For one of the most successful, profitable, all-around-important inventions of all time, the PC has never gotten much respect.

The post Technologizer: Hey, They’re All Just PCs appeared first on PC Pitstop TechTalk.

By Harry McCracken

They may not be the fanciest computer games of all time, but untold billions of hours of productivity have been lost to them over the past four decades.

The post Technologizer: The Great Operating System Games appeared first on PC Pitstop TechTalk.

By Harry McCracken

The time I’ve spent with Verizon Wireless’s Droid X has made one thing clear to me: I like great big smartphone screens. As impressively elegant as the iPhone 4′s 3.5″ retina display is, the X’s 4.3″ superscreen makes for larger type and easier tapping. It’s like the difference between a highly refined sportscar and a roomy SUV. I hope phones in both sizes flourish.

And then there’s Dell’s Streak…which makes the Droid X look like a pipsqueak. At five inches, its screen is so expansive that it’s not clear upon first glance whether this device is a phone. It is. Or at least it can be one: The Dell executive I spoke with at a demo yesterday described the Streak as being “capable of making phone calls.” In other words, Dell sees it as a data device that does voice rather than a phone that does data.

The post Technologizer: Dell’s Streak–Is It a Huge Smartphone or a Tiny Computer? appeared first on PC Pitstop TechTalk.

By Harry McCracken

Six thousand owners of Apple's tablet tell us what they think--and the news is good.

The post Technologizer: The State of iPad Satisfaction appeared first on PC Pitstop TechTalk.

By Harry McCracken

A visual history of the science and sci-fi of phone calls you can see. (No, it didn't start with The Jetsons.)

The post Technologizer: History of the VideoPhone appeared first on PC Pitstop TechTalk.

By Andrew Leal for Technologizer

Before Sesame Street and The Muppet Show, Jim Henson made short films for Big Blue. The tech may be archaic, but the entertainment is timeless.

The post Technologizer: The IBM Muppet Show appeared first on PC Pitstop TechTalk.

By Harry McCracken

If you think the whole Web is suddenly looking more like Facebook, you’re not imagining things. At its developer conference last week, the 800-pound gorilla of social networks made a bevy of announcements — and all the biggies involved intermingling your life as a Facebook user with other activities around the Internet.

The post Technologizer: How to Control Your Facebook Privacy appeared first on PC Pitstop TechTalk.

By Harry McCracken

Can Apple's much-hyped tablet replace your notebook, e-reader, smartphone, audio player, magazines, or gaming device?

The post Technologizer: The iPad vs. Everything Else appeared first on PC Pitstop TechTalk.

By Tandy Trower for Technologizer

Few people understand Microsoft better than Tandy Trower, who worked at the company from 1981-2009. Trower was the product manager who ultimately shipped Windows 1.0, an endeavor that some advised him was a path toward a ruined career...Trower recounts the inside story of his experience in transforming Windows from vaporware into a product that has left an unmistakable imprint on the world, 25 years after it was first released.

The post Technologizer: The Secret Origin of Windows appeared first on PC Pitstop TechTalk.

By Harry McCracken

I promise we’ll stop commemorating the 15th anniversary of Microsoft Bob after today–and today is the anniversary of the app’s formal release–but bear with me for one last item.

The post Technologizer: Albatross Face-Off -Microsoft Bob v. the Apple Cube appeared first on PC Pitstop TechTalk.