👋 Happy Friday! This week, I’m going to show you what I can’t live without when it comes to the contents of my tech backpack, the thing that travels with me everywhere I go these days. There are some obvious items, but also some more interesting ones that you might find helpful to add to your own collection! I’ve also ruffled a few feathers on YouTube by suggesting that the impending end of Windows 10 is the perfect time to cross over to the dark side. Plus, Bose may have released the best earbuds I’ve ever used…

A lovely viewer of The Tech Diary recently suggested that it might be a good idea to reveal what’s in my backpack. I’ve done this a few times on Mark Ellis Reviews, but never on the second channel, so it was a timely idea.

I’ve watched loads of similar videos made by other creators, and I’m often left feeling a bit of a fraud. Their bags are chock-full of super interesting stuff. Accessories which fall into the ‘why didn’t I think of that’ category, and devices that I’ve also reviewed but have long since abandoned. Why is my bag, by comparison, so boring?

However - and I’m not suggesting for one minute that those creators are packing their bags full of interesting gear before shooting such videos - I have a feeling that the bag (two bags, actually) I open up in this week’s Tech Diary video reveal a far more common bunch of essentials that are needed to run an incredibly hectic content business. And, on reflection, they are quite interesting. They certainly reveal what it’s like to run such a business with relatively limited gear.

I won’t say any more, because I’d love you to go and watch the video, but, equally, I’d love you to get involved in the comments section and reveal what’s in your bag, too.

In this week’s episode of our tech podcast Not PC, we discussed Tim Cook’s tenure as head honcho at Apple. Turns out this week makes him the longest-serving CEO for the company, so I want to know how you think he’s performed!

Ever since the time of Mr Jobs, Apple has felt like less of a one-man band, but Tim has had to make some pretty big decisions in terms of steering the company’s direction. Vision Pro and Apple Intelligence come to mind. But what do you think?

Look, this one has a bit of a, let’s say, provocative title. I know not everyone is switching to Mac in a few months’ time, but I think now is a better time than any to make the switch. There are a few reasons for this, but the main one is price. Nowadays, you can get an incredible M4 MacBook Air for less than $1000/£1000. You will struggle to find a Windows laptop for anywhere near as good value.

Worried about switching operating systems? Well, hopefully I can put some of those fears to rest in this video!

As updates go, this isn’t a huge one from Bose. But, they were already very good earbuds to begin with. Therefore, the purpose of this video isn’t really to tell you if the QuietComfort Ultra 2 is worthy of your attention (they are), but more so to determine whether the price is excusable and if you should upgrade from the 1st generation model. Take a look and see what you think!

When I started markellisreviews.com on WordPress, I underestimated how important good hosting really is. Trust me, going cheap is a terrible idea; it just leads to endless slowdowns and crashes with rubbish customer service. That’s why I’ve been so impressed with Kinsta. It’s a managed WordPress hosting platform built on enterprise infrastructure, with a global CDN and edge caching for fast, reliable performance.

Kinsta includes automatic daily backups, malware scans, and free fixes if something goes wrong. If your site matters to your business or creative work, Kinsta’s free migrations and risk-free trial make it well worth a look.

iOS Tip 👉 Tired of apps constantly asking for reviews? While good ratings boost their App Store rank, the prompts can get annoying. To stop them, go to Settings > Apps > App Store and turn off In-App Ratings & Reviews. You can still rate any app manually by searching for it in the App Store.

👨‍⚖️ Apple Sues Jon Prosser (The TRUTH About the End of Genius Bar) w/ Sam Kohl - Geared Up 210 (Geared Up) - I’ve only just started watching this, but if you’ve been following the Prosser/Apple saga, this is definitely worth a watch.

🎪 Backstage at Glastonbury 2023 (Adam Crowther) - yet more geeky Glastonbury backstage stuff. Yes, I’m a bit obsessed.

💿 The Top 10 Records of This Century (Rick Beato) - some genuine surprises in here, and a rather depressing conclusion.

I have a pretty cool job. Last week, I was lucky enough to be entrusted with a Bentley Continental GT Speed for a few days. Made a video about it, obvs, but it’s not your average car review. And I got my mum involved. For a laugh. Go check it out on The Next Drive!

Thanks for reading this week’s newsletter, have a great weekend and I’ll see you next Friday.

~ Mark