Today on Decoder, I want to lay out an idea that’s been banging around my head for weeks now as we’ve been reporting on AI and having conversations here on this show. I’ve been calling it software brain, and it’s a particular way of seeing the world that fits everything into algorithms, databases and loops — software.
Technology
The Verge’s 2024 holiday gift guide
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Glocusent Bookmark Style Reading Light
Glocusent’s Bookmark Style Reading Light is the perfect gift for those who burn the midnight oil reading. The clip-on USB light offers a lightweight design and multiple brightness levels, providing a soft, warm glow that’s dim enough that it won’t disturb anyone else trying to get some shut-eye nearby.
Price: $10.99+
8BitDo Retro 18 Mechanical Numpad
Most people don’t need a number pad, but if they do, 8BitDo’s Retro 18 Mechanical Numpad may be the most charming data entry tool there is. It has hot-swappable mechanical switches and a satisfying clickiness, along with wireless support so you can use it either left- or right-handed. Best of all, it becomes a calculator with a single press, offering an old-timey seven-segment display when you need it most.
Price: $35.99+
Snow Peak Titanium French Press
Just because you’re romping around the backcountry doesn’t mean you have to settle for a cup of instant Folgers. Snow Peak’s luxe French press weighs a mere 6.3 ounces and uses single-walled Japanese titanium, meaning you can use it to boil water before loading it up with your favorite artisanal coffee grounds.
Price: $59.99+
Kindle Colorsoft Signature Edition
With the Kindle Colorsoft Signature Edition, you no longer need a smartphone or tablet to enjoy digital book covers and illustrations in full color. Amazon’s latest ebook reader adds new depth to the reading experience with nitride LEDs and a color E Ink display, making it an eye-popping upgrade for someone long entrenched in the monochromatic world of traditional e-readers.
Price: $279.99
Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 6
The 2024 Motorola Razr Plus is the funnest flip phone you can buy, but if you want something reliable that will go the distance, Samsung’s Galaxy Z Flip 6 is your best bet. The clamshell-style foldable features all-day battery life and a whopping seven years of software updates, along with a 3.4-inch OLED on the outside that’s actually useful this time around.
Price: $849.99+
AirPods 4 with Active Noise Cancellation
Apple’s latest AirPods pack better sound, a USB-C charging case with a built-in speaker, and improved comfort. But their biggest upgrade over the standard AirPods 4 is the addition of active noise cancellation, which lets you tune out the outside world surprisingly well for a pair of open-style earbuds. That’s an extra $50 well spent.
Price: $168.99+
Blink Mini 2
The Blink Mini 2 is an inexpensive way for your giftee to keep an eye on valuables back home while out of town. The tiny 1080p camera features motion detection, two-way audio, and IP65 weatherproofing, the latter of which lets them monitor their back patio when paired with Blink’s optional outdoor adapter.
Price: $19.99
Twelve South AirFly Duo
Let’s face it: the wired earbuds airlines provide for you to use with in-flight entertainment systems aren’t exactly great. Thankfully, wireless adapters like Twelve South’s AirFly Duo let you use your own set of Bluetooth earbuds. The Duo also syncs with two pairs of headphones simultaneously, so you can binge up to 20 hours of Love Is Blind alongside your travel companion.
Price: $42.99+
Anbernic RG28XX
The six people still nostalgic for Game Boy Micro will absolutely love the Anbernic RG28XX. The handheld console is just as tiny and lets you play thousands of retro games via emulation, but it comes with a larger 2.83-inch IPS display that lets you game more comfortably on the go. And just look at those classic, Nintendo-inspired color combos.
Price: $37.91+
Nomad ChargeKey
Nomad’s keychain-friendly ChargeKey is perfect for frequent travelers who don’t want to lug a bulky charger around. The short braided cable comes in either a USB-C or Lightning-only configuration, both of which can deliver up to 60 watts of power. The cable tips even feature integrated magnets, allowing them to secure together when not in use.
Price: $19
Hatch Rest Go
White noise machines are great for the baby’s room, but one that goes from the crib to a stroller or car seat can help make the difference between a fussy baby and peaceful, quality naps on the go. The Hatch Rest Go offers 10 sounds to cycle through and easily lasts overnight on a single charge, with the ability to recharge via USB-C.
Price: $39.99
RTIC 52 Ultra-Light Cooler
Yeti, shmeti. RTIC’s spacious injection-molded ice chests cost two-thirds of the price of Yeti coolers and cut very few corners to get there. They’re sturdy, relatively lightweight, and can keep ice frozen for up to three or four days in the shade thanks to their well-insulated construction. Just don’t expect them to ward off a grizzly bear.
Price: $179.09+
Casio WS-B1000 watch
Psh. Who needs an onslaught of push notifications and heart rate monitoring, anyway? Casio’s retro, Y2K-styled WS-B1000 pairs with your phone via Bluetooth and lets you track steps, set timers, and perform only the most basic wristwatch functions imaginable. Nothing more, nothing less.
Price: $45.95+
Goliath Power Saber
The Goliath Power Saber is the first self-retracting and extending lightsaber — err, “power blade” — you can buy. The clever light-up toy uses a long screw to automatically raise a series of telescoping tubes, which safely collapse when pressed against something. That means your kid can channel their inner Obi-Wan without injuring others (fingers crossed).
Price: $43.99+
Astro Bot
Astro Bot places Sony’s newest mascot into a refreshing 3D platformer, one that sees the titular robot visiting a series of visually stunning worlds and using a trove of tools familiar to the genre. Some, including us, are calling it Game of the Year material given how inventive and fresh it feels — which isn’t easy to achieve for a game rooted in ’90s-era gameplay tropes.
Price: $49.97+
Lego Plum Blossom
Not everyone is a certified botanist — or can even take care of a cactus, for that matter. Thankfully, Lego’s 327-piece Plum Blossom set requires zero upkeep once constructed, allowing your giftee to add a splash of color and artificial life to their home without even the remote prospect of failure (we hope).
Price: $23.99+
Google TV Streamer (4K)
Now that the days are getting darker, chances are your giftee is about to spend a lot more time on Netflix. Thankfully, the new Google TV Streamer 4K boasts onboard Google Assistant, easy-to-use smart home controls, and the best interface of any streaming device available. The set-top box even features a handy button for pinging the remote, giving it an edge over your couch.
Price: $99.99
Endlessness (vinyl)
Nala Sinephro’s second album, Endlessness, is an exercise in both space and nuance. It’s a beautiful work of lush ambient jazz filled with pillowy strings and modular synths, one buoyed by an ace ensemble of London-based players (including the always-excellent Nubya Garcia on sax). It’s an album to get lost in, whether you’re familiar with the blips and bloops that define her electro-acoustic jazz or not.
