While online shopping explodes in the world’s biggest country, traditional companies are struggling to adapt The apps are there for whatever you need: an extra mango, a carton of milk, a pint of ice-cream or a replacement phone cable for the one your dog chewed in half. For those living in the urban centres of …
The long-running series in which readers answer other readers’ questions on subjects ranging from trivial flights of fancy to profound scientific and philosophical concepts Why is the US the only country where nearly everyone drives an automatic? It’s de rigueur over here, whereas “driving stick” seems to be the default in other countries. Benton Oliver, …
Readers reply: why is the US the only country where everyone drives an automatic? Read More »
Twitter’s owner has given his toy a new name, but any ambition he has to turn it into a WeChat-like financial service is fanciful So Elon Musk, the world’s richest manchild, has changed the name of his favourite toy. Henceforth, Twitter is to be known as X. Strangely, though, you can still log on to …
We’ve got used to dumping old devices. But a new breed of firms is making products that they hope you will hang on to It is a habit that has become ingrained in so many consumers that you could be forgiven for thinking there was no other way: dumping your old and tired tech for …
Say hello to longlife tech that can challenge our throwaway culture Read More »
We live in worrying times. From the climate crisis to the culture wars, there is always something to keep us fretting. But sometimes the facts tell a different story – a more hopeful one. Here, we speak to experts in search of some optimism and find 13 reasons to be a little more cheerful Kriti …
Doom busters: why some things aren’t (quite) as bad as we think Read More »
Ruxley Manor in south-east London is among the increasing numbers of retailers installing biometric security technology At 11.12am last Tuesday, a woman in her 70s sauntered through the main entrance of the Ruxley Manor garden centre in Sidcup, south-east London. Upstairs in its offices, the phone of director James Evans pinged. Facial recognition cameras had …
The country’s manufacturers are starting to dominate not just sales charts, but also supply chains for crucial materials If you bought an electric vehicle in the UK this year, there’s a good chance it was an MG4. The fully electric hatchback, which launched in 2022, sold 5,200 units in the first three months of this …
Battery power: how China could take charge of the electric vehicle market Read More »
Understanding how to interact with ChatGPT and its rivals so that their output matches your expectations will soon be a key office skill. Here’s what you need to know After all the initial excitement over ChatGPT, the language-processing tool driven by artificial intelligence (AI), the use of chatbots is becoming more commonplace. So how do …
AI prompt engineering: learn how not to ask a chatbot a silly question Read More »
When staff in Coventry downed tools, they kickstarted a David v Goliath battle against one of the most powerful companies on Earth. This is what happened next It takes a lot to frighten Zee. The 35-year-old father of two rarely gets flustered: not when he first set out on the 4,000-mile journey from his family …
He was after big architectural ideas, when three men and three pigeons caught this photographer’s eye … “Britain looks most like itself on an overcast day,” Sheffield-born photographer Johny Pitts says. He shot these three men – and three pigeons – outside partly renovated flats on London’s Jamaica Road in Bermondsey. At the time, he …
