My civic issues blog this semester is going to be on the environment focused on the subcategory of energy. With that being said, let me dive right in. We are in the midst of an energy crisis.

Current Energy Crisis

According to Forbes, crude oil, gasoline, natural gas, and coal are all skyrocketing in price. We are all feeling the effects of these increases in gas prices, and overall inflation in our country. This is not just a national problem. Europe has it even worse with electricity prices quintupling and natural gas prices even higher than the US.

Source: Bloomberg

There are a multitude of causes for these skyrocketing prices including recovery from the pandemic, the interconnectedness of the natural gas markets and, most importantly, the signs of energy price volatility during the energy transition away from fossil fuels. (Brookings)

When I say, “we are in the midst of an energy crisis,” I am not only talking about price increases in the past year, but our continued reliance on nonrenewable energy resources worldwide. According to the US Energy Information Admiration, renewable energy resources accounted for about 12.6% of US energy consumption and about 19.8% of electricity generation. Not only are nonrenewable resources eventually going to run out, but burning of coal, natural gas, crude oil, and other nonrenewable resources damages our environment causing global warming.

We are already feeling the effects of climate change and according to many scientists we are reaching the limits of being able to reverse its effects. There is a reason governments are pushing renewable energy resources, but are renewables ready yet?

Source: McMurry Univeristy

Are Renewables Ready?

Economist Ed Yardeni does not think they are ready: “Renewables aren’t ready for prime time. So instead of a smooth transition, the rush to eliminate fossil fuels is causing their prices to soar and disrupting the overall supply of energy.”

Yardeni might be right. After all, look how little of our energy consumption is from renewable resources. Maybe we just do not have the technology to meet our energy needs with renewables sufficiently.

But maybe he is wrong. Do we not have widespread renewable energy usage because our world needs the encouragement of energy price increases to change its ways and better the environment.

I do not know the right answer. I lean more toward agreeing with Yardeni, that renewables are simply not ready yet. That they are too expensive, and we need more breakthroughs to make a smooth transition. I believe if they were already good enough, we would have implemented them at a larger scale than what is already being done.

If you tend to believe Yardeni is wrong and that we need price hikes to encourage renewable energy, one thing to consider is that price hikes would disproportionately affect the lower classes in our society. Maybe these effects do not matter if the alternative is destroying our planet, but they are still important factors in a solution to global warming.

Source: New York Times

Nuclear Power as a Solution

As of right now, I am not sure there is a perfect answer to our energy crisis, but one small solution I think should get more attention is leaning more on nuclear energy during our transition.

Nuclear energy is a clean nonrenewable resource. After a few widely publicized meltdowns including, Chernobyl, Fukushima, and Three Mile Island, the public is hesitant to support nuclear power, but the clean nature of its operation should be enough to encourage its support over coal and other fossil fuel alternatives. Nuclear power could be our clean bridge to renewable energy.

Let me know in the comments if you think renewables are ready for “prime time” or if you have any other solutions to our current energy crisis.

Thanks for reading!

Hello! Welcome back to Talking Tech with Nolan! After about a month hiatus, we are back and ready to talk about even more tech products!

This first entry back is a product I have a little bit of a soft spot for when it comes to Electric Vehicles (EV). It is, after all, the only EV I have ever driven in my life thus far, the Volvo XC40.

Source: Top Gear

My Drive

This past summer, I was with my dad dropping off the family Volvo sedan at the dealership when we saw the new Volvo XC40 and got to test drive it. When it was my turn to drive it, oh my, it was quite the experience.

First off, we had the one pedal drive setting on. Yes, you heard that right, EVs are commonly one pedal drive meaning every time you release the gas, the car slows and when you are about to release the pedal all the way, the car stops completely. Let’s just say, the car was a little jerky as I got used to the new way to drive, but it was so cool. By the end of the drive, I was already starting to get used this new way of driving and honestly liked it better than two pedal drive.

As for its performance, the car was fast! I took it on the highway; it effortlessly cruised to the speed limit and was egging me on to go even faster. The acceleration was for real too! I could feel the difference in acceleration in this EV versus the Internal Combustion Engine in my Honda Civic!

