Submitted by WA ContentsDesignart Tokyo 2025 will take place from October 31 to November 9Japan Architecture News - Mar 29, 2025 - 22:18 html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40/loose.dtd"Designart Tokyo, one of Japans largest design and art festivals, is a citywide event that brings together diverse presentations spanning design, art, interiors, fashion, and technology at various locations across the city.The Designart Tokyo will take place from October 31 to November 9, 2025 in various venues of Tokyo.Eminent creatives from around the world converge in Tokyo, a city known for its cultural diversity, to showcase various exhibitions in multiple genres, including interior design, art, fashion, technology, and food.Themed as Brave The Pursuit of Instinctive Beauty, the event will focus on the power of brave and instinctive beauty. The organizers said that "as we navigate a transformative phase in our society, we must ask ourselves: can formulaic designs and artworks truly be considered real forms of creativity?.""Now is the time to be brave and trust our intuition, which ignites excitement and positive emotions previously unfelt. Let us transition from functional beauty to instinctive beauty, pursuing essential values that will be cherished forever. When instinctive beauty intersects with people's happiness, we will witness a future beyond our imagination."MEDIA DEPARTMENT TOKYO, located in the heart of Shibuya, will host the DESIGNART GALLERY, showcasing groundbreaking creations from around the world.The World Architecture Community is a media partner of the 2025 Designart Tokyo.Read the latest news from the 2024 Desigart Tokyo on WAC.The graphic work in the poster is created by ZEN.> via Designart Tokyo

Here are hints and answers for the NYT Strands puzzle No. 392 for March 30.

Hints and answers for Connections for March 30, #658.

submitted by /u/indig0sixalpha [link] [comments]

An Android handset that rivals its premium siblings but is priced affordably? You'll want to visit Target, not Amazon, for that. Here's why.

ZDNET's key takeaways Amazon's new Kindle Scribe is available now, starting at $400. It combines the familiar features of the Kindle e-reader with a bright display and a suite of premium note-taking features. The aforementioned features take some getting used to, and the price for the higher memory models isn't cheap. more buying choices For a limited time during Amazon's Big Spring Sale, the Amazon Kindle Scribe has been discounted down to $365 (from $449), its lowest price to date.Amazon's latestKindle Scribe can be considered a 2-in-1, as it's both a note-taking tablet and a dedicated e-reader. It does both well, and it stands out from the crowd because of how it combines these two features.The Scribe's physical form factor is sleek and light, with a thick grip that allows it to be easily held by either your right or left hand, as turning it upside down realigns the perspective.Also: This Android tablet brings a crucial $1,700 iPad Pro feature to the $400 price point - and I love itThe Kindle Scribe's standout feature, however, is its "Active Canvas," which allows you to take notes and scribble your thoughts directly onto the pages of your book -- something that resonates with me personally as an avid note-taker. details View at Amazon The newest Scribe comes with a pen that allows you to change your brush size and shape from a pen for margin scribbling to a highlighter if you'd rather emphasize certain parts of the text. The cool design element here is that the notes you draw with the pan exist on another "layer" than the book text, allowing you to edit what you write without messing with the text in the book.Also: The best Kindles of 2025: Expert tested and reviewedIn practice, the active canvas appears as a blank space in between the text where you can jot down your thoughts. I can see this functionality being useful for certain texts, but it might be a bit distracting for others. I actually found that I preferred using the sticky notes function, which drops a tiny icon on the text that, when tapped, opens up a floating window with your notes that can then be closed.The pen is one of the Scribe's best features, however. It delivers a smooth and lag-free writing experience on par with high-end tablet/stylus devices like the ReMarkable Paper Pro, which is one of my favorite all-time devices.The tip of the pen is soft and textured, resulting in a silky, silent writing experience that feels exactly like a "real" pencil. It's weighty, feels premium, and attaches to the side of the device with a magnetic snap, although you do have to align it just right to get it to stick.Also: The Kindle Colorsoft brings books to life in color, and it's at an all-time low priceNote-takers who don't have the most elegant penmanship can easily translate their handwriting