Brandedis a weekly column devoted to the intersection of marketing, business, design, and culture.Costco chair Hamilton Tony James caused a bit of a stir this week when, in an interview, he mentioned a retail category thats done surprisingly well for the big-box chain: luxury goods. Rolex watches, Dom Prignon, 10-carat diamonds, James offered as examples of high-end products and brands that have fit into a discount-club model more typically associated with buying staples in bulk. Affluent people, he explained, love a good deal.Courting that group may be particularly timely right nowand not just for Costco. According to a recent report from research firm Moodys Analytics, the top 10% of U.S. earners (with household incomes of $250,000 and up) now account for almost 50% of all spending; 30 years ago, they accounted for 36%. Moodys calculates that spending by this top group contributes about one-third to U.S. gross domestic product.While that reflects a serious squeeze further down the income ladder, where the price of eggs and other basics remain high, it also suggests that the comparatively well-off not only have money to spend, but theyre spending it. As of September, the affluent had increased their spending 12% over the prior year, while working-class and middle-class households had spent less.Thats having a clear effect on such sectors as travel, where the affluent have always been part of the mix but are now even more important. Delta recently reported that premium ticket sales are up 8%, much more than main-cabin sales. Bank of America found the most affluent 5% of its customers spent over 10% more on luxury goods than a year ago. Theyre going to Paris and loading up their suitcases with luxury bags and shoes and clothes, BofA Institute senior economist David Tinsley told the Wall Street Journal.For discounters and dollar stores targeting lower-income consumers, this has meant more competition for fewer dollars spent. (Dollar stores have struggled, and the discount chain Big Lots has filed for bankruptcy.) Addressing that challenge by courting the wealthy isnt an easy move, but Costco isnt alone in trying. Walmart CFO John David Rainey told Fox Business that the retail giant has expanded its selection of high-end Apple products, Bose headphones, and other items sought after by more-affluent customers, as part of a stab at upleveling the Walmart brand.Of course, it may not be easy for most bargain-oriented brands to swiftly pivot, but Costco does seem to have more of a track record of pushing a more upscale-friendly element to its image. James noted that Costco has long counted affluent shoppers among its members36% of them have incomes of $125,000 and higher, according to consumer-data firm Numerator. A Coresight analysis from a couple years ago found that Costco customers have higher average incomes than those who shop at rival Sams Club, and thats reflected in its brand and product variety.Costcos reputation for serving that somewhat higher-income demographic makes the chain more attractive to brands that target those shoppers as well, Morningstar analyst Zain Akbari told CNBC. And of course it doesnt hurt that the chain has famously been selling gold and platinum bars. (Its also worth noting that Costcos business is doing well in general, not just with high-end customersand its reputation seems to have benefited from its reaffirmed commitment to DEI as a sound business practice.)Weve always known we could move anything in volume if the quality was good and the price was great, Costcos James said, and that includes higher-end items that might seem like a stretch for a price-focused warehouse chain. In fact, he argued, its a natural part of the Costco brand: Both the company and its fans like to talk about the treasure hunt-feel of finding something unexpected thats not necessarily cheap, but a bargain.Were not interested in selling just anything at a low price, James added. If someone wants to buy a $500 TV for $250 at Costco, we want to sell them a $1,000 TV for $500 instead. Were always trying to find better items to sell to members, giving them a great deal. Were by no means a dollar store.It (almost) goes without saying that from a macro perspective, the massive wealth and spending-power imbalance underlying Moodys analysis points to potential problems that shifts in retail strategy wont solve: Consumer debt in delinquency is rising, and the whole economy is vulnerable if splurging by the affluent were to plummet. So while retailers will likely continue to chase after wealthier customers, the majority of consumers are left to treasure hunt for reasonably priced eggs.