Overall, it was a fun time, but enough about my drive in it. Let me tell you the specs, how it compares to its competition, and why you should even care about this vehicle.

Source: Carwow

Specs and Comparison

This electric vehicle is centered around simplicity, practically, and ease. It comes with ample passenger and cargo space; perfect for anyone on the go.

The Volvo XC40 comes in at $55,000 with 221 miles of range. Compared to its competition, the Tesla Model Y, the Volvo is $5,000 cheaper, but comes with about 100 miles less range. Now I know this range deficit is difficult to overcome, but there might be a couple of reasons to buy the Volvo over the Tesla.

Source: Auto Express

Tesla’s Shortcomings

First, Tesla’s have had issues with manufacturing defects in the past couple of years including panel gaps on new vehicles not only becoming more common but being on nearly every new vehicle it sells. Additionally, since Tesla is a new car brand, its service network is lacking. To fix a Tesla after an accident can take months on end. Each car has its pros and cons, but before I wrap up today, let me tell you why this Volvo XC40 is so important.

Source: Stark Insider

Volvo is one of the first major car manufacturers to commit to turning all electric. They pledge to be 50% electric by 2025 and 100% electric by 2030. This XC40 is their first step in turning their fleet electric. This vehicle is by no means perfect, but it is an exciting step to an all-Electric future.

In a way, Volvo is the guinea pig when it comes to making its lineup all electric. As the rest of the car manufactures adopt similar electric promises amid climate change concerns, Volvo’s successes and shortfalls are going to be keenly followed and will likely influence how the car world changes forever.

That’s it for today! Come back next week to learn more about the latest in tech.

Welcome back to Talking Tech with Nolan! Today is the last edition of the fall semester (I know! It’s sad!) That being said we will be talking about something that excites me most out of all the topics on this blog! I will be writing about the Tesla Model 3. One of the best Electric Vehicles (EVs) on the market and my dream vehicle when I graduate college.

Credit: Tesla

Value

Despite the EV industry continuing to evolve with many new EVs each year, the Tesla Model 3 has been one of the best values and overall best EVs on the market for years now. While it might not be the cheapest on the market, it is not extremely expensive, while it might not be the fastest on the market, it does not lack speed or acceleration, and while it might not be the highest end EV, it still makes passengers feel like they are in a spaceship.

Features

Now this is the most exciting part of this blog for me. I get to gush about all the cool features of a Tesla! To start, you unlock your car largely with the app connected to your phone. When you approach your vehicle, the car will automatically unlock because the car senses your phone! Then there is no ignition to start the car. You just get in, release the brake, and go. Now is when it gets fun. First off, the Tesla Model 3 is super-fast. Its electric motor gives it instant power and acceleration that is simply not possible in combustion engines. Also, since it is an electric vehicle, it has regenerative braking and one-pedal driving. Every time you let off the gas, the vehicle brakes and puts energy back into the battery. There is a learning curve to driving like this, but no more are the days of driving with two pedals. All of the Tesla owners I know use the brake maybe once or twice each drive.

Credit: Tesla

On top of the cool driving features, the Tesla has one of the cleanest looking interiors of any vehicle on the market. The whole roof is glass. Yes, you heard that right! There is a center beam, but 90% of the car is glass! That’s cool! There is a massive 15in, iPad looking, screen and only a few other buttons in the car. That’s it. Nearly everything is controlled by the screen. From windshield wipers, to music, to climate control, to playing fart noises, this screen has everything and more!

Credit: Autotrader

One last cool thing about Tesla’s in general is that they do not have new models each year like most companies. They offer over the air software updates to all their vehicles for years after they are purchased. That means your car will always be optimized and have the newest features Tesla has to offer. A Model 3 brought in early 2020 has just about as many features as one bought now. You will have the highest tech vehicle on the road for years after you purchase!