into text and then edit the font and size further. This is a great way to clean up and organize hastily taken notes that you can save for further reference, particularly if your writing leaves something to be desired. Kyle Kucharski/ZDNETThe on-board AI is very good at parsing even the most illegible chicken scratch, although it does get a little dodgy if your handwriting approaches complete illegibility.The display on the Kindle Scribe is quite nice, if rather similar to other Kindle models. It has 300 pixels per inch, which results in fine and crisp text, even with the tiniest fonts. The screen can also get quite bright, making it easy to see outdoors. You can also adjust the warmth of the display, going all the way to a more sepia-toned image on one end or a cool white on the other.Also:The best reading tablets of 2025: Expert tested and recommendedRegarding battery life, Amazon advertises up to 12 weeks on a single charge if you read for about 30 minutes a day, but that number starts to go down if you use Scribe for lots of writing and note-taking. In my testing over the course of a few weeks, I only bothered charging the device a few times, and with intermittent, average use, you'll probably get multiple weeks out of a single charge.The device itself comes with either 16GB, 32GB, or 64GB of on-device storage, which is quite a lot of space for e-books. In practice, this is enough space to hold thousands of books, enough for a veritable digital library.The device is geared to store more than just e-books, however. If you're using the Scribe, you're probably going to be taking lots of notes. You organize them by keeping them in notebooks, which, like physical ones, are books with multiple pages. Kyle Kucharski/ZDNETNotebooks are then further organized by folders, which you can name and categorize, allowing you to keep your content streamlined. Even better is the myriad of "paper" selections you can choose to write your notes on, including checklists, daily and weekly planners, trackers, and even storyboard templates.This opens the device up to be a capable note-taking tablet in its own right, with just enough creation tools to allow for a robust feature set without all the bells and whistles of other high-end tablets. In other words, there may be a limited number of brushes and marker functions, but the ones have worked smoothly, with zero lag or false inputs.The Kindle Scribe also features some AI functions, of course. The on-device AI can summarize up to 15 pages in a notebook, extracting key takeaways from the text in a neat summary that, in my testing, is about on par with commonly used AI services found on other platforms. In other words, it's generally accurate, although complex information can produce generic-sounding results.Also: The budget Android tablet I recommend has a dazzling displayAside from your collections of notes, the Kindle keeps everything you've highlighted across multiple texts in a "Clippings" folder, which can be super helpful for automatically looking at key information at a glance.Of course, the Kindle Scribe is set up to make buying e-books as seamless as possible, with Amazon's Kindle Store easily accessible on the device and lots of ways to search for what you want to read. Depending on how much you plan on using the device, you can purchase e-books individually or spring for the Kindle Unlimited membership, which gives you unlimited access to (most) titles with a subscription of $11.99 per month.Right now, Amazon is offering a free 30-day trial of Kindle Unlimited, so it's worth checking it out to see if you'll get the most out of it. If you're a slower reader, you might want to opt for individual purchases.ZDNET's buying adviceAll in all, the Kindle Scribe is an e-reader designed for readers who like to engage with their texts, doodlers, note-takers, and list-makers who prefer to "just write it down." At $399 for the 16GB version, the Scribe is competitively priced as a functional tablet, and unless you really need a larger device, I'd say it's certainly one of the best options out there, taking into account its full suite of features.However, keep in mind that upgrading to the 32GB version raises the price to $420, and if you want 64GB, you'll pay $450. This brings the price in line with theReMarkable Paper Pro, an ultra-premium device with many more features for note-taking (color display, myriad of brush selections, etc.) but less in the way of easy-to-access e-books.If you're not someone who needs to scribble on the page or take a highlighter to what you're reading, the Scribe is still a top-tier e-reader with a grippable, flippable form factor and a bright display and great battery.When will this deal expire?While many sales events feature deals for a specific length of time, deals are on a limited-time basis, making them subject to expire anytime. ZDNET remains committed to finding, sharing, and updating the best offers to help you maximize your savings so you can feel as confident in your purchases as we feel in our recommendations. Our ZDNET team of experts constantly monitors the deals we feature to keep our stories up-to-date. If you missed out on this deal, don't worry -- we're always sourcing new savings opportunities atZDNET.com.Looking for the next best product? Get expert reviews and editor favorites withZDNET Recommends.Featured reviews