The sky is about to get a lot clearer.NASAs latest infrared space telescope, SPHERExshort for Spectro-Photometer for the History of the Universe, Epoch of Reionization, and Ices Explorerwill assemble the worlds most complete sky survey to better explain how the universe evolved.The $488 million mission will observe far-off galaxies and gather data on more than 550 million galaxies and stars, measure the collective glow of the universe, and search for water and organic molecules in the interstellar gas and dust clouds where stars and new planets form.The 1107-lb., 8.5 x 10.5-foot spacecraft is slated to launch March 2 at 10:09 pm (ET) aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California. (Catch the launch on NASA+ and other platforms.) From low-Earth orbit, it will produce 102 maps in 102 infrared wavelengths every six months over two years, creating a 3D map of the entire night sky that glimpses back in time at various points in the universes history to fractions of a second after the Big Bang nearly 14 billion years ago. Onboard spectroscopy instruments will help determine the distances between objects and their chemical compositions, including water and other key ingredients for life.SPHEREx Prepared for Thermal Vacuum Testing [Photo: NASA/JPL-Caltech/BAE Systems]Mapping how matter dispersed over time will help scientists better understand the physics of inflationthe instantaneous expansion of the universe after the Big Bang and the reigning theory that best accounts for the universes uniform, weblike structure and flat geometry. Scientists hypothesize the universe exploded in a split-second, from smaller than an atom to many trillions of times in size, producing ripples in the temperature and density of the expanding matter to form the first galaxies.SPHEREx is trying to get at the origins of the universewhat happened in those very few first instances after the Big Bang, says SPHEREx instrument scientist Phil Korngut. If we can produce a map of what the universe looks like today and understand that structure, we can tie it back to those original moments just after the Big Bang.[Photo: BAE Systems/Benjamin Fry]SPHERExs approach to observing the history and evolution of galaxies differs from space observatories that pinpoint objects. To account for galaxies existing beyond the detection threshold, it will study a signal called the extragalactic background light. Instead of identifying individual objects, SPHEREx will measure the total integrated light emission that comes from going back through cosmic time by overlaying maps of all of its scans. If the findings highlight areas of interest, scientists can turn to the Hubble and James Webb space telescopes to zoom in for more precise observations.To prevent spacecraft heat from obscuring the faint light from cosmic sources, its telescope and instruments must operate in extreme cold, nearing380 degrees Fahrenheit. To achieve this, SPHEREx relies on a passive cooling system, meaning no electricity or coolants, that uses three cone-shaped photon shields and a mirrored structure beneath them to block the heat of Earth and the Sun and direct it into space.Searching for lifeIn scouting for water and ice, the observatory will focus on collections of gas and dust called molecular clouds. Every molecule absorbs light at different wavelengths, like a spectral fingerprint. Measuring how much the light changes across the wavelengths indicates the amount of each molecule present.Its likely the water in Earths oceans originated in a molecular cloud, says SPHEREx science data center lead Rachel Akeson. While other space telescopes have found reservoirs of water in hundreds of locations, SPHEREx will give us more than nine million targets. Knowing the water content around the galaxy is a clue to how many locations could potentially host life.More philosophically, finding those ingredients for life connects the questions of how `did the universe evolve? and `how did we get here? to `where can life exist? and `are we alone in that universe? says Shawn Domagal-Goldman, acting director of NASAs Astrophysics Division.Solar wind studyThe SpaceX rocket will also carry another two-year mission, the Polarimeter to Unify the Corona and Heliosphere (PUNCH), to study the solar wind and how it affects Earth. Its four small satellites will focus on the suns outer atmosphere, the corona, and how it moves through the solar system and bombards Earths magnetic field, creating beautiful auroras but endangering satellites and spacecraft. The missions four suitcase-size satellites will use polarizing filters that piece together a 3D view of the corona capture data that helps determine the solar wind speed and direction.That helps us better understand and predict the space weather that affects us on Earth, says PUNCH mission scientist Nicholeen Viall. This`thing that weve thought of as being big, empty space between the sun and the Earth, now were gonna understand exactly whats within it.PUNCH will combine its data with observations from other NASA solar missions, including Coronal Diagnostic Experiment (CODEX), which views the inner corona from the International Space Station; Electrojet Zeeman Imaging Explorer (EZIE), which launches in March to investigate the relationship between magnetic field fluctuations and auroras; and Interstellar Mapping and Acceleration Probe (IMAP), which launches later this year to study solar wind particle acceleration through the solar system and its interaction with the interstellar environment.A long journeySPHEREx spent years in development before its greenlight in 2019. NASAs Jet Propulsion Laboratory managed the mission, enlisting BAE Systems to build the telescope and spacecraft bus, and finalizing it as the Los Angeless January wildfires threatened its campus.Scientists from 13 institutions in the U.S., South Korea, and Taiwan will analyze the resulting data, which CalTechs Infrared Processing & Analysis Center will process and house, and the NASA/IPAC Infrared Science Archive will make publicly available.[Image: JPL]I am so unbelievably excited to get my hands on those first images from SPHEREx, says Korngut. Ive been working on this mission since 2012 as a young postdoc and the journey its taken from conceptual designs to here on the launcher is just so amazing.Adds Viall, All the PowerPoints are now worth it.