Price: $33.94+
iFixit FixHub Power Series Smart Soldering Iron
Tinkerers will appreciate iFixit’s new 100W soldering iron, which can receive power from any USB-C connection and heats up within seconds. The sleek tool lets you make liquid metal connections just about anywhere and comes with a bevy of safety features that make it suitable for beginners and experienced DIYers alike, including a heat-resistant magnetic storage cap.
Price: $79.95
Road to Nikko print
No one has captured the exquisite beauty of the Japanese countryside quite like renowned 20th-century printmaker Hasui Kawase. The Road to Nikko remains a great example of his keen eye for detail and ability to capture natural lighting, which, in this instance, dapples ancient cedars on the famed road into the mountains north of Tokyo.
Price: $12.60+
Ember Mug 2
Coffee is the most important meal of the day, not breakfast, which makes finding the perfect drinking vessel all the more important. The Ember Mug 2 lets you lock in your desired temperature via a companion app for up to 90 minutes or indefinitely when using the included charging coaster, making your coffee taste great no matter when you drink it.
Price: $85.50+
Wildbird Linen Sling
The Wildbird Linen Sling may seem like a trendy choice of baby carriers among metropolitan parents, but there are good reasons to consider it. It’s a functional and lightweight way to carry your little one around, and the linen fabric offers a touch of luxuriousness. And frankly, you’ll look marvelous in it.
Price: $58+
Bambu Lab P1P 3D Printer
The hype around 3D printing is easily suppressed by the steep learning curve, not to mention both upfront and ongoing expenses. But if you know someone dying to hop in, the full-size Bambu Lab P1P is a safe bet. With practically no assembly required, breezy filament swapping, and quick printing speeds, your recipient can achieve their first print before they have time to completely give up on the hobby.
Price: $449
Flipper Zero
The Flipper Zero is an open-source wonder of a remote hacking tool. It features RFID, NFC, sub-GHz, Bluetooth, USB-C, and a row of GPIO ports, allowing it to interface with a boatload of hardware. It can control your garage door, store U2F keys for two-factor authentication, or carry out a host of actions that may be a bit more interesting than the multitool’s cheery, dolphin-adorned exterior lets on.
Price: $169
Cagiwiru Air Duster 4.0
If you’re still blowing money on cans of compressed air, just stop. A portable, rechargeable alternative like the Cagiwiru Air Duster 4.0 is an invaluable replacement for most needs. It’s great for maintaining upkeep on all kinds of electronics, from keyboards and dusty case fans to various PC components you’ve left unattended.
Price: $18.97+
The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom
Princess Zelda is finally the star of the show in the latest Zelda title for the Nintendo Switch. The top-down adventure represents a fun, charming twist on the classic Zelda formula, trading the combat of previous titles for a more versatile approach to dungeon-crawling. It’s also insanely cute, as if playing as Nintendo’s titular heroine weren’t enough.
Price: $50.28+
Hoto 3.6V Screwdriver Kit (Classic)
Your average dollar-store screwdriver has nothing on Hoto’s tried-and-true electric model. The handy, cylindrical tool comes with 25 steel bits and offers three torque settings, providing you with everything you need to tackle Ikea furniture, holiday decor, and other medium-sized projects around the house. It packs a few modern conveniences, too, such as a built-in LED light and USB-C charging.
Price: $39.99+
The Bright Sword
There are a lot of Arthurian legends out there, though few tales are quite as enchanting as Lev Grossman’s most recent work. The lengthy novel centers around an aspiring knight and his motley crew of companions, all of whom set out to rebuild Camelot in the wake of King Arthur’s death. It’s classic sword and sorcery, only with a heaping of historical twists.
Price: $14.99+
Oura Ring Generation 4
Smartwatches might offer more advanced fitness tracking features than smart rings, but not everybody finds them comfortable to wear to sleep. The Oura Ring Gen 4 is a stylish and discreet alternative, one that’s as accurate as it is comfortable. While it shines as a sleep and recovery tracker, you can also use it to keep tabs on light exercise and other health metrics.
Price: $349+
Rothy’s The Point
Flats are an unsung godsend. They’re comfortable but still fashionable enough that you can wear them in casual and professional settings alike. Rothy’s makes a wide variety of washable, durable flats, with The Point being one of the most popular options. They also come in multiple colors and patterns, so you can style the shoes as you please.
Price: $89+
Star Wars Outlaws
Star Wars Outlaws is the best scoundrel simulator there is. The open-world sci-fi caper is steeped in the lore of a galaxy far, far away, one that lets you explore the bustling criminal underworlds of Canto Bight, Toshara, and — yes — Tatooine with a blaster on your hip and your adorable merqaal companion Nix by your side. Apparently, a bit of villainy ain’t so bad after all.
Price: $39.99+
Fellow Corvo EKG Electric Kettle
You don’t need to spend much to get a decent electric kettle. That being said, Fellow’s Corvo EKG Electric Kettle feels tailor-made for the hot beverage connoisseur who also has exquisite taste in gadget design. The classy kettle holds a generous 1.5 liters of water and features a wide mesh spout, which is a welcome reprieve from the gooseneck design on Fellow’s pour-over model.
Price: $132+
Apple AirTag
AirTags can function as a second set of eyes for iPhone owners, allowing you to keep tabs on everything from your car keys to your backpack. That’s because the ultra wideband location trackers tap into Apple’s extensive Find My network, which allows for impressively precise tracking and lets users share the tracker with up to five other people for even greater peace of mind.
Price: $24+
HoverAir X1 drone
Unless you’re filming cinematic shots in Hollywood, you don’t necessarily need a fancy quadcopter. HoverAir’s so-called “selfie drone” is a great budget alternative to more premium models from DJI, with top-mounted controls, excellent object tracking, and a max video resolution of 2.7K / 30fps. And did we mention it can fit in your pocket? Because it can.
Price: $299+
Distil Wando Sunglasses
It’s not the generous replacement policy or timeless, round look of Distil’s flexible Wando Sunglasses that makes them attractive — though they do look quite good. The real appeal lies in their hidden neodymium magnets, which let you effortlessly clip the polarized shades to your shirt or bag without having to worry about them falling off. That alone is worth the $69 price tag.
Price: $51.75+
Nintendo Sound Clock Alarmo
If your default alarm is triggering, Nintendo has your back with inklings and pikmin. The adorable motion-sensing Alarmo will first try gently waking you up with beloved characters and melodies from iconic Nintendo franchises like Mario and Zelda. If you snooze too long, though, you may get a loud visit from Bowser, which, frankly, is best avoided.
Price: $99.99
Wyrmspan
Wyrmspan is like Wingspan but with cold-blooded beasties instead of birds. The one-to-five-player tabletop game features many of the same systems and mechanics as the lauded engine-building game that inspired it; however, the fantastical setting and a handful of thoughtful gameplay tweaks make it a great alternative, particularly if you own neither.
