Mike Elgan

The tech press and gadget blogosphere obsess over new products, new Web sites, new technologies and new ideas. We all love the shock of the new. But the truth is, the very best products in this industry are new versions of old products. 1.0 releases often take bold stabs at solving existing problems. But only […]

The industrial revolution didn’t arise out of nowhere, and it didn’t arise everywhere. It was made possible by the emergence of a set of personal values that came to be known as the “work ethic.” The idea behind this meme — inconceivable 400 years ago — is that hard work is good for its own […]

Last year I told you the “10 Black Friday Secrets Retailers Don’t Want You To Know.” All these secrets still apply (and the retailers still don’t want you to know them). What’s different this year is that Black Friday will be dominated by netbook deals. Here’s why: First, unless the Grinch finds a way to […]

Stocks are plummeting. Banks are failing. The money’s all gone. If you’re a small or medium-size business owner with employees, I’m going to tell you something you already know: Layoffs are coming, too. You’ve got hard choices ahead. Obviously, nobody knows your business better than you do. But I would like to offer one small […]

Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer rolled out this week some user interface bits from the forthcoming Windows 7 at The Wall Street Journal’s “D: All Things Digital” conference. Here’s the official Microsoft video demo. The OS is currently scheduled to hit late next year. Although everyone is talking about it, few seem to understand what all […]

Advertisers are all atwitter over the prospect of bombarding your cell phone with advertising. If you’re already annoyed by mobile spam, as I am, you’ll be disappointed to learn that the industry has barely even begun to exploit this amazing source of eyeballs. One estimate suggests that your average consumer is already exposed to about […]

A camera phone is more than just a camera and a phone, much more than the sum of its parts. Camera phones are the “Swiss Army Knife” of gadgets, performing the role of other tools — if you know how to use them. Here are ten useful tools you can find inside your camera phone […]