Range Thoughts

Now one of the biggest concerns with EVs these days is that they have a limited range. The baseline Tesla Model 3 starts with 263 miles of estimated range. According to reviewers, this number is actually a little high so you can look at a realistic range of about 200 miles on a full charge. This should not be a problem for most people. The average person takes their vehicle from home to work on the typical day and normally does not even come close to going 200 miles in a single day. For someone who parks their vehicle at home, they should have little to no range issues. After all, that person would generally charge their vehicle at home overnight and would start each day at a full charge. Imagine that! Most people with an electric vehicle will almost never have to publicly fuel their vehicle unless they were going on some long road trip. If one was to charge in public, people have the option to find one of Tesla’s superchargers that can charge a vehicle to full capacity in between 25-40 minutes. Now that is longer than filling a gas vehicle, but again for the most part that will be a rare occurrence.

Credit: The Car Connection

Price

The Tesla Model 3 is not exactly cheap, especially these days. For a short while last year it was selling for a modest $35,000. Unfortunately, with chip shortages and supple chain issues these days, the Tesla Model 3 has jumped up in price to starting at around $40,000 today. Granted there are some tax credits for EVs that the government has instituted that could cut a thousand or two off that price, and as gas prices continue to rise, EV owners are saving on powering their vehicles, but those factors do not necessarily cut the price enough to warrant the purchase for anyone on a budget, including college students.

Despite the car not being feasible for most of you; I hope today I was able to get you a little excited about Tesla. If more people are excited about EVs, then their sales will go up and their price will only keep coming down and it will be better for the environment.

That is it for Talking Tech with Nolan for now! I hope you enjoyed reading the blog this semester. Come back next semester for more!

Hi all and welcome to another installment of Talking Tech With Nolan! Today, we will be talking about what experts call the “smartest” smartphone on the market. Today we are going back to Google phones and discussing the Google Pixel 6 and 6 Pro.

Credit: The Verge

Google Pixel 6 and 6 Pro

As I mentioned in an earlier post about the Pixel 5A, Google released their flagship phone, the Pixel 6 and 6 Pro, with a whole redesign and a brand-new chip made in house at Google. As I have discussed in previous posts, companies building their own processors is very exciting when it comes to the new performance and optimization abilities. They can design a chip that fits the needs of their phone and operating system. That is exactly what Google did with their new Tensor chips in the Google Pixel 6 and 6 Pro.

Credit: 9to5Google

Machine Learning Features

Google, as you might imagine, is a company that prides itself on processing large amounts of data and machine learning related to this data. Thus, year after year their phone is the “smartest” smartphone when it comes to machine learning and features that make you say, “Whoa! That’s creepy.” This year was no different. Google designed their new chips to be optimized for exactly what they are good at: manipulating data and machine learning. It allows them to have features such as filtering incoming spam calls automatically for you, recording what song is playing in the background always so you can go back and remember what song was playing at the grocery store, removing photo bombers or anything else from your photos, and unreal speech to text. All those features are super cool, (to me at least) but I want to emphasize that last one again. The text to speech never has a hiccup. You know how many of us don’t use it because it messes up a lot and so the hassle of redoing text is not worth it? That is never the case with Pixel which is awesome! It can change the way you use your phone.

Credit: MKBHD

Camera

Along with being excellent in the machine learning field, Pixel phones are known for taking the best photos on any smartphone. They simply have the best photo processing that puts them ahead of the competition. Once again, their camera and processing are amazing. They even upgraded their hardware to take even better photos, but there is a caveat. This year some photos turn out best in class while others can look a little over processed. It is hard to explain especially as someone who is a novice in photography, but for example, a photo taken at night might be processed so much that it looks like it is much brighter than the actual environment. It can create unrealistic photos. Don’t get me wrong, this is very nitpicky, but it is a reality and reviewers are claiming Apples new iPhone 13 simply takes better photos more consistently.

This phone also does not have as great a battery as would be expected. It is only around 3-4 hours screen on time while the iPhone is sitting at a much higher 6-8 hours. Again, this is not a huge deal but something to consider.

Takeaways

Other than that, they both have beautiful screens and an elegant design. The Pro model gets a little better screen, processor and an extra camera sensor or two, but for the most part they are very similar phones. The Pixel 6 comes in at $599 and the Pixel 6 Pro starts at $899.