Price: $59+
Anker 2-in-1 USB C to USB C Cable 140W
No one should have to deal with a rat’s nest behind their desk when devices like Anker’s 2-in-1 USB-C cable exist. The handy USB-C cable splits at the end, giving you the ability to charge up to two devices from a single port. That means you can split power between a phone and tablet or juice a 16-inch MacBook Pro to 50 percent in just 20 minutes using a single port.
Price: $18.99
Adidas x MLS Archive Collection jersey
Sadly, the MLS isn’t exactly known for producing good-looking kits, at least compared to soccer leagues in the UK. The Adidas x MLS Archive Collection is a bold step in the right direction, however. Each throwback jersey pairs nostalgia-inducing retro styling with a more modern aesthetic, resulting in an attractive third kit that pays homage to the city it represents.
Price: $79.99+
Bachan’s Japanese Barbecue Sauce
Bachan’s Japanese Barbecue Sauce should be a staple in every household. The savory-sweet condiment is pretty atypical compared to American BBQ sauces, which often rely heavily on brown sugar or molasses for taste. Instead, Bachan’s recipe offers a nice balance of ginger, soy, mirin, green onion, and other Japanese flavors that work great if you’re trying to add a kick of umami to your next meal.
Price: $7.98+
CRKD Atom Collectible Keychain Controller
What’s better than a keychain that resembles a controller? One that actually works. CRKD’s Atom is a tiny gamepad that features four face buttons, a D-pad, and four shoulder buttons. You’ll need decent dexterity to use one (if you feel cramped using a detached Joy-Con, the Atom is similar), but it’s a fun charm that offers quick utility for mobile gaming when you need to kill time.
Price: $14.99+
Ototo Jungle Spoon
No one said ladles have to be boring. The slotted Jungle Spoon is a leaf-shaped dipper that takes after a monstera stem, adding a touch of leafy character to your kitchen. The heat-resistant nylon spoon won’t scratch your nonstick pans, either, though we probably wouldn’t recommend it if you’ve been repeatedly traumatized by critters gnawing holes into your garden veggies.
Price: $16.95
Sushi Go!: Spin Some for Dim Sum
Our favorite thing about Sushi Go!: Spin Some for Dim Sum is the name, but the game itself is a close second. The fun tabletop is easy to learn and quick to play, especially once you figure out how to go about assembling the most valuable dish combos possible. It’s great for a family game night — well, assuming you and the fam aren’t hungry.
Price: $16.97+
VTech Bluey Bluey’s Keytar
If your child loves Bluey, then they’ll love playing Bluey’s Keytar, first featured in the “Fancy Restaurant” episode of the popular children’s show. The colorful musical toy features working keys with 10 different sets of instruments and sounds, which you can use to play your own songs or jam along to several built-in melodies (including the main Bluey theme).
Price: $17.99+
Apple Watch Ultra 2
Short of a new iPhone, the Apple Watch Ultra 2 might be one of the best things you can gift the ultimate Apple fan in your life. The display is considerably bigger than most other Apple Watch models, and the 36-hour battery is relatively extensive. It also has a ton of health sensors and military-grade durability, making it particularly great for adventurous types.
Price: $699.99+
UE Miniroll
Unsurprisingly, the term “Miniroll” aptly describes Ultimate Ears’ small, puck-like Bluetooth speaker. Its compact, bulbous design makes it easy to carry in your backpack or a roomier pocket, while an integrated strap allows you to attach it to your belt loop or a set of handlebars. It’s also water-resistant and comes in a few fun colors.
Price: $49.99
Trail of the Lost
In Andrea Lankford’s engrossing nonfiction narrative, Trail of the Lost, the Pacific Crest Trail is as pivotal a player as the three missing hikers the book centers on. Lankford’s prior experience as a seasoned park ranger allows her to paint a nuanced portrait of the 2,650-mile trek, as does her meticulous research and interviews with those involved with the initial search and rescue efforts.
Price: $16.10+
Pentax 17
Pentax’s new film camera is an absolute charmer for analog enthusiasts but is far from a toy or novelty. The compact point-and-shoot is fairly easy to use, and its 37mm-equivalent lens can render some stunning snapshots. Plus, its half-frame format actually makes film cheaper, since it takes twice as many shots on each roll.
Price: $496.95+
Google Nest Learning Thermostat (fourth-gen)
As temperatures dip, heating bills skyrocket. Thankfully, you can help your giftee save some money this winter with Google’s latest Nest Learning Thermostat. The fourth-gen smart thermostat can learn and adapt to your habits over time, but unlike prior models, it sports a handsome Pixel Watch-like design and native support for Apple Home thanks to Matter.
Price: $229.99+
Black Diamond Spot 400
You can “look ma, no hands” your lighting needs with Black Diamond’s handy 400-lumen headlamp. The low-profile light is a convenient way to illuminate your immediate vicinity, as it offers more than enough power to navigate your home or local hiking trail in the dark. Best of all, it’s dual-fuel compatible, meaning you can power it with either a rechargeable BD 1500 Li-ion battery or three AAAs.
Price: $37.39+
iRobot Roomba Combo i5
If you or someone you know could use some help cleaning up, the Roomba Combo i5 is a sensible budget pick. The robot vacuum excels at sucking up dirt and mopping hardwood floors, and it’s capable of mapping out your home so you can direct it to clean specific rooms using your phone or one of several voice assistants. It’s not a hands-free experience, but it sure is close.
Price: $229+
UGG Dasha Throw
The reversible UGG Dasha Throw is a cozy gift anyone would appreciate. Made from plush fabric on one side and microfleece on the other, the soft blanket is made to provide warmth and comfort anywhere you take it. The 50 x 70-inch cover comes in several attractive hues, too, so you can choose one that won’t look out of place in the living room or bedroom.
Price: $50.99
Echo Dot (fifth-gen)
Amazon’s latest Echo Dot offers a ton of value for less than 50 bucks. It’s both a good speaker and an alarm clock with access to plenty of Alexa-enabled skills, allowing you to effortlessly set reminders, check the weather, and play your favorite tracks. Hell, it can even boost your Wi-Fi coverage if you’re on an Eero mesh Wi-Fi network.
Price: $22.99+
Mini Ikebana Kit
A bouquet is nice, but Kikkerland’s DIY showpiece is a more unique gift for the flower lover in your life. The inexpensive kit revolves around the Japanese art of flower arrangement, Ikebana, which emphasizes minimalism and aims to capture the fleeting beauty of nature. It contains everything your giftee needs to build their own arrangement, including a ceramic vase, shears, a flower frog, and a towel.