TOKYO, JAPAN - FEBRUARY 3: Open AI CEO Sam Altman speaks during a talk session with SoftBank Group ... More CEO Masayoshi Son at an event titled "Transforming Business through AI" in Tokyo, Japan, on February 03, 2025. SoftBank and OpenAI announced that they have agreed a partnership to set up a joint venture for artificial intelligence services in Japan today. (Photo by Tomohiro Ohsumi/Getty Images)Getty ImagesHow Big Money Is Leaving Most Startups BehindFor elite VC investors backing companies like OpenAI and SpaceX, 2024 has been an amazing year with multi-billion-dollar deals and sky-high valuations. But step outside this exclusive circle, and youll find a very different storyespecially in Europe, where funding has dropped to less than half of what it was in 2021. Money is now going mostly to a few famous companies, creating a clear split between winners and losers in the global startup world. This division is changing the innovation landscape in major ways. Founders, investors, and entire tech regions need to understand these changes to survive in today's venture capital reality.The Numbers Show Two Different WorldsThe 2024 numbers reveal two completely separate venture capital markets operating at the same time. According to Crunchbase, North American funding jumped in late 2024, driven mainly by AI deals and billion-dollar investments in established companies. Meanwhile, European funding fell to $51 billion in 2024, down 5% from $54 billion in 2023."European tech funding has stabilised at $45 billion in 2024 after a significant drop in 2023," reports Atomico's State of European Tech 2024. This is less than half of the $100 billion peak reached in 2021.This decline isn't hitting everyone equally. Early-stage companies are suffering the most, with seed-stage funding dropping 18% compared to last year, according to Crunchbase's mid-2024 data. By the end of 2024, things got even worse, with seed funding down 29% compared to the same period in 2023.The contrast with late-stage funding is clear. While early-stage rounds struggled, late-stage funding in North America grew 23% year-over-year in late 2024, showing how money is increasingly going to safer bets.The Mega-Deal Trend: A Few Companies Get Most of the MoneyWhat's causing this split? A major factor is the huge concentration of money in a handful of massive deals that have taken most of the available investment dollars.Over the past year, companies like OpenAI, Anthropic, Anduril, SpaceX, and Databricks have dominated fundraising, securing multi-billion-dollar rounds:OpenAI raised $6.6 billion in October 2024, valuing the company at $157 billionAnthropic secured about $2 billion from Google in earlier rounds with more in 2024Anduril raised $1.5 billion in December 2024, valuing the defense tech company at $14 billionSpaceX continued raising billions, including $1.8 billion in 2023 and more in 2024Databricks raised $10 billion at a valuation over $50 billionThese mega-deals are changing how venture capital flows globally. While Europe raised $51 billion across all of 2024, the U.S. market saw funding go past $140 billion, with these headline-grabbing deals capturing most investor attention and dollars."Europe's share of global VC funding fell to 16% in 2024 from 18%," Dealroom reports, suggesting that these mega-deals, mostly in the U.S., are pulling money away from other regions and companies.When Money Becomes a CommodityFor these top companies, fundraising has fundamentally changed. Money is now like a commodityinvestors offer similar terms, and the difference often comes down to who can invest fastest and with the largest amounts.This creates a cycle that further concentrates investment. As Atomico notes, "startups raising larger rounds at earlier stages are seeing higher valuations," meaning that for top-tier firms, money is plentiful and terms are similar across investors.The largest European funds are trying to compete in this environment. Sifted reports that "the biggest VC funds in Europe have got biggerBalderton raised $1.3 billion and Atomico $1.24 billion in 2024." These funds aim to invest in the most promising companies at scale, suggesting a race to invest rather than a careful selection process.However, even Europe's largest funds can't match their U.S. counterparts. The IMF highlights this gap, stating that "Europe lags the U.S. in the scale of VC funds," with U.S. investors putting in $140 billion in 2024 compared to Europe's $45-51 billion.Europe's Growing Problem: A System Under PressureThis new reality is creating serious challenges for the rest of the venture ecosystemespecially in Europe, where VC activity has sharply declined.Mid-2024 was Europe's lowest funding quarter since 2020, with just $10 billion raised, down 36% from the previous quarter and 39% from the same period in 2023, according to Crunchbase. This sharp decline signals trouble across the ecosystem, particularly for smaller players.While the largest European funds have grown, smaller funds are "struggling to raise capital," creating a market where only the well-connected succeed. This threatens innovation across the continent, as the IMF warns: "Europe's lag in VC scale risks undermining its tech competitiveness."European funding stabilizing at around $45 billion in 2024far below the $100 billion+ peaks of 2021highlights a broader challenge for the region as global money goes to safer, more visible bets elsewhere.The Seed-Stage Squeeze: Future Innovation at RiskEarly-stage tech deals have been hit especially hard by these changes. Crunchbase reports that in mid-2024, "seed funding fell 18% year-over-year," while early-stage funding overall dropped 12%, marking the "lowest quarter since Q3 2020."By the end of 2024, the situation worsened: seed funding hit $1.6 billion, down 29% from the same period in 2023, and early-stage funding reached $5.1 billion, down 7%, showing a continued squeeze on the newest ventures.This downturn reflects a shift in investor priorities, leaving Europe's young startups particularly exposed. Dealroom's data confirms that "early-stage investment in Europe remains below historical highs," with 2024's 47 billion total going more toward later stages, not seed.The consequences go beyond immediate funding challenges. As seed and early-stage investment shrinks, the pipeline of future growth-stage companies narrows, potentially limiting innovation and economic growth in the years ahead.How to Navigate The Mega Deals LandscapeFor founders, investors, and policymakers, adapting to this transformed venture landscape requires clear strategy and decisive action:For Founders:Make your money last longer: Conservative cash management is critical in this environment, especially for early-stage companies. Expect fundraising to take longer and require more investor meetings than before.Focus on making money, not just growth: The days of growth at all costs are over. Investors now want clear paths to profitability, even from early-stage ventures.Look beyond traditional VC: With venture capital more concentrated, explore other funding sources including revenue-based financing, corporate investment, and government grants.For Investors:Specialize to compete: Mid-sized funds can't match the firepower of top firms in mega-rounds, but can become leaders in specific sectors or regions.Offer more than just money: When capital is a commodity at the top end, stand out through industry expertise, operational support, and valuable connections.Look where others aren't: While AI and defense tech get headlines, overlooked sectors may offer better returns as competition decreases.For Policymakers:Fix structural problems: Europe's venture capital lag reflects issues in fund formation, pension fund rules, and regulations that need policy changes.Protect seed-stage investment: Targeted support for seed-stage investment through matching funds, tax breaks, and ecosystem development can help maintain innovation.Make cross-border investment easier: Reducing barriers to investment across European markets can help build the scale needed to compete globally.Moving Forward: Adapting to the New RealityThe transformation of venture capital from a diverse ecosystem to a market dominated by mega-deals represents a fundamental shift, not a temporary change. The effects will impact the innovation economy for years to come.For Europe, the challenge is especially serious. As Dealroom notes, with funding levels "far below the 2021 peak of 100 billion," the region faces tough questions about its ability to compete for capital in a global market increasingly drawn to scale and visibility.Yet within this challenge lies opportunity. The concentration of capital creates gaps in the market that nimble, specialized players can fill. Founders with truly different technology and clear paths to profitability can still raise money, even in a more selective environment.The venture capital industry is indeed undergoing a transformationone that is leaving much of the industry behind. But transformation also creates new winners. Those who understand the new rules and adapt will find ways to succeed, even as the mega-deals continue to grab headlines and dollars.