Now, in my opinion, they are both excellent devices, but I would only recommend the Pixel 6 model. It comes in at a price that just a little higher than the iPhone SE and a hundred bucks less than the iPhone 13. All the criticism of this device is largely because I am comparing it to devices that are much more expensive devices in the Pro price range. For what you are getting with the Pixel 6 at that price is top-tier and something you should consider when you are looking for your next phone. As long as you have no problem with some “creepy” software features.

That’s it for now. Let me know down in the comments if you think all this machine learning software is good or not? It is creepy to you or helpful?

Hello and welcome back to another installment of Talking Tech with Nolan. Last week I wrote about the new Airpods 3. Today I have another pair of truly wireless to review: the Beats Fit Pros.

Beats Fit Pros

Credit: Beats

Apple Owns Beats?

Despite sounding like they come from different companies, Apple actually owns Beats. Therefore, Beats headphones have all the same ease of functionality and connectivity of Apple Airpods. They have the same ability to automatically connect to your Apple device when you put them in your ear, to switch seamlessly between your iPhone, Mac, and iPad, and to be easily pocketable when you don’t want to use them.

I know this is a little bit perplexing since Apple markets Airpods as being a device that is one of a kind, yet they make Beats headphones to have the same functionality. That being said, today I will break down what differentiates the Beats and the Airpods to help you figure out what might be best for you!

Color Options of Beats Fit Pros

Credit: The Verge

Beats Fit Pro

The Beats Fit Pro come in a small form factor with rubber ear tips and wing tips to keep them stable in your ears. For people who have trouble keeping the one-size-fits-all Airpods in their ears, these features could be a selling point. Especially for those who work out, fitting snuggly and securely in one’s ear is paramount. Now the normal Airpods sit fine in my ears for workouts, so I advise you to maybe try Airpods before you go straight to Beats. Early reports from reviews say the wingtips can cause a little discomfort before you get used to them, but they do hold securely in your ear to the point that the break in period is well worth it. There is no wiggle from these ear buds when they are in your ears.

Contrary to Airpods, Beats Fit Pros comes with a dedicated Beats app for Android devices. This app allows for nearly all the same ease of functionality that makes them special for Apple devices available for Android users. Personally, that is my biggest gripe with my Airpods. They don’t connect great to my computer or really any device that isn’t Apple. The volume controls get all wonky and the sound get obviously less clear. Having Beats with all the benefits of Apple devices plus getting better connectivity with other devices is certainly welcome.

Airpods Pros vs. Beats Fit Pros

Credit: NewsBytes

As for the battery life of these ear buds, they have 6 hours of playback on a single charge and 27 hours of listening before you will have to plug in the case. These are better reported battery numbers than the more expensive Airpods Pro! Speaking of the Airpods Pro, the Beats Fit Pros have noise cancelling and transparency mode for a cheaper $200. With the Airpods Pros coming in at $249 and the Airpods 3 coming in at $179 but without noise cancelling, these Beats earbuds are an alternative to the Airpods Pros for someone who wants noise cancelling for $50 cheaper.

Takeaways

Overall, these are an excellent pair of earbuds that have great functionality and fit a niche market of users. If you are someone who wants a good pair of Apple noise cancelling headphones or if you are an Airpod user who struggles to keep Airpods in your ear, these are for you! Otherwise, I would suggest getting the popular Apple Airpods.

That’s all for today! I hope you enjoyed today’s topic on Talking Tech With Nolan! Let me know down in the comments if you knew Beats had the same features as Airpods or if you have ever had a pair of Beats headphones. See you next week!

Hello and welcome back to Talking Tech with Nolan! Today, I will be speaking about a piece of technology that I know many of you hold dear to your heart: The Apple Airpods.

Airpods Everywhere!

Apple Airpods were released in 2016 and despite early scrutiny about them looking like toothbrushes coming out of people’s ears, they have become a smash hit. Airpods are all over our world. At the gym, walking to class, in the library, around the dorms, people love their Airpods! Their seamless integration with the iPhone and all other Apple products makes it the earbud of choice for so many.