Price: $14+
Little Corner
Cozy vibes can be a great stress reliever for a new parent. And one of the best delivery methods that doesn’t involve a screen in your face is an adorable coloring book — one that’s not overly simplified for little kids. Little Corner offers adults 40 illustrations of different decors to color in, and each is an adorable space worth admiring… or maybe even taking bits of design inspiration from.
Price: $7.99
ESR Qi2 Magnetic Wireless Car Charger
ESR’s compact Qi2 charger is a handy way to mount and charge a MagSafe-compatible iPhone in your car, whether you prefer to rely on your dashboard or an air vent for installation. Once it’s set up and paired with a power adapter (you’ll need to supply your own), just slap your phone onto the magnetic pad to reap the benefits of 15W charging speeds.
Price: $21.83+
2004 Logo Stickers
Stickers are timeless, and so is this pack of four featuring an era-appropriate Verge logo. Our ode to 2004 — the golden years of the digital age, if you will — recalls fond memories of glitzy, overdone layouts and the sudden blaring of low-bitrate music on Myspace. Stick one anywhere you want to express your love for the web’s bygone era.
Price: $10
Microsoft Surface Laptop (seventh-gen)
The latest Surface Laptop uses an Arm-based Snapdragon X processor, resulting in Microsoft’s best MacBook Air competitor yet. Since it runs Windows on Arm, you just want to be sure all of your essential apps are supported. If so, you’d be hard-pressed to find a better combo of specs, build quality, and battery life for the money.
Price: $899.99+
Dungeons & Dragons 2024 Player’s Handbook
Much like Mad Max: Fury Road, the new D&D Player’s Handbook is a triumph mired in controversy. Despite its long and rocky production, the redesigned 384-page tome is an exceptional resource for fifth-edition D&D players, owing to a more streamlined structure, gorgeous artwork, and other quality-of-life updates that render it as robust as it is user-friendly.
Price: $44.99+
Sony WH-1000XM5
Sony’s latest pair of noise-canceling headphones aren’t just a great gift for audiophiles — they’re ideal for anyone who craves peace and quiet while listening to music or traveling. While expensive, they offer great audio quality, long-lasting battery life, much-improved voice call quality, and ample customization through Sony’s mobile app. Now, if only they could still fold down…
Price: $298+
Apple MagSafe Charger (2m)
If you or a loved one recently picked up an iPhone 16-series phone, Apple’s updated MagSafe charger is the only device that’s capable of wirelessly charging it at up to 25W. But the best part of Apple’s latest magnetic puck, in addition to the higher throughput and Qi2 certification, is that you can get it with an extra-long 2m / 6.6ft cable. Just don’t forget the 30W USB-C adapter.
Price: $34.99+
Patagonia Go-To Shirt
Everyone loves a good staple, which is why Patagonia’s Go-To Shirt is such an easy recommendation. The comfy, slim-fit button-down is lightweight and extremely breathable, making it a great choice for a casual night out or a short jaunt on the trail. The cotton-polyester blend also prevents it from wrinkling too much, so travelers needn’t worry about finding the nearest iron upon arrival.
Price: $38.83+
Ray-Ban Meta Smart Glasses
What’s better than gifting a slick pair of designer sunglasses? A stylish pair that also has smart capabilities. Ray-Ban’s lovely Meta Smart Glasses can perform all kinds of neat tricks, allowing you to take hands-free phone calls, snap photos and videos, and livestream to Instagram. They even support multimodal AI, so you can quickly identify plants, landmarks, and other objects when you’re out and about.
Price: $239+
Blundstone 500 Chelsea boot
Blundstone’s original 500 Chelsea boot has changed very little since it was introduced in the late 1960s, and for good reason. It’s got a classic silhouette with elastic sides and pull tabs for easy entry, not to mention a durable TPU outsole and weather-ready leather that makes it well suited for hitting the streets or the old dusty trail — whichever your giftee prefers.
Price: $189.95
PlayStation 5 Pro
The PlayStation 5 Pro is pricey, but we doubt you’ll hear any complaints if you were to gift it. Sony’s newest console plays all the same games as the standard PS5; however, it does so with upgraded hardware that makes fewer graphical compromises with performance. That means you’ll be able to experience higher frame rates, improved resolution, and better ray tracing in select titles.
Price: $699+
NeeDoh Groovy Glob stress ball
This past year might not have been as life-shattering for most as 2020, but we’d argue life doesn’t have to be pure chaos for a stress ball to come in handy. The NeeDoh Groovy Glob, like all of Schylling’s colorful dough-filled shapes, makes for an inexpensive release that can be squeezed, squashed, and pulled to your heart’s content.
Price: $3.44+
Fujifilm Instax Mini 12
Anyone nostalgic for the good ol’ days will appreciate the Instax Mini 12. Much like the iconic instant cameras from the Polaroid era, Fujifilm’s latest requires you to do little more than point and shoot to generate wallet-friendly snaps. It’s an entertaining gift, one that can help your friend or loved one reconnect with their inner child while capturing new keepsakes.
Price: $69+
Women of Science Tarot deck
Even if you don’t believe in divination, you have to admit the Women of Science Tarot deck is pretty fun. The unique set bridges the gap between spirituality and science with illustrations depicting inspirational STEM leaders, from computer scientist Annie Easley to chemist Rosalind Franklin. Each major arcana card also includes info on a foundational scientific concept, making for an educational, inspiring deck.
Price: $19.32+
Fitbit Inspire 3
The lightweight Fitbit Inspire 3 is a great gift for someone looking to dip their toes into wearables. The throwback fitness band is an affordable way to add heart rate monitoring, smartphone notifications, and sleep / workout tracking to your wrist. It’s basic, sure, but how many other wearables let you wear them as a clip and last up to 10 days on a single charge?
Price: $69.95
Royal Kludge F68 60% Foldable Low Profile Mechanical Keyboard
Foldable keyboards are extremely convenient for portable office setups, but many tend to be membrane-style. Royal Kludge’s wireless F68 is a mechanical, low-profile alternative that folds in half to free up space in your bag. It features an aluminum build with either linear red or tactile brown switches as well as a built-in stand to hold your tablet or phone.
Price: $39.99+
The Verge Wrapping Paper
We may be biased in this instance, but we consider wrapping paper to be as essential to gift-giving as the gift itself. That’s why we designed two sets of 8.75 × 19.75-inch wrapping paper for our gift guide shoot this year, both of which you can purchase in our store if you want to outfit your presents with a bit of colorful eye candy.
Price: $15
Ryobi 18V One Plus Performance Hand Vacuum Kit
Robot vacuums are a terrific investment… if you’re willing to pay. If not, Ryobi’s cordless handheld is a relatively inexpensive alternative with powerful suction, a pivoting dush brush, and a respectable 18 minutes of battery life. What’s more, it comes with a three-year warranty and a bin that’s large enough to accommodate cereal, dirt, and whatever else your kids leave in their wake.