It is a slippery slope from experimentation via integration to reliance and full blown AI addiction. ... More Which stage are you on?gettyThe rise of artificial intelligence is transforming our professional, and personal lives. From automated email responses to complex decision-making algorithms, AI is seeping into our screens, and minds. Set amid the unraveling political landscape of 2025 it increasingly feels as if we are living in a science fiction scenario. Among the uncomfortable questions that this raises is for how much longer we will be producers and screenwriters, rather than mere actors who say what has been written, and do what they are told. The ongoing, seemingly relentless AI integration, has introduced a subtle but significant risk: agency decay.What is happening does not relate to a dystopian takeover by machines; it's about the gradual erosion of our capacity, and volition to make decisions autonomously and exert control, on screen and offline. Agency, fundamentally, is the ability to act intentionally. It's the sense that we are the initiators of our actions, capable of influencing our environment and shaping the outcomes of our actions. In the context of AI, it means preserving the power to initiate and execute an act independently, while deliberately harnessing the power of technology. It is a balancing act between using AI as a tool and becoming dependent on it.The 4 Stages Of Agency Decay Amid AIOur interaction with AI often follows a predictable pattern, a progression that can lead to diminished agency if we're not attentive. Here's a breakdown of the four stages:1. Exploration: Initial EngagementThis stage marks our first encounters with AI. We're driven by curiosity, experimenting with new tools and exploring their potential applications without a full understanding of their mechanisms.Characterized by: Low ability and low affinity. Were interested in AI but lack the expertise or understanding to utilize it effectively.2. Integration: Growing FamiliarityAs we gain experience, we begin to integrate AI into our daily workflows. We recognize its efficiency gains and start relying on it for routine tasks.Characterized by: Increasing ability and increasing affinity. Were developing the skills to use AI and appreciating its benefits3. Reliance: Developing DependenceAI transitions from being a helpful tool to a critical component of our operations. We depend on it for decision support and task execution, sometimes without critically evaluating its outputs.Characterized by: Strong technological ability, but a potential decrease in independent thought. We become proficient in using AI, but our growing skills subtly diminishes our critical thinking and problem-solving skills; and our appetite to push our intellectual boundaries, rather than asking ChatGTP to do so.4. Dependency: Diminished AutonomyWe find ourselves struggling to perform tasks, such as writing a text or code, or to make decisions without AI (when did you last go into Netflix with a clear plan of the movie that you want to watch?), resulting in a decrease in our sense of agency. We've become overly reliant, losing the capacity, and desire to act, autonomously.Characterized by: High affinity, but low ability to function without AI. We are comfortable with AI's convenience but have lost the skills and confidence to operate independently.This progression illustrates a potential slide from empowered use to unhealthy dependence.Agency decay isn't a sudden event; it's a gradual process, often unnoticed until it's deeply entrenched. It manifests in several interconnected ways. We increasingly outsource cognitive tasks to AI, from memory recall to complex analysis, leading to what's known as cognitive offloading. While this can enhance efficiency, it may also lead to an atrophy of our cognitive abilities. We become more efficient, but especially if AI is taking over tasks that are closely related to our professional pride, and self identity this delegation may make us less satisfied with our job.At the same time as our ability decreases our models become more sophisticated while still being prone to hallucinations. The "black box" nature of many AI systems, where the decision-making process is opaque, combined with dwindling human desire and capacity for fact-checking is dangerous, and erodes trust.Mitigate the risk of agency decay, means to counteract, individually and institutionally.Curating Agency Amid AI Use: The Four A'sTo mitigate the risk of acute agency decay, we must proactively manage AI integration and navigate the aforementioned stages effectively. The key to this proactive management lies in 4 As:Awareness: Cultivating awareness of both AI's capabilities and limitations is the first step. Individuals and organizations must foster a deep understanding of how AI works, its potential impact, and the importance of maintaining human oversight. This awareness should extend to the ethical considerations surrounding AI, promoting responsible development and deployment.Appreciation: Building on awareness, it becomes possible to develop appreciation for the value of both natural intelligence and artificial intelligence. Moving beyond the binary understanding of either-or this means recognizing that AI is a tool to augment, not replace, human capabilities. Fostering a culture of collaboration between humans and AI can lead to more effective problem-solving and innovation.Acceptance: Acceptance involves embracing AI as a fundamental part of the modern landscape. This doesnt mean blindly adopting every new shape that this technology is going to take; but rather strategically integrating AI into personal decisions that are cumbersome and time consuming, such as shopping, or inefficient workflows where it can provide the benefit. Acceptance also entails adapting organizational structures and roles to optimize human-AI collaboration, with careful attention to the optimization of human wellbeing. Accountability: Finally, accountability is crucial for maintaining agency. Organizations must establish clear lines of responsibility for AI systems, ensuring that humans remain accountable for decisions and actions, even when AI is involved. This includes developing robust governance frameworks, auditing AI systems for bias and errors, and implementing mechanisms for redress when things go wrong.Mastering AI As Mean To An EndUnderstanding the dynamics of agency in the AI age, involves recognizing the slippery slope from experimentation to dependency, and proactively cultivating our own agency. AI is a means to an end, not an end in itself. If it can make us happier and our coexistence with nature more sustainable (which is a big IF considering the energy footprint of current models) then we have cracked the code. To master this balance we need to curate hybrid intelligence, as a stronghold to agency decay.