Airpods Lineup

Airpods 2

Credit: MyTrendyPhone.eu

Airpods Pro

Credit: Best Buy

Apple sells two types of Airpods, the baseline Airpods and the more advanced Airpods Pros. The baseline Airpods have a one size fits all design with no ear tips and not many tricks up its sleeves besides the seamless connectivity to all Apple products. The Airpods Pro will run you about $100 more, but has noise cancelling, a shorter stem and rubber ear tips to give users a more personalized fit.

Since their release Apple has employed the popular, “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it strategy” for their baseline Airpods lineup. The design was the same for 6 years straight until this month when they released the new, redesigned Airpods 3.

Airpods 3

Credit: CNET

Airpods 3

The new Airpods 3 look like Apple took the ear tips off the Airpods Pros and rebranded them to be the new baseline model. Apple claims this new model sounds better, has better battery and is more sweat and water resistant than previous models. Some of these claims seem a little arbitrary to me because with my regular Airpods, I have no issue with any of these “issues” Apple is claiming to have improved. I personally have no problem with the sound, or battery and I wear them to the gym nearly every day so if they had problems with sweat resistance, I think I would know by now.

Features

Besides those points, there are a couple new features that certainly intrigue me. I love the idea of having a “cheaper” (it’s all relative) version of the Airpods that has the shorter stem. The long stem can get in the way occasionally so having that shorter stem would be a nice have. I would also be curious to see how well they fit in my ear with another one size fits all design from Apple. I love the fit of my Airpods, they fit so nicely that I can wear them with ease all day. I trust Apple made another brilliant design, but I do want to try them out myself.

Airpods Lineup Comparison

Credit: GIZMOCHINA

These new Airpods also have a new feature called spatial audio that was already in the Pro model but is being trickled down to the Airpods 3^rd generation. This is meant to give a more immersive, surround sound type experience when listening, but based on early reports, it is only useful when watching movies. Using this feature with music can be disorienting and can sometimes make the song worse than typical stereo headphone audio.

The last couple of points to touch on with these new Airpods is that they now have support for wireless charging and Apple’s special magnetic wireless charging called Magsafe. This is classic Apple trying to gradually implement on of their new innovations into all their products, but having wireless charging is certainly a nice feature because my Airpods normally just sit on my desk anyway so it would be nice to have them charging while they just sit there.

Takeaways

Overall, I am pleased with this new update. These new Airpods come in at $179, right in between the prices of the previous Airpods ($129) and the Airpods Pros ($249). I think this is a modest price for all their functionality and just based on how much I use my Airpods. One nice thing is that with these new Airpods being released, the old Airpods will likely continue to drop in price. So, if you were looking for cheap Airpods, now is probably the time to purchase.

Anyway, thanks for reading this edition! Let me know down in the comments if you have Airpods, how much you use them, and if you would consider getting this new version.

Hello and welcome back to Talking Tech with Nolan! Today we are going to be talking MacBooks!

Credit: MacRumors

 

M1 Macs

Last year around this time, Apple released the MacBook Air and the 13” MacBook Pro with their brand new M1 chips. These new devices garnered lots of praise because of their brilliant performance and battery life increases compared to previous models. Some benchmarking scores showed that these new devices, on the lower end of Apples computer lineup, could rival previous high-end models. As a first generation of this chip, there was naturally a learning curve to perfect these new devices, but for the most part they exceeded expectations. Seeing the power and efficiency Apple could put into the lower end models, there was excitement around the tech world of what Apple could do with their higher end models.

Credit: NotebookCheck

MacBook Pro 14″ and 16″

This past Monday, October 18^th, we got our answer when Apple held an event that released upgraded, ultrapowerful 14” and 16” MacBook Pros with M1 chips. Now these devices are not yet released to the public so it is hard to exactly say how good these devices really are, but if the statistics in the presentation were accurate, these will be special devices. Despite these new, bigger MacBooks are the talk of the tech world right now, they start at the outrageous price of $1999, so I will not be discussing these devices but rather the cheaper MacBook Air and MacBook Pro 13”. Starting at $999 and $1299 respectively, these devices have all the power needed for the average college student at a price that is semi-reasonable.