There is a well-known urban legend about NASA spending millions developing an ink pen that can work in zero-gravity space, only to learn the hard way that the answer was a humble pencil all along. While the story is only anecdotal at best, it does drive home the truth that a simple pencil can sometimes do what even the most advanced pen cannot, like being forgiving of mistakes.Alas, most of the luxurious and aesthetic design ideas have been lavished on pens, leaving the modest wooden graphite stick little to be proud of. Once in a while, however, a new design does come around to satisfy that longing for a pleasing and comfortable writing tool. Leave it to industry expert Graf von Faber-Castell to produce such a delight and have it bear an almost tongue-in-cheek reference to that revolutionary Space Pen, taking your writing experience and stationery collection to new heights.Designer: Noto Design for Graf von Faber-CastellThe most basic design of a pencil is quite simple, especially if its the wooden kind. You have a wooden barrel, sometimes completely smooth often faceted, with a graphite core that leaves marks on paper or compatible surfaces. When that graphite tip gets too dull, you cut away the wood around the core to reveal more of the graphite to use. And when you make mistakes, simply rubbing off the error with an eraser makes you feel you have the power to turn back the hands of time.As such, theres probably not much motivation to refine the design of pencils aside from the mechanical variety. The Perfect Pencil, however, proves theres not only wiggle room for improvement but also embellishment. After all, it will almost look like youre holding a fancy fountain pen, one that even comes with all the tools you need for a complete pencil-writing experience.The Perfect Pencil is technically a pencil extender that also serves as a cap to protect that fragile graphite tip while also adding a bit of class to the pencil. Sort of like a pen with a removable cap that you put on the opposite end of the nib when youre writing. That cap, however, also hides a pencil sharpener so you never have to go without one by your side. The Perfect Pencil also supports a removable eraser end, which practically makes the pen not just perfect but also immortal.The Limited Edition Stellar design adds a slight twist that pays homage to human innovation as demonstrated by our space technology achievements. The matte platinum-coated surface of the cap was chosen to resemble rockets that brought our ambitions to the stars, while the bright blue sodalite recess in the cap makes you feel like youre looking down the Earth from a space station. With precision and elegance, the Perfect Pencil Stellar offers a writing tool that goes beyond the ordinary, ready to record your thoughts and dreams for the adventure that is your life.The post Perfect Pencil Stellar Gives the Modest Writing Tool a Space-Age Facelift first appeared on Yanko Design.

Sorry, which is the real one?

A stale TikTok meme wont get me on your side.

The 97th Academy Awards ceremony will air on ABC this Sunday, and youll be able to stream it through Hulu as well.

Regulators at the US Securities and Exchange Commission have called a sudden truce with the cryptocurrency industry, bringing an end to years of legal conflict.

Im just worried that itll be a shock to people when it happens.

