2026-04-23 09:37:46
I got an email this morning informing me that my Best Buy credit was about to expire if I didn't use it. So I pulled the trigger on the updated Logitech MX Master 4, the latest and greatest in the quintessential productivity mouse line of the past decade. I owned the MX Master 2 as well as the 3, and the 3S. I love these mice.
However, I wasn't particularly drawn to the marketing for the new model, and I also got this really nice little mouse last year that I unexpectedly love using, so I didn't get the 4th gen, but I did keep the 3S around, because there are times where I'm doing things like video editing where being able to scroll side to side is important, and my favorite mouse in every other way simply doesn't have that. So yeah, why the heck not? Let's give the newest one a shot.
After one day of using this mouse, I kind of despise this product. I expected to be lukewarm on it at worst, so finding myself actively antagonistic toward it is quite the surprise. In fact, I actually can't think of a single mouse I've ever felt this way about, but this one really rubs me the wrong way.
First, I find this mouse incredibly uncomfortable to hold, which is a shame because that was literally the main draw of these mice previously. The issue is that they have adjusted the angles around the device in a way that, if you're lifting the mouse off your desk, which is a thing I constantly do, the point that your fingers hit when lifting it are the two backwards and forwards buttons on the side. Apparently that's just where my fingers naturally hold the mouse, and I'm constantly rubbing up against those buttons, and it's uncomfortable. It makes me feel like I have to treat the mouse delicately because if I squeeze too hard, I'm going to depress that button. That would be enough on its own to make this a really disappointing purchase for me, but fear not, it gets even worse because the software on this product is something I truly despise.
As someone who has never really used the Logi Options+ app, I wasn't really bothered by it before, but I got it set up for this one because I wanted to use the new Bolt dongle, and my word, it's awful. It requires quite a few permissions to function, and that's all fine, whatever. I've used it in the past, and it just kind of lives in the background and you never really notice it. But what kills me is one of the main selling points of this new device, which is the stupid radial menu that comes up when you click down the haptic pad thing on the left side of the device. You get this low-res, cheap-looking grid of actions that, the moment I saw them, I already knew would be something I never wanted to do and ideally would never see again.
Of course I can go into the software and customize it to do something else, but this kind of button was available on the 3S, and I never used it there, and I don't know what I would use it for here either. If you think this is awesome, or this is me being too biased in my review, then yes, I am biased. It's my review. Go write your own if you disagree.
All of this is a shame because much of the rest of the product is quite good. I love the ability to be able to easily pair and switch between three wireless devices, mixing and matching between the USB-C dongle and Bluetooth. I love that if I install the software on each device, the settings change to match the device if I want things to behave differently between them. I actually like the materials more than I thought I would, and it seems like they'll be easier to clean than the soft-touch material of the 3S. I love the silent buttons, which could be a placebo, but actually feel even more quiet than they were before. I like the frosted look on the mouse buttons, they look quite premium. Not to bring up a sore subject, but I like that I can charge it while I use it. I love the magnetic scroll wheel, which is still outstanding to this day. I love the feel of the buttons in general, and I love the position and feel of the side scroll below.
Here's the thing: basically everything I like about this mouse is a carryover from the 3S that came before. Effectively, everything new is something I think has made it worse. Even some of the things that I complimented, like the materials being better than I expected and the frosted button being pretty nice, I actually think those are worse than the 3S as well, because when I look back at the 3S, it doesn't look old and busted. It actually looks more futuristic to me; it looks more like a unified device rather than this new thing clearly constructed from many pieces of plastic.
The other problem this mouse has going for it is that I've got a mouse from last year that I really freaking like. It has far less functionality than the Logitech, but it feels so good in the hand. It's so incredibly light, it's so accurate, and I love how it looks. In terms of raw functionality and compatibility with my multi-computer desk setup, the Logitech is objectively a better fit, but I love this mouse so much that I use it anyway. In a similar vein, a wireless keyboard that could pair to my three computers with a press of a button would be more convenient, but I use a wired keyboard that only works with two of my three computers because I like it so much.
So that's where I am. I know this is a day-one review, and I know you shouldn't necessarily review things right away, so let's call this first impressions. But I am shocked at how much I actively dislike this product. I really appreciate the functionality that it has, but a combination of the less comfortable feel in the hand and the incredibly frustrating software add up to a product I just cannot recommend to anyone with similar preferences to me. I would still highly, highly recommend the MX Master 3S, and in fact, I may return this one and stock up on a few of those so I have them for years to come.
2026-04-21 07:17:34
Apple: Tim Cook to become Apple Executive ChairmanJohn Ternus to become Apple CEO
Under Cook’s leadership Apple has grown from a market capitalization of approximately $350 billion to $4 trillion, representing a more than 1,000% increase, and yearly revenue has nearly quadrupled, from $108 billion in fiscal year 2011 to more than $416 billion in fiscal year 2025.
From a business perspective, it's undeniable that Tim Cook has been massively successful. Apple was big when he took over, but it wasn't the behemoth it is today. At a very core level, he has been remarkably good at his job. Big Business Boy Birchler has got to respect that.
Cook has also stood by some beliefs that I think are genuinely laudable. Apple's commitment to user privacy leveled up when he was in charge, and his drive to sustainability and the environment is worthy of praise.
That said, while his tenure has been financially successful, I think a lot of people feel like Apple isn't quite the company they originally fell in love with, and I hope Ternus can make us feel more that way again. I recognize that's hard when you're not the scrappy underdog, you're one of the biggest companies in the world, but I do think it's important for Apple to keep that "we do whatever is right for the user" energy and less of that "we extract as much as we're legally allowed to from every user and developer" energy. Insert something here about the shareholders' "bloody ROI".
2026-04-20 19:00:31
You can't cast a whole group of people as "evil" and then be surprised when they don't come around to your side.
2026-04-20 07:21:43
Andy Nicolaides: I’m not a Pro, and that’s okay.
I started to realise recently, but was fully reconciled in my mind after using the MacBook Neo for a few days. The realisation is that, when it comes to my personal devices at least, I’m not a pro and I don’t need the best / top of the range of every product I get to get a lot of joy, and productivity out of them. This is a completely obvious statement to most people reading this I imagine, and it’s kind of blown my mind it took me so long to realise it.
Other than my spell check really not liking the "realise" spelling my British friend uses here, I love this article. Andy points out something I've been wresting around with for a while as well: our computers are better (way better?) than they need to be.
The MacBook Neo is a fuckin' irresistible (I saw two in first class on a recent flight!) and the iPhone Air isn't lighting up the sales charts, but even I can't help but enjoy using this single-camera, okay-battery phone sometimes. By all accounts, the 17 Pro iPhones are selling quite well too, and part of that is because they're technically very good, but I can't help but also think that the colors and the design really hit with a lot of people.
For better or worse, I think that I remain a "pro" user. I was at a few concerts and a wedding recently, and I did regret not having the best cameras at a few of those, and while I am traveling with my Neo and using it as my "couch computer", every time I use my MacBook Pro, I go, "hot damn, that's amazing."
I still love the Neo, though. It's got…something…
2026-04-16 20:00:00
I really loved this quote from John Linneman on a recent Digital Foundry podcast:
There was a time when they could produce games in a moderately sustainable fashion, it seems, and they didn't need to be multi-million sellers. And in fact, the big multi-million sellers could help support this wide range of content, which in turn strengthens the platform. I think this black and white thinking of "if it's not the biggest thing, then it's a failure," is extremely dangerous and slowly whittles away at the overall life and vibrancy around a platform until it fails. Like this min-maxing that we're seeing, it's not healthy and it's not sustainable.
I could not agree more.