Table of ContentsTable of ContentsA good riddance with AIThe weird stylus dealA terrible keyboard situationiPadOS needs some attention, tooI just finished testing the new entry-level iPad, and so far, I am fairly impressed by the tablet. You cant get a better value than this slate for $349. From the external hardware to the innards, there is hardly any alternative from the Android side that can deliver a superior experience. This year, Apple delivered a couple of surprises, in addition to the expected chip upgrade. You now get twice the storage for the same ask, and the RAM has also been bumped up. In a nutshell, its faster, better at multi-tasking, and without any storage headaches, even if your budget is tight. Recommended VideosApple, however, hasnt fixed the software situation with iPadOS, which continues to bother with its fair share of quirks in tow. This year, however, the software gulf is even wider between the baseline iPad and every other tablet in Apples portfolio. Stage Manager has been the big differentiator so far, but in 2025, we have another deep chasm.Please enable Javascript to view this contentA good riddance with AINadeem Sarwar / Digital TrendsA lot has been written about Apples AI stack, and not necessarily in a positive light. Google has progressed to the Gemini era on Android and Chrome OS. Amazon has entered the generative AI era with Alexa+ assistant. The likes of ChatGPT, Claude, and Perplexity are quickly emerging as a new breed of far more capable virtual assistants. Siri, on the other hand, has been a sore laggard. The situation is so bad that the capabilities paraded at last years developer event are yet to ship, and now, the online marketing material has been accordingly scrubbed off. As per Bloomberg, we are in for a long wait, one that could extend well until 2027. As a stop-gap, Apple has offloaded things to ChatGPT via a clever integration. It hasnt quite delivered any revolutionary leap yet. I had abetter experience putting Gemini everywhere on my iPhone, from the home page to the Lock Screen widgets. And it works better than I expected.Nadeem Sarwar / Digital TrendsBut at $349, I am not complaining, neither am I clamoring for a turbocharged Siri. Or the entire Apple Intelligence bundle, for that matter. Its a resource burden. You need an A17 Pro processor (or an M-series chip) at the very minimum and 8GB of RAM. The entry-level iPad can afford neither. The iPads core audience doesnt care about the AI stack either, certainly not at that asking price. The iPad mini supports Apple Intelligence, and look where the asking price has landed. Hint: $150 more than the iPad. Has AI transformed it into a better small tablet? For the most part, no!Apples $349 tablet is targeted at an audience that wants to watch videos, take it to school for note-taking, play a few games, and then call it a day. It excels at all those parameters. It will exceed your expectations at even demanding games, and with better stability than top-tier Android phones.Nadeem Sarwar / Digital TrendsAI is not going to add anything meaningful in those scenarios. I am glad that Apple chose to skip the AI burden hardware and kept the iPads price in a territory where it remains accessible for people who want the signature Apple tablet experience. In that regard, the 2025 iPad is a huge win. The weird stylus deal I wont be proud of this charging design fiasco. Joe Maring / Digital TrendsNow, where do I start on this one? Lets begin with the stylus. This one supports only the first-gen Apple Pencil and the Apple Pencil with USB-C. Look at the image above, and you will realize just how cumbersome it is to live with that stylus, its wonky charging situation, and a prone-to-lose USB-C adapter. The Apple Pencil USB-C model? Well, it costs $80. You cant use the second-gen Apple Pencil that charges wirelessly, nor the Apple Pencil Pro, with the 2025 iPad. That also means losing out on next-gen features such as pressure sensitivity, barrel role, haptic feedback, and Find My support. Plus, they are pricier, too. It makes little sense to spend 37% of the tablets sticker price on a stylus, either way. Will Apple launch a stylus thats cheaper to fit the iPads niche? Unlikely. Is there an alternative? Definitely. Look no further than the ESR Geo Digital Stylus, which costs a mere $30, but even puts the $130 Apple Pencil Pro to shame.Nadeem Sarwar / Digital TrendsIt has a fantastic build quality, magnetic attachment, a neat multi-function button at the top, and offers a smooth sketching experience. The best part? You even get the support for Find My tracking, a perk you wont even get on the second-gen Apple Pencil, which costs nearly four times as much.A terrible keyboard situation Nadeem Sarwar / Digital TrendsNow, lets move on to the keyboard situation. The Magic Keyboard Folio is fantastic. It also costs $250, which is roughly two-thirds of the tablets market worth. Its a great kit, but a terrible value, especially for budget-conscious shoppers who are picking the iPad over an Air or Pro for a reason.The problem is not just the price. Apple serves a functionally worse package at a higher premium. Take for example the Logitech Combo Touch keyboard case for the iPad. It offers a pencil holder, all-side bumper protection, and more importantly, a backlit keyboard for just $149.LogitechAt $249, Apples keyboard case is not backlit. Then you have the ESR Rebound Magnetic keyboard case for the 11th gen iPad. This one essentially replicates the far pricier Magic Keyboard with its cantilever design, but at a lower price than even Logitech.ESRFor an even smaller hit on the wallet, the ESR Ascend keyboard case copies the Magic Folio keyboard design, but with side protection, a pencil slot, and a backlit keyboard facility. Its almost as if Apple is oblivious to the iPads sticker price and target audience, and hawking them accessories at a price that makes no sense. iPadOS needs some attention, too IPadOS is fluid, and the app ecosystem is fantastic, as well. Gaming is another area where the iPad excels over Android tablets. But the superiority of app experience over Android is mostly limited to in-house software, or a select few third-party apps. For the remaining part, the iPadOS experience is notoriously rigid.Nadeem Sarwar / Digital TrendsSome of the worlds most popular apps are not optimized for the iPad. Take for example Instagram, WhatsApp, Threads, and Bluesky. Youre either stuck with a terrible overstretched look, or ugly pillarboxing. Android, on the other hand, has grown a lot more flexible with aspect ratio and resolution adjustment. You can even force full-screen view for apps where you really want them to span across the whole screen. Window resizing is absurdly limited on iPadOS, even with Stage Manager enabled. The back gesture in apps is also inconsistent in iPadOS and remains a sore functional hassle.Nadeem Sarwar / Digital TrendsIs it a swipe, or should I look for a back button in a corner, or should I open a side window? Lets just admit it. Androids universal edge gestures are far superior, and most importantly, a lot more reliable. Apple has done a decent job of optimizing keyboard shortcuts for iPadOS, much better than the fragmented Android ecosystem, but it needs to fix the touch-based navigation experience.The software experience doesnt need a monumental overhaul. All it requires is a few functional improvements at the very foundations of human-machine interaction. Apple has the resources to pull it off. Its just a matter of commitment, and paying heed to the community feedback.Editors Recommendations

Table of ContentsTable of ContentsIf you can, just wait it outVoting with your walletDont normalise the worst aspectsIf you absolutely have to, do it rightGraphics cards are an absolute mess right now. I know, Ive talked a few times about how awesome the RX 9070 XT is, and its certainly the best of the bunch, but just look at the state of things. Even that value buy in 2025 is out of stock everywhere and the alternatives are even worse. And it shouldnt be rewarded.I probably shouldnt be telling you this. DigitalTrends makes good money from affiliate links, and I love new hardware as much as the next person. But graphics cards are not affordable right now, and buying them when theyre at these inflated prices, paying for access to stock trackers and special groups just to give you the chance to pay more money to someone else, is a bad idea. It might work in the short term, but its not something we want to establish for the future.Now is not the time to buy a new graphics card.Recommended VideosTheres an old adage with computer hardware