Price: $89+
Loop Experience 2 earplugs
Regardless of what the hesher next door tells you, no concert is worth blowing out your eardrums. The Loop Experience 2 are a cheap way to cut back on unwanted decibels, as they offer a universal fit and a noise reduction rating of 12dB. The discreet earplugs are also available in an array of stylish colors, including a few seasonal shades to usher in the fall.
Price: $27.95+
GuliKit KK3 Pro Controller
Stick drift is the worst. Luckily, GuliKit’s new KK3 Pro Controller offers a remedy in the form of Hall effect sticks, which don’t succumb to the drifting issues that often plague Joy-Cons. The versatile Bluetooth gamepad also features rearward slots for up to four detachable back paddles, a 1,000Hz polling rate, and support for a variety of platforms — including the Nintendo Switch, Steam Deck, and PC.
Price: $50.99
Te-Rich Weighted Jump Rope
The Te-Rich Weighted Jump Rope offers an easy way to get a full-body workout at home. Its weighted handles allow you to incorporate some minor strength training, while a built-in LCD display with a timer and jump counter help level up what is otherwise a basic piece of equipment. It even estimates calories burned, which isn’t bad for less than $20.
Price: $13.48+
Ordilend Keyboard and Laptop Cleaning Kit
A dirty keyboard and monitor can be unsightly, but if you let too much gunk build up under the keys, it can actually make your machine almost unusable. This 10-in-1 keyboard cleaning kit comes with everything you need to buff the scuffs and get rid of the dirt, including liquid cleaning solution, key removal tools, brushes, microfiber wipes and cloths, and cleaning pens.
Price: $16.98
Kendama
There’s something special about gifting an analog game like Kendama in the age of Fortnite — even more so when you consider that the Japanese toy has changed little since it was first developed hundreds of years ago. The cup-and-ball game remains easy to learn but difficult to master, too, making it a good fit for anyone looking to hone a skill over time.
Price: $12.22+
Sungboon Editor Deep Collagen Power Boosting Mask (four-pack)
Sungboon’s collagen mask is the rare TikTok sensation that actually lives up to the hype. Like magic, the face mask works overnight to improve elasticity, temporarily erasing fine lines and wrinkles. It also soothes, hydrates, and rejuvenates your skin, leaving you with a glowing complexion that should last far longer than the viral videos from which it sprang up.
Price: $12.35
Govee Christmas String Lights 2
Govee’s Christmas String Lights 2 add a touch of color and magic to any Christmas tree. The smart lights offer over 130 preset lighting effects that sync with music, and Govee also includes shape matching and AI features that let you create custom light displays. Plus, its IP65 rating means you can even hang them outside, and Matter support allows you to control them with any major smart home platform.
Price: $63.99+
Mechanism Gaming Pillow
If you’re going to succumb to marathon gaming sessions on the couch, you might as well make yourself as comfortable as possible. Mechanism’s malleable 12-inch bean bag is designed to cradle a variety of handhelds — including the Nintendo Switch, Steam Deck, and PlayStation Portal — so you never have to worry about whether your arms will hold up in the next dungeon.
Price: $59+
Cuisinart Stainless Steel Smashed Burger Press
We’re not entirely sure when smash burgers became a capital-T Thing in the culinary world, but if your dad is into compressed beef and caramelized crust, Cuisinart’s stainless steel press will surely be a hit. The inexpensive six-inch contraption is more convenient than using a shoddy spatula or the bottom of a pan to crush patties, though it’s not any more difficult to clean.
Price: $19.25+
Ugreen Uno USB-C to USB-C Cable 100W
No cable is cuter than Ugreen’s new Uno USB-C to USB-C. The 100W braided cord supports up to 480Mbps transfer speeds and can power a multitude of devices, including your phone, laptop, and tablet. The built-in LED display is what makes it adorable, though, as it puts on a happy face whenever you plug it in.
Price: $10.39+
Fluxx
It will come as no surprise that Fluxx is a game in which everything, even the rules, is constantly in flux. It’s quick to learn and allows for up to six players, but choose your companions wisely. The randomness of it all often makes it feel more like an activity than a traditional card game built on strategy, meaning diehard tabletoppers would do well to keep their ambitions at bay.
Price: $19.95+
Satechi Vegan-Leather Magnetic Wallet Stand
Apple’s MagSafe technology ushered in a whole ecosystem of accessories, including god knows how many magnetic wallets. Satechi’s sleek four-card holder, while not particularly fancy or inventive, is an easy recommendation that doubles as a stand for propping up your phone in landscape or portrait orientation. Just make sure your dad owns an iPhone 12 or newer.
Price: $23.99+
Year of the Ring
Lord of the Rings is a monumental trilogy, so much so our friends over at Polygon dedicated an entire year to exploring Peter Jackson’s blockbuster adaptations and the original books that inspired them. Now that editorial package lives on an magnificent hardcover volume, allowing you to delve deeper into the series’ history and its undeniable impact on pop culture.
Price: $33.27+
Magnexpert Magnetic Wristband
I don’t know about you, but I’m getting tired of repurposing my spice containers as nail and screw holders while I’m building something. Magnexpert’s magnetic wristband is a convenient solution. It wraps 15 magnets in a nylon cover with visible separators, allowing you to keep the tiny steel bits organized and within reach with little risk of losing them in shaggy carpeting and couch cushions.
Price: $11.90+
Lego Insect Collection
A fun way to pass the time during the winter, Lego’s new insect kit is designed to bring a bit of the great outdoors inside. The 1,111-piece set lets you build life-size, posable replicas of several insects — a Chinese mantis, a Hercules beetle, and a blue morpho butterfly — all three of which can be displayed as home decor upon completion.
Price: $63.95+
2024 Mac Mini
Apple’s latest Mac Mini is as charming as it is capable — a remarkable feat for a desktop that starts under $600. It’s the best value in the current Mac lineup as a result of Apple’s zippy M4 silicon and the fact it now ships with 16GB of RAM by default, which should allow the adorable machine to perform a wide range of tasks for years to come.
Price: $559+
Gaiatop Hand Warmers (two-pack)
The chilly months have arrived for those of us in the Northern Hemisphere, and these adorable avocado hand warmers are great to have around for when you need some much-needed comfort. The rechargeable, pocket-friendly gizmos heat up quickly and can last for hours, and their endearing expressions are likely to warm your heart a little, too.
Price: $12.99+
Disney Plus gift card
Looking to stuff someone’s stocking with the magic of Disney? Unless you’re Scrooge McDuck, we’d recommend a $25 Disney Plus gift card. That’s enough to stream Disney films and shows for two months, or you can put it toward a bundle that includes Hulu and either Max or ESPN Plus. Disney Plus has all the classics, too, along with modern blockbusters from Pixar, Marvel, Star Wars, and more.