Why M1 Is So Good

Before Apple would use Intel chips in their devices and this was perfectly fine, but Apple developing and integrating their own CPUs into devices is so exciting because it builds on Apple’s strength of maximizing efficiency in their devices. If you did not know, Apple iPhones have worse hardware than most android smartphones, but they still outperform nearly all those devices. Their RAM and battery size is consistently lower than its competitors, yet Apple’s tight software and hardware integration minimizes performance and battery loss in all aspects of its design. Apple M1 devices were destined to bring great performance bumps to Macs, and they certainly delivered.

M1 MacBook Air

Credit: TechCrunch

MacBook Air and MacBook Pro 13” Similarities

The MacBook Air and MacBook Pro 13” are very similar devices. They both will be able to do everything the typical student needs to do on an everyday basis. This includes surfing the web, writing papers, watching shows, and more. It will do all of this with a beautiful screen and brilliant battery life. After all, Apple claims up to 20 hours of battery life on the MacBook Pro and up to 18 hours on the MacBook Air. This is a device that could go multiple days without charging which is certainly impressive.

M1 MacBook Pro 13″

Credit: Digital Trends

Differences

The lower end MacBook Air starts at $999 with a little bit of a smaller chassis, less powerful chips and less storage, but can be upgraded to a model that is just about the same price as the MacBook Pro 13”. As for the MacBook Pro 13”, it is a little more powerful and has a bigger chassis which can help with thermal performance if your workflow really pushes your device. It also has more headroom to upgrade if someone needed a more powerful device but did not want to pay the outrageous prices of the new MacBook Pros.

My Take

I will admit that despite talking about Macs for the entirety of this post, I do not have an Apple computer myself. As an engineering student, I have a Dell XPS 15 since Windows devices can run engineering design software that is not supported on Macs. Although I do not have these devices, they still excite me because of the new power and efficiency these devices are bringing to the market. It is rare to see such a big jump in battery life and performance in one new version of a device. It makes me wonder if other computer companies will follow suit and make their own chips to keep up with Apple.

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this week’s post! Let me know down in the comments what computer you have and whether all day battery life and better performance in new Macs would cause you to switch to an Apple computer.

Welcome back to Talking Tech with Nolan! Today I am going to be talking about another new topic, robot! There is a company called Boston Dynamics that created and sells a super cool robot dog called Spot.

Credit: CNET

What is Spot?

Spot is a remote controlled, quadruped robot. The physical robot is about 43 in long, 20 in wide, and stands at 24 in high at its default mode (~3.5 ft x 1.5 ft x 2 ft) and weighs around 60 lbs. Spot has two cameras in the front and back and one camera on each side. Along with sensors and gyroscopes, these cameras feed information to a central computer for all the processing and smart features of this robot. Spot has a replaceable battery that can run for around 90 minutes per charge give or take how much weight it is supporting. Spot is controlled by a tablet connected to a controller with an app that connects directly to the robot. The tablet can show a live feed of any of the cameras on board Spot and easily allows the user to pick between Spot’s different modes: sitting, standing, walk, crawl, hop and stairs.

Credit: Built in Boston

Spot Modes

Whenever spot is standing, he is using energy to actively balance, so the mode to combat this is sit mode. In this mode he lies flat on his “stomach” and essentially powers off. From sit mode, he can transition to stand mode. In this mode he is up on all fours and can rotate around to show the onboard cameras different angles. It is in this mode that he looks most like a dog. I think he is even a little cute in this mode.

Credit: The Verge

His next mode is the traditional walk mode. This is the mode that is most used when he is on the move. In this mode, he walks like a normal dog by moving opposite front and back legs at once to maintain stability as he walks. In walk mode, he can also reach his high speed of about 3 mph. Spot also has a crawl mode for rougher terrains where he walks slower with 3 legs on the ground at all times. His final and probably most impressive mode is stairs mode. Spot effortlessly can go up and down stairs frontwards or backwards. Come on! Some dogs can’t even do that. On stairs, Spot uses ground height detection technology to adjust how high his steps need to be.