that its never the right time to upgrade, because theres always something new and shiny over the horizon. Even if you bought an RTX 5090 and a 9950X3D with all the other high-end components that make your PC as fast as it gets in 2025, it wont be long before something else comes along to supplant it. New monitors will arrive that makes yours look dull and slow, or Intel will refresh its 200 Series CPUs and make a new workhorse monster chip, or Nvidia and AMD will refresh their GPU lineups, making yours feels decidedly less-super.Jacob Roach / Digital TrendsBut this is one time where you really should wait it out. Although the march of progress will continue on, and any delay in upgrading does mean youll have less time before something better comes along, the prices and availability this time around are that ridiculous. You really should just wait it out, if you can. If you have a new game you want to play and need a new GPU for it, I get it. But if you can delay it that bit longer to save yourself several hundred dollarsand dont reward bad business practices, thats better for you and the industry as a whole.I love to get into the back and forth rivalries in the hardware industry. Intel vs. AMD, AMD vs. Nvidia, Microsoft and Apple, its all in good fun. Its a silly team sport about numbers going up. But at the end of the day, even the plucky underdog AMD is a company worth almost $200 billion. The CEOs are all worth hundreds of millions or billions. They might play at being the good guy, but none of them have our interests at heart. Theyre trying to make money, which is why the only real weight any of our concerns have, is with our money.Buying GPUs at inflated prices rewards bad behaviour. It tells these companies that you dont mind paying the crazy prices. But if cards sit on shelves for long enough, prices always come down. Weve seen it generation after generation that the cards priced badly get price cuts. All GPUs are priced badly at the moment, even AMDs new ones. Making them bring the prices down is a game of chicken that we can win if we work together.Nvidia could even start to focus more on gaming again. Nah, probably not.I completely understand the mindset of everyone for themselves, when prices and availability are this bad. If you want a new GPU and you sit outside a Micro Center for days before the launch to get it, I do understand even if my ass would never survive sitting on concrete for more than 10 minutes. But the one thing you can do that is worse than paying over-inflated retail prices, is paying other people for the privilege of doing so.NeweggThat includes paying for stock tracking apps and services, playing in lotteries, or paying for VIP access to stores. Getting to spend money on something isnt a privelege. Its a transation that should be properly honored, not gatekept behind even more financial investment.Youve gotta do what youve gotta do, but if you can avoid rewarding the scalpers and chancers taking advantage of this situation to sell shovels in this GPU gold rush, itll help normalise the scene once stock levels return, and make it less likely theyll come back when this happens again.You dont owe me anything and you certainly dont owe the industry anything. Your individual purchase is not going to sway anything one way or another. I (and by extension, gamers in general) would appreciate the solidarity and the help in stopping these kind of practices, if you would be willing to hold off on buying.But if you have to, I get it. Just make sure you do it the right way.My colleague Monica put together a great guide on how to buy a graphics card right now, but Ill summarise her suggestions:Try smaller retailers, as they often have stock left over because people dont think to check there as often.Buy direct from the manufacturer, as that can help avoid scalper prices and added middle-man fees.Buy a pre-built PC: These are often more fairly priced because the retailer can make profit on the other components, too.You can consider buying second-hand or older last-generation cards, but be careful. Prices are inflated there too, and the cards dont come with all the latest features, and may not have a warranty. Theres also no guarantee a second-hand card wasnt used for cryptocurrency mining, which can shorten its lifespan.Editors Recommendations