Price: $25+
Continue Reading
On or about January 6, 2026, for example, VAN DYKE asked Polymarket to delete his Polymarket account, falsely claiming that he had lost access to the email address to which the account had been associated. That same day, VAN DYKE changed the email registered to his cryptocurrency exchange account to an email address that was not subscribed to in his name, which email address was created on or about December 14., 2025.
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Brian Oliver is retired, sharp and financially savvy enough to have a stock-and-bond portfolio worth hundreds of thousands of dollars. He is not the type of person you picture getting scammed. That is exactly why scammers picked him.
What happened to Oliver, 85, is the kind of story that makes your jaw drop, and your stomach turn at the same time. It started with a routine-looking email and ended with a box of gold coins rolling away in the back of a black Mustang. In between, Oliver lost $200,000 and nearly half of his retirement savings.
He told his story on my Beyond Connected podcast at getbeyondconnected.com, along with Detective Justin Torres of the Gainesville Police Department in Florida. What they shared together is equal parts chilling and clarifying.
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BEWARE FAKE CREDIT CARD ACCOUNT RESTRICTION SCAMS
Brian Oliver shares how a routine-looking email pulled him into a sophisticated refund scam that cost him $200,000. (Sebastian Gollnow/picture alliance)
It all started with a PayPal refund scam email
Brian got an email that said PayPal owed him money. It was not a wild claim. He had dealt with PayPal before and figured, “Maybe they found some money for me.” So he responded. The email included a phone number, and that number connected him to a man who called himself Andrew Johnson.
“Yeah, we have $450 for you. Type in the number 100 on your computer and we’ll get it started.”
Brian typed 100. Andrew immediately said he had made a mistake: “Oh no, you put in 10,000.”
Brian pushed back. He said he did not type 10,000. Andrew told him to check his Bank of America account. Brian opened it, and there it was: $10,000 sitting in his checking account.
Except it was not real. The scammers had somehow mirrored his bank’s website. What Brian saw looked exactly like his actual Bank of America page, complete with a new balance and a phone number embedded in the “Contact Us” section. That number was fake, too.
Brian called it. A man named Josh answered, identifying himself as a Bank of America representative. He told Brian that the only way to return the money without triggering a $3,500 tax penalty was to withdraw $10,000 in cash and feed it into a crypto ATM.
How the PayPal refund scam tricked Brian
Oliver had never heard of a crypto ATM before that day. Josh helpfully told him exactly where to find one. It was in a sketchy part of town, and Oliver walked in carrying $10,000 in his pocket.
“I’m on my knees, on a cement floor, and I’m 85,” Oliver said.
He fed one hundred $100 bills into the machine, bill by bill, watching over his shoulder the entire time. Some bills got kicked back out. He fed them in again. When the machine finally accepted all of them, he photographed the receipt and sent it to Andrew Johnson, just as he had been instructed.
Then Oliver went home and told Andrew it was done. Andrew told him they still had to take care of his refund. He told Oliver to type in the number 200.
FAKE PAYPAL EMAIL LET HACKERS ACCESS COMPUTER AND BANK ACCOUNT
Oliver typed it. Andrew’s response came fast: “Oh my God, my boss is going to kill me. It’s $200,000 we’ve transferred to your account.”
This type of scam is becoming more common, and it often involves criminals impersonating trusted platforms like PayPal.
“PayPal does not tolerate fraudulent activity, and we work hard to protect our customers from evolving phishing scams,” a spokesperson for PayPal told CyberGuy. “We always encourage consumers to learn how to spot the warning signs of common fraud, including our tips on the PayPal Newsroom for identifying phishing emails that attempt to impersonate trusted brands. We further recommend contacting Customer Support for assistance through official channels such as the PayPal app and our Contact Us webpage, and never responding to suspicious, unexpected emails.”
How the scam escalated to $200,000 in gold
Oliver opened his bank account again. The fake mirrored site showed $200,000 sitting there. Josh Wilson was back on the phone with a new plan. This time, the crypto ATM would not work because the amount was too large. Oliver needed to liquidate $200,000 from his stock and bond portfolio, convert it to cash and use it to buy gold coins.
Oliver protested. He told them to just reverse the transfer. They said it was impossible.
“This is my retirement money. 50% of my retirement money,” he said.
The scammers told him not to breathe a word to anyone. Josh specifically warned him that telling his broker the truth could trigger tax problems. So Oliver called his broker and said he had his eye on a piece of real estate he wanted to flip. The broker processed the sale without question.
YOUTUBE JOB SCAM TEXT: HOW TO SPOT IT FAST
Oliver went to a gold coin store, wrote a check for $198,560 and waited two to three days for it to clear. Andrew Johnson stayed in regular contact the entire time.
When the gold was ready, Johnson gave Oliver one final instruction. A courier would come to his door to pick up the box. Before handing it over, Oliver should ask the courier for a password. The password was “blue.”
The courier arrived. He was driving a black Mustang. He said the word blue. Oliver handed over the box.
“He told me the password,” Oliver said. “I handed the box, and off went my $200,000.”
The moment Brian Oliver realized it was all a scam
The day after the courier left, Andrew Johnson called back with urgency. He told Brian Oliver another $200,000 had landed in his account, and they needed to do the whole thing over again. That was the moment it broke.
“That’s when I came out from under the ether of this scam,” Oliver said. “And I said, this cannot be right.”
He immediately called the Gainesville Police Department.
The high-stakes sting that brought down a scam courier
Detective Justin Torres of the Gainesville Police Department took the call and started working the case immediately. The scammers had asked Oliver for photos of the gold and the purchase receipt, which gave law enforcement about a day and a half to set up an operation before the courier was scheduled to return.
Detective Torres pulled in four officers from the department’s Gun Violence Initiative unit, a team of intermediate detectives trained for exactly this kind of boots-on-ground work. They set up covert and marked vehicles around Oliver’s residence at a careful distance.
“It was pretty high intensity because I’m listening to Mr. Oliver’s conversation with Andrew,” Torres said. “And I’m also trying to be a good distance away to listen to my radio and be able to broadcast what I need to to the other officers on the outside.”
The scammers were suspicious. They kept pushing Oliver to be more compliant. Oliver pushed back. The goal was to keep them on the line long enough for the courier to show up. The courier, a man named Seth Wayne, drove in from Tampa. The officers waited. When he arrived, they arrested him. The case went to trial. Seth Wayne received an 18-year prison sentence.
A federal jury has since convicted a second courier in the same scheme. Atharva Shailesh Sathawane, 22, an undocumented immigrant from India, was found guilty of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and money laundering, with Brian Oliver among his victims.