Technology

Speaking of ground height detection, I want to tell you a little about the computer processing and technology going on inside. As Spot walks in real-time, he builds a 3-D model of the world around it through information from the cameras and sensors onboard. With this 3-D model, he can have awesome features such as object avoidance and ground height detection. These features allow him to walk on rougher terrain and better adjust his steps to not trip. If he does trip, he has self-righting abilities and he is up and ready to go right away.

Speaking of failures, it is important to understand that this robot is not perfect. One of the many features still being improved is the obstacle avoidance since it has a hard time distinguishing what is a solid object and what is one that you can brush through.

Credit: Boston Dynamics

Real World Use

Now what is the use case of a robot like this right now. After all, it comes in at a whopping $74,500. Currently it is useful in situations that are risky to humans. For example, mining companies might use it to survey underground, or people could use it to measure levels of carbon monoxide in a building. Construction companies also use it for surveying sites and projects. Radar and camera equipment can be attached to the top and it can navigate to the same location every time for more accurate renderings of progress.

Now, I know none of this information necessarily pertains to college students exactly, but this is another technology that is more fun to talk about and understand its implications on the world of technology. The real time building of a 3-D world is the same technology used in self-driving cars. As more companies and people work with this technology, it will only get better and better to the point we can automate even more in our world.

That’s it for today’s post. For more information on spot, check out MKBHD’s video or the Boston Dynamics website! Also quick shout out to Owen Hall for the idea for this quote. His blog is pretty awesome too! Check it out here!

Let me know in the comments whether you support building more robots or if you are worried they will take over the world. Talk to you next week on Talking Tech with Nolan.

Ford Media Center

Hello and welcome back to talking tech with Nolan! Today, as you might be able to tell from the title, we will be discussing a new tech topic! I am entering into the field of Electric Vehicles (EVs). We will be discussing the most important EV to be announced yet, the Ford F-150 Lightning.

What are Electric Vehicles?

Let me give you some context on the world of EVs and the state of the automotive industry. As the world increasingly recognizes the effects of global warming and realizes we need to shift away from gas powered vehicles, electric vehicles have become popular. Leading the way are companies like Tesla and Volvo, but nearly every other major car company is releasing at least hybrids and often fully electric vehicles. Electric vehicles not only save on emissions, but also fun to drive. Due to the mechanics of their engines, they can put power down instantaneously giving them exhilarating acceleration and excellent torque specs.

The most popular vehicle going EV

That being said, for the past 39 years (CNBC), the Ford F-150 pickup truck has been the bestselling vehicle in America. That is not just trucks, it is all vehicles. When Ford announced earlier this year a fully electric F-150, that is not only huge for the automotive industry, but for the EV industry as well. When the most popular vehicle on the road goes electric, that is when you know EVs are officially mainstream.

Motor1.com UK

The Ford F-150 Lightning

The Ford F-150 Lightning was announced in May 2021 but is not expected to be released until about a year later in May 2022. Despite the wait, Ford has sent out a working vehicle model to select reviewers, including, my favorite YouTuber, MKBHD (His review). Through these reviews and simply following this release for the past few months, I have learned a lot about this vehicle, and I’ll tell you why I think it is the most important vehicle to be released in 2022.

The F-150 Lightning comes in two trims, a base model that starts at just under $40,000 with 230 miles of range and a long-range model starting just under $50,000 with 300 miles of range. With the most inexpensive Tesla model (a sedan) coming in at the same price, this price is not outrageous and is competitive not only in the EV world but also in the truck world in general. After all, you are getting a whole truck for the same price. As for trucks, the standard F-150 starts at about $30,000 but with options can often be right up there in the same price range as the new lightning model.

NDTV Gadgets 360

As for those range numbers, they are very standard when it comes to EVs (nothing to be amazed by) but according to MKBHD’s review, these numbers are measured when there is 1,000 lbs of cargo in the bed. If you don’t normally drive around with that much cargo in the bed, your range will be much higher, potentially up to 460 miles according to reviews. 460 miles of range is much better and something to be impressed by in an EV, let alone a 6,000 lb vehicle.

