A reviewer who couldn’t find the upside
Schoon’s question grew out of a run of recent products that left him conflicted. He has worked in the industry for more than a decade, and he says Googlebook is the first major launch where he struggled to find anything to feel optimistic about. That was true even after he reviewed the HP Googlebook 14 and found it otherwise excellent.
His objection is mostly about timing. As he sees it, Googlebook is less capable than its competitors while asking more of the customer, and it arrives when buyers’ budgets are under more strain than they have been in years. A good product launched at the wrong moment can still leave a bad taste.
When the product is great and the price is the problem
The same tension appeared with the Oppo Find X10 Pro Max, which he also reviewed this week. He calls it a great smartphone that he expects to keep using for a while, yet also an extremely expensive one. He is careful not to blame Oppo for this. The cost reflects the state of the industry, and really the state of the economy as a whole.
That distinction is worth noticing. Reviewers are used to judging a product on its own merits, but price pressure now hangs over almost every category. A phone can be excellent and still feel out of reach, and a laptop platform can be well made and still feel like a poor bet. When everything costs more, enthusiasm becomes harder to sustain, and honest reviewing becomes harder too.
The $650 Mac Mini
Schoon’s own buying choices show the same squeeze. He recently bought an M4 Mac Mini during a limited-time deal that brought it down to $650. He describes himself as still a Windows person at heart. But PC components are becoming harder to find and harder to afford, and his gaming PC is overdue for upgrades. A discounted Mac Mini was the most sensible way to get more out of his setup.
This is a revealing detail. A longtime Windows user turning to Apple hardware because of price and availability suggests that practical concerns are overriding brand loyalty. Many readers will recognise the feeling of making a pragmatic purchase rather than an exciting one.
Where the smiles still come from
Having laid out the gloom, Schoon turns to the things that have genuinely cheered him up, and the list is telling.
First are the Oppo Enco X4 earbuds he used alongside the Find X10 Pro Max. He describes them as a harder-to-buy sibling to the OnePlus Buds Pro 3, with a wonderful sound profile. Second is the Fitbit Air. While preparing his review of the Fitbit Edge, he was reminded how much he likes the Air’s simple, refreshing approach to a wearable, and he looks forward to going back to it. Third is a Statik Powerstand cable, a small accessory that gave him a spark of joy the moment he picked it up and which he expects to become a staple in his bag.
None of these are headline-grabbing. They are earbuds, a minimalist wearable and a cable. The common thread is that each one does a modest job well, without demanding much from the owner. That may be the real lesson: delight often lives in the simplest ideas, not in the most ambitious launches.
Why this question matters
It is easy to dismiss a “what makes you happy” prompt as filler, but there is substance in it. Tech coverage tends to swing between hype and doom, and both can make readers feel that the industry is either selling them something or failing them. A question about happiness shifts the focus from specifications and price tags to everyday experience.
It also invites readers to think about durability and contentment. Schoon notes that the answer might be a new gadget, or simply the fact that an existing device is still running. In an era of rising prices, there is real satisfaction in a phone, laptop or pair of headphones that keeps working year after year. Appreciating what you already own is an underrated way to enjoy technology, and it is also kinder to your wallet and to the environment.
A busy week in the background
The rest of the newsletter shows how much is going on. The week brought the launch of the iPhone Duo, which Apple fans queued for, plus a flurry of foldable news including a leaked Samsung foldable and new Android apps. There was also a less welcome development: YouTube is removing its dedicated subscriptions tab from the mobile app in favour of a customisable homepage, a change Schoon says he is not a fan of.
Against that backdrop of launches, leaks and interface changes, the request to pause and name something that makes you happy feels almost countercultural.
The takeaway
Schoon’s column does not pretend that the industry’s problems have gone away. It acknowledges that costs are rising, that some launches feel badly timed and that the broader economy is putting pressure on buyers. What it offers instead is a small act of attention. Notice what works, enjoy it, and talk about it.
That approach will not fix pricing or settle the debate about what technology is doing to society. But it is a healthy corrective to constant criticism, and it reminds us why many people got interested in gadgets in the first place. The best tech is often not the flashiest. It is whatever makes your day a little easier or a little nicer.
So, what tech is making you happy right now?
