of-costco?utm_source=rss1.0mainlinkanon&utm_medium=feed Windows 11, Not AI, Kick-Started the PC Upgrade Cycle: Windows 10's end-of-support deadline, not AI PCs, drove the 2026 refresh wave. URL: https://www.theregister.com/2026/01/20/windows_11_pc_refresh/ GM Cutting Hundreds of Salaried
In this week’s transport-tech roundup, Chris and Matt discuss a sector under pressure from regulation, economics, and real-world safety debates. On the EV side, the UK is moving toward a mileage-based tax, Ford is trimming its EV ambitions, and new U.S. rules are forcing automakers to strip out some Chinese software dependencies. Autonomous vehicle headlines are also getting sharper: Waymo is back in the spotlight after a dog collision in San Francisco, raising familiar questions about accountability and whether robotaxis should be judged by a higher standard than human drivers. Meanwhile, the
Chris and Matt explore how ordinary tools—browsers, smart speakers, cameras, police gadgets, and even robotaxis—have quietly turned into powerful surveillance and attack platforms. They look at data exfiltration via simple copy‑paste, police use and abuse of AI-powered systems like Flock license plate readers, security disasters in both consumer and government tech, and the growing backlash against invasive tracking. The line between “helpful tech” and “creepy, dangerous infrastructure” is getting thinner, and our security and consent models are not keeping up. Please send feedback to gizmosap
In this episode, Chris and Matt explore four stories that show what happens when AI, automation, and gadgets step off our screens and into the physical world. First, we look at a live demo where security researchers hijacked a commercially available humanoid robot using nothing but spoken commands, then used short‑range wireless to spread the exploit to an offline robot—turning embodied AI into a potential physical weapon. Next, we head to Japan, where Ishinomaki City is deploying Terra Drone–built “bear‑repellent spray drones” to deal with record numbers of human‑bear encounters, injuries, an
Chris and Matt discuss school and university systems are quietly rethinking some of their biggest bets of the last two decades. In K‑12, districts that spent billions on laptops and tablets during the pandemic are now limiting screen time or putting devices away in response to parent concerns about distraction, mental health, and academic performance. At the same time, Kansas City Public Schools is making a dramatic platform shift, replacing around 30,000 Windows PCs and Chromebooks with Apple devices it describes as more secure, durable, and reliable. In higher education, Harvard has voted to
In this episode, Chris and Matt break down a wave of new laptop and PC news that’s reshaping the platform landscape for the next few years. Nvidia’s N1X Arm chips are finally headed to consumer Windows gaming laptops, with a next‑gen N2 platform already on the roadmap for 2027. Intel is firing back at Apple’s MacBook Neo with its new Core Series 3 mobile CPUs, while Microsoft doubles down on Intel for its latest business‑focused Surface Pro 12 and Surface Laptop 8 models. We also look at Googlebook, Google’s new AI‑native laptop platform that blends Android and ChromeOS with deep Gemini integr
Chris and Matt discuss various legal technology issues across various states and the Federal Government! Please send feedback to gizmosapiens@gmail.com See you not eh Digital Flip-side!
Chris and Matt discuss: Changes in Apple Leadership 80k Tech company layoffs AI - Pros and Cons Privacy in the AI Age Individual Power Independance We want to hear form you! Please send feedback to: gizmosapiens@gmail.com See you not he Digital Flipside!
Chris and Matt discuss more of what is going on in SPACE! Artemis III Space Suits Space Leisure Wear Space Stations etc. Please send feedback to: gizmosapiens@gmail.com See you not he Digital Flipside!
Chris and Matt discuss the future of Star Trek, Streaming Services, Analog to ATSC Television to ATSC 2.0 and now ATSC 3.0, Cable Television, a brief anecdotal history of Netflix and Hulu. We want to hear from you! Please send feedback to: gizmosapiens@gmail.com See you not he Digital Flip-side!
Chris and Matt talk on a variety of subjects starting off with Microslop and moving on through Entertainment. Please send Feedback to Gizmosapiens@gmail.com See you on the Digital Flipside!
Chris and Matt talk about the return of the Artemis II mission and things going on in the Space World! Please send feedback to: gizmosapiens@gmail.com See you on the Digital Flipside!
