The Birchtree Podcast

There is a power in being able to say “I don’t know” or “I need to think about that first” instead of having hot takes on everything. This is true in life in general, and it’s something that is sometimes hard to square with the reward systems in place on social media.

I’ve had the iPhone 11 Pro for almost 2 months and I thought it was high time I give it a quick review. Long story short: I think this a damn near perfect phone in 2019.

Despite mostly talking about Apple stuff on this show, they’re definitely not the only tech stuff I buy and I wanted to spend today celebrating some of my favorite things from companies outside Cupertino.

Some of us keep waiting for the iPad to “become a real computer” and I continue to be worried that this isn’t something that’s ever going to happen in a way that will make people looking for this happy.

The reason I stick with iOS over Android really comes down to the third part software library and not the operating systems themselves. Today I looked through some of the apps that make me happier and more productive on iOS.

This is my review of the sometimes excellent, but deeply flawed Google Pixel 4. Find the full review at: https://birchtree.me/blog/google-pixel-4-the-birchtree-review

The word “Pro” in the iPhone 11 Pro line this year is causing YouTubers the world over to lose their minds over what a pro device should be. Today I try to ascend over the BS to look at what a “pro” phone should do and how well the latest iPhones fall into that category.

Google unveiled their worst kept secret ever yesterday and as a Pixel fan I had to talk about it. This episode is on the longer side, but apparently I had a bunch to say about this phone that I think misses the mark in many ways, but also appeals to me at the same time. Come along with me as I try to sort out my feelings!

It’s my game of the year and I just couldn’t help talking about it.

A quick episode that I recorded in the Voice Memos app on my Apple Watch on why the Pixel event next week will get a lot of coverage what why that’s alright.

Microsoft unveiled their new Surface products yesterday and as someone who likes Surface products quite a bit, I wanted to take some time to go over what they talked about.

Today’s episode explores camera comparisons and why even though I think I do a responsible job with them, it brings me into a fanboy war that I don’t really want a role in.

The conversation online, specifically in places like Twitter, YouTube, and Reddit, tend to focus on the technical merits of products and not the actually product-focused elements of things like phones and computers. Today’s off-the-cuff episode (and my third of the week!) addresses this disconnect.

Apple Arcade has been out for about a week and I wanted to share my thoughts on how it’s been for me. Basically, I love it.

I’ve had the Apple Watch Series 5 and iPhone 11 Pro for a long weekend and have some thoughts.

You know the deal, Apple had their September event today and these are my initial impressions from watching the event.

This kind of snuck up on me, so thank you for listening for 200 episodes! Today, on the eve of a new iPhone announcement, I talk about why hardware still matters in 2019, specifically in terms of photography, as well as why Google seems to get all the credit when it comes to “computational photography.”

This is the audio version of my review of Android 10. I'm just going over the major updates: gestures, dark mode, and privacy/security.

My review of the new white noise app, Dark Noise.

It’s hard to keep up with iOS and Android, and today I dive into why I think it’s important for people like me to provide the context normal people simply can’t be expected to figure out themselves.