AI Summary
5 min read🎙️ The Voices & The Context
- The Format: Casual live chat from CES 2026 at Palazzo Hotel, Las Vegas – a rotating panel of tech journalists, creators, and insiders bantering over gadgets, with host-led interviews and floor reports.
- The Key Players:
- Ed Zitron (Host): Sarcastic tech podcaster running "Better Offline," hyping an open bar/taco lounge while grilling guests.
- Cory Doctorow: Legendary activist/author/journalist, CES vet dropping deep critiques and stories.
- Michael Fisher (Mr. Mobile): YouTuber/co-founder of Clicks, demoing his keyboard phone; returning "champion."
- Sherlin Lowe (Engadget): Journalist sharing awards and hands-on impressions; chemistry is witty, insider-y banter.
- The Vibe: Fun yet cynical – excited by niche gadgets, roasting AI "slop," mourning CES's lost magic amid sparse halls and e-waste fears.
Continue reading the full summary in the app — free to try.
Read Full Summary →Free • No credit card required
What you'll learn
- 1 `(01:55)` **🎙️ Introduction: Cory Doctorow, Michael Fisher, Sherlin Lowe**
- 2 `(03:51)` **Clicks Communicator Demo**
- 3 `(09:30)` **Single-Purpose Devices & Typewriters**
- 4 `(13:45)` **CES Impressions: Standouts & Shortfalls**
- 5 `(18:11)` **AI Slop & Hollow Show Critique**
- 6 `(37:24)` **Amazon Surveillance Tower Interrogation**
- 7 `(44:26)` **Chip Inspection & Supply Chain Sabotage**
+ Full timestamped outline available in the app
Show Notes
Welcome to Better Offline’s coverage of the 2026 Consumer Electronics Show - a standup radio station in the Palazzo Hotel with an attached open bar where reporters, experts and various other characters bring you the stories from the floor.
In Friday’s first episode, Ed is joined by author, activist and journalist Cory Doctorow, YouTuber and CEO of Clicks Michael Fisher, Cherlynn Low of Engadget, Edward Ongweso of the Tech Bubble Newsletter and Garrison Davis of It Could Happen Here to talk about the Clicks Communicator, Amazon’s surveillance tech, the advances in tech in eyeglasses, engadget’s best tech of CES and why we’re worried about the future.
EXCLUSIVE CES SALE! Get a *permanent* $10 off an annual subscription to my newsletter through January 13 2025:
https://edzitronswheresyouredatghostio.outpost.pub/public/promo-subscription/cue848p5scÂ
Ed Ongweso Jr.: https://bsky.app/profile/bigblackjacobin.bsky.socialÂ
Cory Doctorow http://pluralistic.net/ https://www.eff.org/Â
Michael Fisher - https://www.clicks.tech/
Cherlynn Low - https://www.engadget.com/about/editors/cherlynn-low/
https://bsky.app/profile/cherlynn.bsky.social
Garrison Davis: https://bsky.app/profile/bishonentype.bsky.social
The Tech Bubble Newsletter: https://thetechbubble.substack.com/
Donate in Sean-Paul’s honor: https://www.perc-epilepsy.org/
https://pluralistic.net/2026/01/09/quantity-break/#so-many-chips
Cyber Fidget: https://youtube.com/shorts/JEEmhcTscP8?si=7_1O-GARnnBeSGuK
https://petewarden.com/2025/11/29/i-know-were-in-an-ai-bubble-because-nobody-wants-me-%f0%9f%98%ad/
---
LINKS: https://www.tinyurl.com/betterofflinelinks
Newsletter: https://www.wheresyoured.at/