Sathawane was arrested after the Gainesville Police Department set up a second sting operation at Brian’s home. Court documents showed Sathawane was involved in more than 30 transactions across multiple states, contributing to nearly $8 million stolen from elderly victims. He faces up to 20 years on each count, with sentencing scheduled for Dec. 16 in Gainesville, though he is appealing his conviction.
How refund scams are hitting multiple victims
The scam began with a convincing message and quickly escalated as criminals guided Brian Oliver step by step through fake account activity. (Halfpoint/iStock/Getty Images)
Ten other victims testified at Seth Wayne’s trial. They had come from all over the state of Florida, and their stories made Oliver furious.
Some had received fake arrest warrants, official-looking documents claiming their identities had been tied to gun running. They were told the only way to clear their names was to pull their savings and buy gold, which would be placed in a special locker in Washington, D.C., until their names were cleared.
One victim lost $1.8 million. Another lost $4.9 million. A third woman lost over $1 million across two separate pickups by the same courier. Her husband was in hospice care in Florida while all of this was happening. She drained her entire life savings, sold her condo and had to move in with her daughter and son-in-law in Alabama, leaving her dying husband behind.
Where the money from refund scams actually goes
Once the gold or cash leaves a victim’s hands, recovery is nearly impossible. Most of Seth Wayne’s deliveries went to parking lots at McDonald’s or shopping centers, where he handed the money directly to a controller. One pickup went to a jewelry store, where an employee came outside to collect it. That connection is still under active investigation by the IRS and FBI.
The call centers running these operations are overseas. Higher-level couriers in the United States are still being investigated. The full network is, as Detective Torres put it, “very intricate” and “very complicated.”
Seth Wayne himself was a mid-to-upper-level courier. He was also paying other couriers and compensating his handler. When investigators downloaded his cell phone after a judge-approved search warrant, they found evidence that he had researched exactly what he was doing before deciding the money was worth the risk.
SCAMS THAT AREN’T ILLEGAL (BUT SHOULD BE)
The defense of “willful blindness,” the idea that a courier can claim ignorance and escape responsibility, no longer holds up in Florida courts. Seth Wayne found that out the hard way.
For a deeper look at what Oliver went through, you can hear the full story on my Beyond Connected podcast at getbeyondconeccted.com.
How to stay safe from refund scams
Detective Torres laid out the most important red flags clearly, and Oliver added a few from painful personal experience. Here is what both of them want you to know.
1) Hang up on urgency
Scammers manufacture pressure because it works. If someone on the phone is telling you that you must act right now, that is not a real emergency. That is a tactic. Torres put it directly: “They want to make you believe that you have to do all this right now.”
2) Never call the number they give you
If someone calls claiming to be from PayPal, your bank or a law enforcement agency, hang up and find the real number yourself. The number embedded in Oliver’s fake bank website looked completely legitimate. It was not.
3) Pause for ten seconds
Literally ten seconds. Detective Torres confirmed what many security experts say: “If you pause these scams for just 10 seconds, many of them will just fall apart.” A scammer who is pushed back even slightly will often overreact, and that reaction will feel wrong.
4) Isolation is the biggest red flag
The moment someone on the phone tells you not to tell a family member, friend or neighbor what is happening, stop. That instruction exists for one reason: to prevent you from getting help before they get your money. “Once you start hearing that isolation conversation, that is the biggest red flag,” Torres said. “You need to hang up the phone.”
5) Gold is always a scam signal
Oliver made this one simple: “If you’re told to go buy gold, the only reason they tell you to buy gold is because it can never be traced. It’s a scam.” No legitimate company, government agency or financial institution will ever ask you to buy gold coins and hand them to a stranger.
6) The courier at your door means stop
If you have already bought gold and someone is coming to your home to pick it up in a box, Oliver’s advice is direct: “Stop right there. It’s a scam.”
7) Never move money to fix a ‘mistake’
If someone claims they accidentally sent you money and asks you to return it, stop right there. Real companies fix errors on their own systems. They will not ask you to withdraw cash, buy crypto or purchase gold to correct a transaction.
8) Verify your account on your own device
If you need to check your bank account, use your official banking app or type the website yourself. Do not trust links, screens or phone numbers provided during a call. In many cases, scammers create fake sites that look identical to the real thing.
9) Be wary of step-by-step instructions
Scammers often stay on the phone and guide you through every move. That level of control should raise concern. Legitimate companies do not walk you through withdrawing cash, using crypto ATMs or buying gold to solve a problem.
10) Bring in a second person
Before moving a large amount of money, pause and call someone you trust. A quick conversation with a family member or friend can shift your perspective. In many cases, that outside voice is enough to stop a scam in progress.
11) Limit how much of your information is online
Scammers build convincing stories using real details they find online. This can include your phone number, home address or financial history. To reduce that risk, consider removing your information from data broker and people-search sites. While you can do this manually, it often takes time, which is why some people use a data removal service such as Incogni to help automate the process and keep their information from resurfacing.
Check out my top picks for data removal services and get a free scan to find out if your personal information is already out on the web by visiting Cyberguy.com.
Get a free scan to find out if your personal information is already out on the web: Cyberguy.com.
Scammers often operate behind the scenes, using technology and social engineering to manipulate victims into handing over cash or valuables. (Paul Chinn/The San Francisco Chronicle/Getty Images)
Kurt’s key takeaways
Brian Oliver lost $200,000, leaving him with only half of his retirement savings. Today, he says he is slowly sinking toward bankruptcy, and the odds of getting that money back are slim. Even so, he chose to go public so others could hear his story before it happens to them. What makes this case different is that it led to real consequences. Detective Torres and his team moved quickly and set up a sting operation. As a result, they arrested a courier who later received an 18-year prison sentence. Meanwhile, the IRS and FBI are still investigating the larger network. However, this kind of outcome is rare. In most cases, victims lose everything and never see justice. These scams are complex, often run from overseas, and are designed to move money fast. Because of that, law enforcement usually focuses on the people closest to the victim and works backward. In the end, Oliver’s turning point came during a second demand for money. At that moment, something felt off, so he paused. Then he said, “This cannot be right.” That instinct matters. In many cases, that brief pause is enough to break the scam.
If you were in Oliver’s position, at what exact moment do you think you would have stopped, and what would it have taken for you to make that call? Let us know by writing to us at Cyberguy.com.
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Software brain is powerful stuff. It’s a way of thinking that basically created our modern world. Marc Andreessen, the literal embodiment of software brain, called it in 2011 when he wrote the piece “Why software is eating the world” as an op-ed in The Wall Street Journal. But software thinking has been turbocharged by AI in a way that I think helps explain the enormous gap between how excited the tech industry is about the technology and how regular people are growing to dislike it more and more over time.