MacworldAt a glanceExpert's RatingProsThird-fastest Thunderbolt 3 SSD weve testedHandsome, rugged designTwo years of basic data recoveryConsRather priceyOur Verdict The Atom Pro SSD blew through our tests in short order and is a serious-looking piece of kit. But itll also set you back a serious chunk of change.Price When ReviewedThis value will show the geolocated pricing text for product undefinedBest Pricing TodayIn a world moving to USB4 and Thunderbolt 5, a Thunderbolt 3 SSD like Glyphs Atom Pro Portable Thunderbolt 3 NVMe SSD V2 might seem a bit quaint. It aint. So far, weve noticed little real world performance gain from the newer technologies, so this drive is still more than competitive. We also like its stern-in-a-good-way looks.The Atom Pro SSD is a smallish black aluminum monolith approximately 4.3-inches long, 2.35-inches wide, and an inch thick. It weighs in at 5.7 ounces bare, and 6.4 ounces with its silicone jacket. Out of the box, the jacket is in place and adds a few millimeters in every dimension.The Atom Pro SSD is Thunderbolt 3 with NVMe internals. It sports a single Type-C port and a small power LED that peeks through a small hole in the jacket. Overall, its classy with overtones of forebodingit looks like a serious piece of kit. It also feels solid, and the jacket gives you a good grip. A short Type-C to Type-C cable is provided.The Glyph Atom Pro SSDs Type-C port. Note that this is closer to the actual color of the unit than the main photo.Glyph warranties the unit for three years, with two years of level-one data recovery. PriceWhile a quality product, I was expecting lower Atom Pro SSD prices, considering that Thunderbolt 5 and USB4 are gaining traction. Then again, the Atom Pro SSD is not a brand new product. Forgetting market analysis, it was shipping in 1TB/$270, 2TB/$350, 4TB/$560, and 8TB/$1400 flavors on Amazon as I put this review to bed.I like the Atom Pro SSD, but Id be neglecting my journalistic duties if I didnt at least mention this far cheaper roll-your-own USB4 option. Additionally, the newer Thunderbolt 5 OWC Envoy Ultra was only ten bucks more at the time of this writing.PerformanceBeing Thunderbolt 3, you know the Atom Pro is going to be fast. Glyph populated my test unit with a 4TB WD SN850X inside. Its not as fast as the top-rated 8TB version, but still a very fast NVMe SSD.With the SN850X on board, the Atom Pro SSD proved the third fastest Thunderbolt 3 SSD Macworld or PCWorld have tested, and one of the drives it sits behind is the OWC Thunderblade RAID SSD running in RAID 0a sure performance boost.The other drive to beat the Atom Pro SSD was the Sandisk Pro-G40 it was a close contest. Among all external SSDs, including Thunderbolt 4/5 and USB4 models, Glyphs entry placed 11th. Blackmagicdesigns Disk Speed Test showed very balanced read/write performance from the Atom Pro SSD, around 2.7GBps.Blackmagicdesigns Disk Speed Test showed very balanced read/write performance from the Atom Pro SSD around 2.7GBps. Higher numbers are better.AmorphousDiskMark (CrystalDiskMark for the Mac) rated the Atom Pro SSD as a faster reader, but anywhere near 3GBps is fine with us.AmorphousDiskMark (CrystalDiskMark for the Mac) rated the Atom Pro SSD as a faster reader, but anywhere near 3GBps is fine with us. Higher numbers are better.ATTO Disk Benchmark told pretty much the same story as Disk Speed Test and AmorphousDiskMarkjust over 3GBps reading and just under when writing.ATTO Disk Banechmark told pretty much the same story as Disk Speed Test and AmorphousDiskMark just over 3GBps reading and just under when writing. Taller bars are better.I also ran the Atom Pro SSD through PCWorlds test MO (for purposes of comparison and ranking) and as noted, it did very well indeed. Again, just over 3GBps reading and just under when writing. Just over 3GBps reading and just under when writing seems to be the order of the day with the ATom Pro SSD. Longer bars are better..Random write performance hit a snag under CrystalDiskMark 8. 21MBps is a very low number, especially as the SN850X inside has DRAM for primary cache.Random write performance hit a snag under CrystalDiskMark 8. 21MBps is a very low number, especially as the SN850X inside has DRAM for primary cache. Longer bars are better.In our real world 48GB transfers, the Atom Pro proved to be an excellent reader, though only a very good writer.In our real world 48GB transfers, the Atom Pro proved to be an excellent reader, though just a very good writer. Shorter bars are better.The slightly slow writing did hurt the Atom Pro SSD a bit in the 450GB write, though it still averaged well over 1GBps.This was the Atom Pro SSDs weakest test, and were not sure why as the SN850X did better in our testing. Shorter bars are better.Note that in subsequent 900GB writes, speed dropped to approximately 600MBps, which is the native write rate for the TLC BiCS 6 NAND on the SN850X. I dont consider that a tragic slowdown, and how many times will you write over 1TB of data at once? We do during testing, but never other than that.You might be wondering how the Atom Pro SSD compares to the newer Thunderbolt 5 OWC 5 Envoy Ultra. You can read more about the latters numbers in the review, but long story short: in synthetic benchmarks, the Envoy Ultra was supreme. In real world transfers, however, there simply wasnt that much difference.Kind of a sad state really. I did not include the Envoy Ultras numbers in the PCWorld charts as they were not gathered using the official test bed.Should you buy the Glyph Atom Pro SSD?If youre looking for a fast external storage solution for your Mac, the Atom Pro SSD certainly deserves a look. But Id also recommend that you try to find it on sale, and weigh all your options carefully.How PCWorld tests storageThe PCWorld drive tests described above currently utilize Windows 11, 64-bit running on an X790 (PCIe 4.0/5.0) motherboard/i5-12400 CPU combo with two Kingston Fury 32GB DDR5 4800MHz modules (64GB of memory total). Both 20Gbps USB and Thunderbolt 4 are integrated to the back panel and Intel CPU/GPU graphics are used. The 48GB transfer tests utilize an ImDisk RAM disk taking up 58GB of the 64GB of total memory. The 450GB file is transferred from a2TB Samsung 990 Prowhich also runs the OS.Each test is performed on a newly NTFS-formatted and TRIMd drive so the results are optimal. Note that in normal use, as a drive fills up, performance may decrease due to less NAND for secondary caching, as well as other factors. This can be less of a factor with the current crop of SSDs with far faster late-generation NAND.Caveat:The performance numbers shown apply only to the drive we were shipped and to the capacity tested. SSD performance can and will vary by capacity due to more or fewer chips to shotgun reads/writes across and the amount of NAND available for secondary caching.Vendors also occasionally swap components. If you ever notice a large discrepancy between the performance you experience and that which wereport, by all means, let us know.

