Stories by Mike Elgan

It's official: Apple is the new Microsoft

Ten years ago, Microsoft was the company everyone loved to hate.

Weird, scary and bizarre iPhone tales

The old carnival freak show is dead and gone (or has at least moved to reality television and daytime talk shows). But in our hearts, we still long to gawk at the strange and the bizarre.

Apple picks a fight it can't win

Apple rarely competes directly -- with anyone.

Wireless charging: Here at last

The same technology that wirelessly charges your electric razor or toothbrush could soon charge your smartphone, or even your laptop.

Are iPod-banning schools cheating our kids?

The Associated Press published an article last week about high schools increasingly banning iPods because some kids use them to cheat.

Why e-books are bound to fail

E-books, those flat electronic tablets designed for reading downloadable, software-based books, are often packed with advanced displays and other leading-edge technology.

Why cell phones are still grounded

How many times have you heard this?: "At this time, all electronic devices, including cell phones and two-way pagers, must be turned off and put away. After takeoff, I'll let you know when you may use approved electronic portable devices."

Freedom from the office -- the Bedouin way

No matter who you are, you can embrace the new Bedouinism. You don't have to live in the Bay Area or the desert or work for a start-up. You don't even need access to a coffeehouse. It's easy, and I'll tell you how. But first, let me tell you why beco...

You can't hide; 'geotagging' will find you

Mobile phones have become the mother of all convergence devices, combining dozens of functions formerly found separately or on PCs.

Why 'smartphone' is a dumb label

ABI Research analysts ruffled gadget-enthusiast feathers recently by suggesting that Apple's upcoming iPhone, though "clever and capable" cannot be considered a "smartphone." The reason, they said, was that a smartphone features an "open, commercial ...

The decline and fall of the Palm empire

The once-mighty Palm, still successful on paper from the momentum of past glories, is doomed to decline and failure. It wasn't always thus. Here's my preemptive post-mortem.

Why the iPhone will change the (PC) world

Steve Jobs' iPhone demo at Macworld Jan. 9 rocked the house, stopped the presses and upset the smart-phone status quo. Yes, Jobs changed the world. Again.

BlackBerry Pearl is the smartphone of the future

Like today's best smart phones, the pocket communication gadget of the future will be an "everything device." At a minimum, it will function as a laptop, digital camera, video-capable media player, voice recorder, handheld, speakerphone and more. But...

Saving the planet, the easy way

Environmentalists have been urging consumers for decades to wake up to impending disaster and change their buying, driving and living habits to reduce pollution, cut energy consumption and help reverse global warming.

Windows Vista: The 'huh?' starts now

Microsoft is losing consumer operating system market share to Apple for many reasons, but most of those reasons can be oversimplified thus: Mac OS is simple, and Windows is complicated.