Toyota has been riding a hybrid boom
We own a Toyota hybrid and have done for about a decade. Overall, the economy has worked out to be double what we would get from a regular ICE car and it really only has a tiny battery that is good for less than 2 miles of range on it's own. But combined with it's 'regular' engine we tend to get at least double the range. A great bit of engineering.
For the future, while I'd love to go all-in electric, a hybrid or a plug-in hybrid feel like the most sensible for now. I have less range anxiety than I might have pre-COVID due to changes in working arrangements specifically, but I have less faith in how the healthy of the battery will stand up to the test of time.
And I'm probably not alone in that thinking. This chart from CHARTR on Sherwood shows that Toyota hybrids continue to sell well. That will obviously level out and I am seeing more and more EVs out there in the real world.
I wrote about plug-in hybrids almost 3 years ago and it's worth watching the videos in the update to the post.
Posted 1st Jun 2024 @ 12:00
The Experimental Phones of the 2000s...
A great trip down memory lane for me, I had completely forgotten about the Nokia N-Gage!
The phone I coveted more than any other was the Nokia N90 which unfolded and twisted into a camcorder form-factor. I couldn't afford one at the time and settled on a Nokia 6600 Fold which was actually a great phone and had a satisfying opening and closing mechanism.
Since the iPhone, the market has been pretty stale though. Motorola had a decent effort with their updated Razr foldable. Samsung's compact folding phones have actually looked pretty interesting, but ultimately the flat slab looks like it's here to stay for a while.
We need some more early 2000s Nokia style phones in the world.
Posted 15th May 2024 @ 10:05
https://kottke.org/24/05/0044609-incredible-fact-none-of-t
It's very rare for me to find myself admiring a SUV or MPV. Sure, there are some nice ones on the roads these days but I've never coveted one. Big slabs of metal rolling down the street will never inspire me to drive in the way a well styled sedan (saloon) or hatchback does.
Posted 14th May 2024 @ 10:41
The iPad Pro Reviews Are in, and You Already Know How This Goes
Nick Heer:
I cannot believe Photos cannot even display Smart Albums
I'm with Nick on this one. I can somewhat understand the omission on an iPhone because photo management can be tough to do on a small screen, but on an iPad the Photos app should be so much more capable.
I ran into an issue this past weekend: I had created a 'Holidays' folder through the Photos app on my phone. The folder was created just fine, but there is no way to move albums into the folder on your phone. Or on your iPad. Why let you get half of the way? Omit the option to create if it can't be used.
Generally, the Photos app I found to be just fine. Paired with Photomator I can edit almost as powerfully as I used to on my Mac using Aperture. iPad OS though has a long way to go before it becomes a great OS.
Posted 14th May 2024 @ 08:21
Apple MacBook Air 15-Inch M3 Review
Yeah, pretty sure my next laptop will be a MacBook Air. My current Intel MacBook Pro is ageing, but the Air appears to be more capable. When it happens for me, the jump is going to be massive.
Posted 29th Apr 2024 @ 15:24