Evolutionary 2018

I checked my Top Gear Picks 2017 post and to my surprise there are (almost) no changes to that list for 2018. This may be the sign that things have stabilized on the tech front. Or that I am aging....

1. I'm still using the Blackberry KeyOne. That simply means no one has come with anything phone that I could consider an upgrade. Has the smartphone industry stalled? I think I know what phone would get me excited. It'd be an iPhone XS Max, with the Google Pixel 3 camera and a USB-C port. Or the Google Pixel 3 XL with 512GB storage. Each time I turn to the Pixel phones, the lack of decent storage options puts me off. Apple, on the other hand, although it does a very proper job with the cameras, is not taking the computational photography to the level Google just did. So in the meantime i will keep enjoying the Blackberry...
   
2. I'm still using the iPad heavily. Actually at the time of writing it is the 11-inch Pro with 1TB storage. While it is a technological marvel, I'd call it an evolutionary upgrade, as it simply has a slightly bigger/better screen, slightly better sound, more memory. From the use case perspectives, they are all the same. Dominated by offline video (yes YouTube Premium is worth every penny for me...) and daily news on Feedly, archived in Pocket. Interestingly, nobody has still come with a decent vertical stand-up case for the iPad, so I had to (once again) mod the Pad&Quill as I did originally for the 12-inch Pro back in 2016.
   
3. Still using the same Logitech mouse. It should count the miles traveled (on different surfaces) BTW... The best mouse ever. Logitech can stop their R&D, as they've already created the best mouse possible. Ah... perhaps one day it will connect to the iPad. Apple will then get my permission to call it a computer.
   
4. As much As I loved the DART, it had to go. I upgraded to a 15-inch MacBook Pro (running Windows 10!) and it needs 90W of power. I have a plan for that though, it is called Anker Atom PD 4: 2xUSB-C + 2xUSB-A in a package smaller that the Apple brick, thanks to Gallium Nitride, a wonderful break-through semiconductor crystal that will have a huge impact on everything that is powered. So to be fair, for 2018 this credit should go to USB-C with Power Delivery.
   
5. I continue to love the Garmin watch. Although this time is the D2 Delta PX, which again, I'd call an evolutionary upgrade. Things are mostly the same with the Delta (compared to the Bravo; note that I skipped the D2 Charlie generation...). More juice (that IS great, 20 hours with a 1-second GPS takes care of tracking even the longest flights) and maps: the absolutely stand-out feature.
   
6. The Bose QC35 are still my most needed item on a plane. This is better than any class upgrade you can get. I clicked 200k miles in 2018, most of that in economy (the upgrades seem to be less frequent than before), not sure this would be possible without the state-of-the-art wireless noise canceling buds.
   
7. The inReach Mini is a new addition here. At 100 grams and a battery lasting for 5 days, there is no excuse to take it on any more remote trip. Just noticed there are two Garmin products on this list, I think I really like this company. Great, standing-out products, bold against Apples and Androids.

And yes, I wanted to mention the Sawyer water filtration system again. It is a marvel (a purely mechanical device) that I even don't have an idea how to improve. Perhaps getting a titanium shell with vintage leather touches would make it adorable by some (the current plasticky version makes it hard to admire for people who do not stop for a while to think how important it is to have access to drinking water almost anywhere).

So that's it, folks, for 2018. A boring year? Absolutely not by all means. But it really feels great to see these gadgets are useful and have a life span of more than a couple of months.

I have some wish list ideas for 2019, but for that... stay tuned...