CleanTechnica

This vehicle comes with a couple tricks up its sleeve as well. It has a massive front trunk, something that was never possible before in trucks due to the massive gas engine. It also has so countless outlets that can charge devices from a phone, to a speaker, to even heavy power tools. The coolest feature in the whole truck is that it can act as a whole house generator for multiple days. It makes sense since after all the vehicle is a massive power bank. But, let me say that again, your truck can power an entire home for multiple days. You don’t need a generator anymore! Your car is the generator!Autoweek

Why is this important?

This truck has the potential to make waves in the automotive industry. Not only will it help Ford keep producing the most popular vehicle for years to come, but also it will pave the way for the future of electric trucks and EVs in general. If the most popular vehicle in America is transitioning to Electric, then it’s a sure bet that nearly every other vehicle will follow suit in the coming years.

I once again, recognize that none of you will be buying this product anytime soon. But I think it is so exciting as a society to see the electric vehicle revolution. As these cars keep being announced and released, the price of EVs continues to go down and by the time we are going into the workforce and purchasing our first or second car, these cars might just be the same price as their gas counter parts. Your first car might just be electric.

Let me know in the comments if you are a truck person and if you had the chance whether you would buy an electric vehicle over a gas vehicle. Thanks for reading! See you next week for Talking Tech With Nolan!

Today we are talking about something…drum roll please…NOT APPLE! Yes you heard that right! After writing about the new iPhone and the new iPad the past two weeks, today I am going to talk about an android phone: the Google Pixel 5A.

Google Phones

In 2021, there are only a few major phones brands. There is of course Apple’s iPhone, there are Samsung phones, and next I would put Google phones. Despite releasing their first smartphone in 2016, Google has quickly become the phone to beat when it comes to taking photos. As you might guess, given their data prowess, their photo software is unmatched. In addition to excellent photos, Google phones are usually tops in everything else a phone should be good at. They have fast chips, a good screen, and accessibility to all of your favorite apps. Really the only downside is you miss out on FaceTime and you will be “that guy” who makes the group chats green for iPhone users. If you are anti-Apple, in my opinion, Google is a fantastic phone brand.

Credit: 9to5Google

Pixel 5A Review

In regard to the Pixel 5A, this phone is not Google’s flagship or most high-tech phone, but in my eyes it is one of the best value phones in the market today. It has great specs across the board with the Qualcomm 765G chip, 6GB of RAM and 128GB of storage. Now I know these numbers probably mean nothing to you, but they just mean it is a fast phone. A phone that you could pick up and would be just as fast as any phone on the market. Usually, these companies brag about their specs but at the end of the day, if it is not noticeably slow, then there is just about no difference between the fastest chip Apple makes or the new Qualcomm chip. For those who don’t know, Qualcomm makes just about all the chips for smartphones except for Apple (who makes their own chip) and soon to be Google who is releasing phones with a Google built chip later this year.

That being said, the Pixel 5A also takes brilliant photos, as would be expected from Google, and its battery life and screen are both great as well for the average consumer. It does not have the new high refresh display or wireless charging but that does not matter for most people. It is hundreds of dollars cheaper for two nice-to-haves not need-to-haves.

Pixel 5A                                                                      iPhone SE

Credit: The Verge, WIRED

Value Phone

On that note, I will now touch on why this phone is great for college students on a budget. Starting at $449, the Pixel 5A is in the same price range as the iPhone SE. Yet the Pixel has a larger screen, no bezels, no home button, and a better camera. The pixel is a superior phone in almost every aspect. The pure design of the iPhone SE is clearly outdated and should not cost the same as this Pixel, yet Apple can ask for the same price because people will pay it. But if you are willing to stray from the iPhone posse, Pixel 5A is the best value phone on the market.

In the comments, please let me know how many of you are iPhone users and if you would ever consider switching to a phone like this that is blatantly a better value than the comparably priced iPhone.