Enjoy the archives of this retired, award-winning series from Christopher Thomas Plante and The Verge that explained technology bit by bit. The series finale aired December 6th, 2016, shortly before Chris re-joined Polygon as its executive editor. For more on what’s happening now (and next) in technology and gadgets, listen and subscribe to The Vergecast.
Latest episodes
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24 min
The What’s Tech series finale
When I started at The Verge in 2014, I needed an excuse to learn about technology. My background was in covering video games, television, and pop culture, and I lacked the basic co…
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21 min
What are Snapchat Spectacles, and do I have to be a teen to wear them?
Snapchat Spectacles, the mysterious and incredibly hyped hardware from Snap, Inc., have arrived. Vending machines for the video camera sunglasses are springing up around the countr…
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25 min
How smartphone cameras took over the world
In the early 2000s, the digital photography revolution made it possible for miniaturized camera hardware and image sensors to be packed into cell phones without adding a significan…
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30 min
How HTTPS is slowly but surely making the internet safer
Over the past couple years web security has become a staple of the nightly news. The stories usually hinge on government leaks, foreign hackers, or web encryption. There’s menacing…
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15 min
Why is everyone making GIFs of themselves?
Our most sacred and special task as human beings is to document our own existence with a single-minded dedication. That's why we have massive iCloud photo libraries, 15GB of video…
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24 min
How immersive haunted houses and participatory plays are making Halloween scarier
Here at The Verge, we love Halloween and everything about it. Horror movies, non-horror seasonal movies, seasonal beverages, seasonal bots, this Pumpkin Guy, horrifying makeup tuto…
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17 min
Why smartphone batteries explode, and why they may get worse
Samsung has officially recalled the Galaxy Note 7 worldwide, after more than 90 of the large smartphones in the US overheated due to defective batteries. Overheating is, in this ca…
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13 min
How Snapchat’s goofy faces made everyone comfortable with selfies
I didn’t take many selfies until I downloaded Snapchat. But like so many people I’ve fallen in love with lenses, the optional tools that make my face look like a dog or an emoji or…
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21 min
The good and bad news of the Earth-sized planet Proxima Centauri b
Late last month, news broke of the exoplanet Proxima Centauri b. Orbiting the closest star to our Solar System, there’s a lot to love about Proxima b since it shares a few key trai…
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23 min
A few simple tech tips for living in a dorm or a New York apartment
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16 min
A simple explanation of No Man’s Sky and its internet-fueled controversy
The first trailer for No Man’s Sky, published in December 2013, promised a universe with enough planets, creatures, and vegetation that it could not be fully explored by one player…
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17 min
Hate going to the grocery store? Maybe it's time to try food-delivery services
Imagine if grocery shopping was just another online subscription service, like Netflix or Spotify. You complete a survey, sharing your likes and dislikes, and the platform sends, w…
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16 min
Why Sony and Microsoft are already announcing and releasing new consoles
A new round of video game consoles has began last week with the release of Microsoft’s One S. The slim, white hardware is a minor upgrade to the original Xbox One, and the predeces…
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20 min
Is your neighborhood the next great social media app?
I had never heard of Nextdoor when I lived in New York City. Social media services catering to individual neighborhoods weren’t useful in an apartment building where most tenants l…
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17 min
A podcast explains the power of podcasts
For 72 episodes, What’s Tech has invited guests to explain technology and its cultural periphery — from drones and fan fiction to ASMR and biohacking. We were bound to make a podca…
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20 min
Why Pokémon Go is a hit, how it helped Nintendo, and when its moment could fizz out
Pokémon Go had a week unlike any video game I’ve covered in my career. Here’s a collection of the posts we penned last week, ranging from players finding dead bodies to Craigslist…
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14 min
The agony and the ecstasy of life as a webcomic artist
As a teenager, my only interaction with the world of webcomics was Achewood. Launched in 2001 and published sporadically ever since, Achewood is like Seinfeld crossed with Adult Sw…
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26 min
How The Bachelor became social media’s favorite sporting event
"Is The Bachelor tech?" You might ask this question while listening to this week’s episode of What’s Tech, a podcast that provides introductory explainers into the many pockets of…
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30 min
What you need to know about doxxing, the average internet user’s nightmare
My entire body clenches when I hear the word doxxing. Each time I write something that, for whatever reason, upsets a corner of the internet, I wonder if my personal information —…
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16 min
What you should know about torrenting
I was a teenager in the days of Napster and LimeWire, when illegal files flowed through the internet like free hamburgers through a freshman dormitory orientation session. I didn't…