2026-09-06 -  Sony already doubled down on its unpopular decision to end the production of PlayStation game discs – now it's locking in the concept of digital games as temporary licences, with no real ownership for players.

2026-08-15 -  From Thomas Tuchel's dissatisfaction with a winning England performance to a man running in the 35-degree Austin sun – this month's Field Notes is about doing things properly, even in difficult conditions.

2026-08-09 -  Rising prices, diminishing generational leaps, and the slow death of physical media have stripped games consoles of their advantages. The days of PlayStation and Xbox as we know them may be numbered.

2026-07-26 -  Software bloat went unchecked for decades because memory was cheap. Now it isn't, and consumers can't afford those same specs. Which way the industry turns next depends on values, not just technology.

2026-07-19 -  June in the UK was something of an endurance test, with temperatures regularly hitting the 30s. Also – reflections on my Amazon Kindle review a year on, and how to zero in on your most valuable work.

2026-06-21 -  The UK government wants to ban social media for under-16s. The goal is reasonable, but there are more effective alternatives that don't require sacrificing privacy and anonymity for the rest of the population.

2026-06-14 -  The Online Safety Act brought age checks to websites. Now the government wants them built into your devices – removing anonymity that protects whistleblowers, dissidents, and honest personal writing.

2026-06-07 -  As AI prices rise, companies' unchecked spending is coming under scrutiny. AI has removed speed constraints from development, but faster code doesn't automatically translate to revenue or business value.

2026-05-21 -  If Google's new AI features stop traffic flowing to websites, fewer people will bother running them. That could disrupt the entire online information economy – and deprive AI models of the data they use to learn.

2026-05-10 -  Brian Armstrong is bracing against market volatility with a flatter org chart, hands-on managers, and fleets of AI agents. But Coinbase's pivot comes with its own contradictions – and exposes it to new risks.