10 articles I didn’t write in 2023

David Lee

28/12/2023

Translation: Veronica Bielawski

From discarded ideas to botched tests and texts that never made it off my to-do list, here are the articles I didn’t write in 2023.

The discrepancy between what I set out to do and what I actually do has become smaller over the years. Why? Well, mainly because I’ve simply been resolving to do less. Even so, there were a few things again this year I didn’t get around to.

Sony Alpha 7R V review

One of the improvements to the Sony Alpha 7R Vcamera is the autofocus – it’s supposed to be able to anticipate movements and thus work even more reliably. I wanted to test this, among other things, in a comparison with the previous model.

Alas, my test was delayed. Initially, because of a lack of time, and then because of bad weather. And then the weather got even worse. I tested the camera anyway, and the autofocus of the new model was indeed much better. Mind you, this was no feat; I couldn’t get it to work at all on the predecessor, the 7R IV.

I knew something had to be off. I eventually found out the camera was running outdated firmware, which likely caused this problem. Unfortunately, I couldn’t update the firmware, and then I had to send back the camera.

That was at the end of 2022. I resolved to take up the review again in 2023. But there was always something more urgent to do. And the older the camera got, the less urgent my review became...

Reality 2023 review

After playing this game for several thousand hours, I felt competent enough to write a review. It’s my personal game of the year. I love the huge open world, the interesting, multifaceted characters and the good graphics coupled with surprisingly low hardware requirements. They also did a good job with ray tracing. Whoever «they» actually is.

My colleague and game expert Domagoj then explained to me that all previous versions of the game were already like this, with countless reviews saying as much. I didn’t have any radical take to offer.

So I let it be.

The Basictutor in action

The Basictutor is a learning computer from 1986. I learned to program with it when I was eleven. The Basictutor was quite useless even by the standards of the time, but it still captivated me like no other computer ever did. Three years ago, I wrote an article in praise of this strange marvel of technology.

My nostalgia went so far that I repurchased the gadget, as the original was broken. I bought a «new» one – in other words, one that had been lying untouched in its original packaging for about 35 years.

Why didn’t I write about it? It’s down to Brexit and the C64 Maxi. I bought the Commodore replica around the same time. It was more of a frustration purchase, because the Basictutor I’d ordered from the UK just wasn’t being delivered. When the Basictutor finally arrived, I was hopelessly stuck in the C64 rabbit hole. After having programmed a game complete with graphics and 20 levels, my little beep-melody program just didn’t seem so impressive.

But here you have it in the video below. Oh, the little LCD apparently also goes half broken when unused. Similarly, the computer only switches on in about one out of four times. The basic tutor was already fickle back in the day. But hey, problems like this are all part of that authentic nostalgia!

DJI Pocket 3 review

The DJI Pocket 2 already had me at a loss. I carried the thing around with me for weeks with not a clue what for. And yet, I really was a fan of it. I simply had no use for it and wrote as much in my review.

Writing the same thing again for the Pocket 3 would have been pointless. And it seemed unlikely that I’d spontaneously find a use for it.

DJI Mini 4 Pro review

Testing the DJI Mini 4 Pro sounded fun! However, due to a series of unfortunate events, it never came to be.

Samuel and I had agreed that he would test the drone. But he didn’t get the drone in time for his trip to Galicia. He asked if I could take over the review after all. And I would have. Alas, the DJI Mini 3 Pro, which I would have needed for a comparison, was at Samuel’s. Including a direct comparison was a must, in my opinion, as the Mini 3 Pro is still on the market.

Living room acoustics

When a speaker sounds bad, it’s usually not the speaker’s fault, but that of its surroundings. So, there’s no point in buying ever more expensive speakers while ignoring the rest. Room acoustics are paid too little heed.

I’ve been wanting to write an article about this for a long time. What’s stopping me? Well, the subject matter is very complex and I don’t understand everything. And I don’t just want to describe problems; I want to offer solutions. Actually useful ones that are also easy to implement. So far, it’s been one or the other. Buying a carpet and some curtains is easy, but of little use. Converting the living room into a music studio is effective, but impractical. After all, you do want to be able to, well, live in it.

So, this topic is a regular on my to-do list.

Record camera screen with the Ninja V

In my camera reviews, I want to show you what you see in the viewfinder or on the monitor as you shoot. That way, you can see for yourself how well the scene recognition works.

To capture this, you need an HDMI recorder. I went so wrong when buying this equipment that I contemplated writing an article about the experience. In the end, I didn’t because there are probably very few people out there with a use for this kind of gear. And the video professionals don’t need any explaining from me.

Here’s the short version of my fail:

• The Godox GM55 looks like an HDMI recorder, but it isn’t one. This explains why it’s much cheaper. Too bad I only realised this after buying it.
• I then bought the Atomos Ninja V. It is, in fact, an HDMI recorder. But I was still a long way from getting up and running. Battery? Not included. HDMI cable? Not included. Tripod mount? Not included.
• Of course, no memory was included either. The recorder requires an SSD with a SATA connection. This meant I needed SATA USB cables to transfer the videos to the computer.
• The SSD didn’t work initially. At some point I found out that I had to format it with the Ninja V.

I’ve since got everything up and running. Hurray! Though a camera with a mounted HDMI recorder is very heavy and unwieldy...

Sony World Photography Awards – directly from London

Every year, Sony organises a major photo competition encompassing various categories. Naturally, there’s also an award ceremony with lots of pomp. You can see the winning photos and those that made it to the shortlist here and those from previous years here.

I never actually wanted to write about this award ceremony. It didn’t seem relevant enough for our tech-oriented audience. Others on my team saw things differently. In fact, I could have even flown to London for the event. But I didn’t want to. I figured that if I’m going to add pollution to our climate, then there should be a good reason for it. As there was when my colleague Samuel flew to Turkey for the launch of the Sony Alpha 9 III.

Roland E-4 Voice Tweaker

I love the sound of a vocoder or talkbox, which is why I wanted to try out the Roland Voice Tweaker. And so I did. What I didn’t do was manage to write an in-depth article about it that offered my readers added value. This is an example of me failing due to not meeting my own expectations. An article just saying, «Hey guys, this is a thing, it’s cool, and you can buy it now,» is something I refuse to publish. Yes, I do work for an online shop, but I’m not a salesperson; I’m a tech journalist.

And now, I’d nevertheless like to let you know that: hey guys, this is a thing, it’s cool, and you can buy it now!

My overhauled Pioneer amplifier

I’ve previously written about my old Pioneer receiver. I was amazed that the amplifier still works after more than 40 years. And that it sounds so good to boot.

I’ve since added a beautiful blue LED backlight to the receiver. And, most importantly, it works perfectly again. Previously, it was constantly cracking about because the transformer was broken.

I didn’t overhaul the device myself, so I can’t offer any tips. Not to mention every case is different. And I can’t recommend any particular specialist either. The guy who vamped up my device is retired with a basement full of appliances searching for some form of a second life. Hence I can only offer this little shoutout.

David Lee

Senior Editor

David.Lee@digitecgalaxus.ch

My interest in IT and writing landed me in tech journalism early on (2000). I want to know how we can use technology without being used. Outside of the office, I’m a keen musician who makes up for lacking talent with excessive enthusiasm.

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