MacworldAfter five years with the iPhone SE, theres a new budget iPhone at the Apple Store today, the iPhone 16e. Not only did Apple completely shake up the low end of its lineup, it also bid farewell to several things that once defined the iPhone. Here are five things Apple killed now that the iPhone 16e is here:Lightning portEntering 2025, Apple sold three devices with female Lightning ports: the iPhone SE, the iPhone 14/14 Plus, and the PowerBeats Pro. With the launch of the iPhone 16E, Apple now sells none. The only evidence that the port ever existed is the 1st-gen Apple Pencil and its male Lightning connector.Home buttonSince we met the Home button in 2007, Apple has sold at least one product with one. The last of these was the iPhone SE, and now that its gone, we can officially retire the Home button for good. It served us well and earned its spot in the annals of Apples history alongside the Click Wheel and mouse.Qualcomm modemsSix years after Apple made a splash by scooping up the majority of Intels smartphone modem business for a cool $1 billion, it has something to show for its purchase: the C1 modem. Apple describes it as the most power-efficient modem ever on an iPhone, delivering fast and reliable 5G cellular connectivity [with] extraordinary battery life. Like the previous SE, it doesnt support the faster mmWave connections, but buyers should care more about the insane 26-hour battery life.The C1 may be exclusive to the iPhone 16e for now, but Qualcomm modems are not long for the Apple world. We might see the C1 appear in some of the iPhone 17 models, the cellular versions of the upcoming iPad updates and maybe even the Apple Watch Series 11.So take note Qualcomm, the clock is ticking.Old iPhonesThe most surprising thing about the iPhone 16e is that it isnt just an iPhone SE replacementits also an iPhone 14 replacement. If you walk into the Apple Store today youll find just one older model, the iPhone 15 from fall 2023. Ever since the iPhone 6, Apple has sold two generations of iPhone models with $100 and $200 discounts off the original MSRP. Now Apple now sells just one older iPhone generation, and we expect that to be the model going forward. Even if Apple cuts the price of the 16e next year when the iPhone 17e arrives, you still wont be able to buy a two-year-old iPhone anymore.The 12-month wait for a new iPhoneFor as long as the iPhone has been in existence, there has been a new model every 12 months. There have been exceptionsthe Verizon iPhone 4s, the iPhone SE, the occasional new colorbut for the most part, weve always waited a year to get a new iPhone release. For the first time, thats no longer the case. By naming the new iPhone 16e, it implies there will be a 17e, 18e, 19e, etc., which we assume will arrive each February or March, cutting the wait for new models in half.