In fact, the polling on this is so strong, I think it’s fair to say that a lot of people hate AI. And Gen Z in particular seems to hate AI more and more as they encounter it. There’s that NBC News poll showing AI with worse favorability than ICE and only a little bit above the war in Iran and the Democrats generally. That’s with nearly two thirds of respondents saying they used ChatGPT or Copilot in the last month. Quinnipiac just found that over half of Americans think AI will do more harm than good, while more than 80 percent of people were either very concerned or somewhat concerned about the technology. Only 35 percent of people were excited about it.
Poll after poll shows that Gen Z uses AI the most and has the most negative feelings about it. A recent Gallup poll found that only 18 percent of Gen Z was hopeful about AI, down from an already-bad 27 percent last year. At the same time, anger is growing: 31 percent of those Gen Z respondents said they feel angry about AI, up from 22 percent last year.
Now, I obviously talk to a lot of tech executives and policy people here on Decoder, and I will tell you, they all know AI isn’t popular, and they can all see how that’s playing out in real life. Here’s Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella talking about how the tech industry needs to make the case for the investments it’s making in AI:
Satya Nadella: At the end of the day, I think this industry, to which I belong, needs to earn the social permission to consume energy because we’re doing good in the world.
I think it’s safe to say that the tech industry and AI have not earned any of that social permission yet. Politicians from both sides of the aisle are opposing data center buildouts. Politicians in local communities that support data centers are getting voted out of office. And in the most depressing reminder of how much political violence has become a part of everyday American life, politicians who’ve supported data centers have had their houses shot at. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has had Molotov cocktails thrown at his house.
It’s sad that I’m going to have to say this again on the show, and it’s sad that we’re going to have commenters who disagree, but this violence is unacceptable. If you want to meaningfully oppose AI in a way that lasts, you should speak loudly with your dollars in the market and your attention online, and you should speak loudly with your votes. You should participate in a democratic regulatory and political process. Anything else will get dismissed and perpetuate the cycle. That dismissal is already happening.
I also think it’s incredibly important for our politicians and tech executives to make sure our political process makes people feel empowered, not helpless, which is a specific kind of nihilism they have all greatly contributed to. The violence is a result of that helplessness and nihilism. And the most powerful people in our society ought to reckon with that, especially as they run around saying AI will wipe out all the jobs. I’m not even exaggerating this. Here’s Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei saying he thinks AI will wipe out all the jobs:
Dario Amodei: Entry-level jobs in areas like finance, consulting, tech and many other areas like that —- entry-level white-collar work — I worry that those things are going to be first augmented, but before long replaced by AI systems. We may indeed —- it’s hard to predict the future — but we may indeed have a serious employment crisis on our hands as the pipeline for this early-stage, white-collar work starts to contract and dry up.
What I see when I encounter clips like this is the true gap between the tech industry and regular people when it comes to AI — and also the limit of software brain. Like I said, everyone in tech understands how much regular people dislike AI. What I think they’re missing is why. They think this is a marketing problem. OpenAI just spent $200 million on the TBPN podcast because the company thinks it will help make people like AI more. Sam Altman has said so explicitly:
Sam Altman: Oh, they are genius marketers and I would love to have better marketing. Somebody said to me recently that if AI were a political candidate, it would be the least popular political candidate in history. And given the amazing things AI can do, I think there’s got to be better marketing for AI.
It feels like someone just needs to say this clearly, so I’m just going to do it. AI doesn’t have a marketing problem. People experience these tools every single day. ChatGPT has 900 million weekly users, trending to a billion, and everyone has seen AI Overviews in Google Search and massive amounts of slop on their feeds. You can’t advertise people out of reacting to their own experiences. This is a fundamental disconnect between how tech people with software brains see the world and how regular people are living their lives.
Image: The Verge
So what is software brain? The simplest definition I’ve come up with is that it’s when you see the whole world as a series of databases that can be controlled with structured language and software code. Like I said, this is a powerful way of seeing things. So much of our lives run through databases, and a bunch of important companies have been built around maintaining those databases and providing access to them.
Zillow is a database of houses. Uber is a database of cars and riders. YouTube is a database of videos. The Verge’s website is a database of stories. You can go on and on and on. Once you start seeing the world as a bunch of databases, it’s a small jump to feeling like you can control everything if you can just control the data.
But that doesn’t always work. Here’s an example: Elon Musk and DOGE showed up in the government, and the first thing they did was take control of a bunch of databases. And they ran into the undeniable fact that the databases aren’t reality, and DOGE ended in hilarious failure. It turns out software brain has a limit, and the government isn’t software. People aren’t computers, and they don’t live in automatable loops that can be neatly captured in databases.
Anyone who’s actually ever run a database knows this. At some point, the database stops matching reality. And at that point, we usually end up tweaking the database, not the world. The AI industry has fully lost sight of this. AI thrives on data. It’s just software. And so the ask is for more and more of us to conform our lives to the database, not the other way around.
Let me offer you another example that I think about all the time, especially as AI finds real fit as a business tool. It’s the idea that AI is coming for lawyers and the legal system. The AI industry loves to talk about not needing lawyers anymore, which is already getting all kinds of people into all kinds of trouble. But I get it. I’ve spent a lot of time with lawyers. I used to be a lawyer. My wife is still a lawyer. Some of my best friends are lawyers.
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I also spend all of my time at work talking to tech people. And so over time, I’ve learned that the overlap between software brain and lawyer brain is very, very deep. Alluringly deep. If the heart of software brain is the idea that thinking in the structured language of code can make things happen in the real world, well, the heart of lawyer brain is that thinking in the structured legal language of statutes and citations can also make things happen. Hell, it can give you power over society.
There are other commonalities. Both software development and the law depend heavily on precedent. We have a body of case law in this country, and we use it over and over again to help us resolve disputes. Much like software engineers have libraries of code that they turn to repeatedly to build the foundations of their products. I can go on.
At the end of the day, both lawyers and engineers do their best to use formal, structured language to guide the behavior of complicated systems in predictable and potentially profitable ways. I am far from the first person with this idea. Larry Lessig wrote a book called Code and Other Laws of Cyberspace in 2000. It’s just as relevant today as it was a quarter century ago.
And so you have this intoxicating similarity between law and code, and it trips people up all the time. People are constantly trying to issue commands to society at large like it’s a computer that will obey instructions. There are examples of this big and small. My favorite are those Facebook forwards insisting Mark Zuckerberg does not have the right to publish people’s photos. Honestly, I look at these, and I think it would be great if the law was actually code. Maybe things would be more predictable. Maybe we’d feel more in control.
But law isn’t actually code, and society and courts aren’t computers. I have to remind our fairly technical audience on Decoder and at The Verge all the time that the law is not deterministic. You simply cannot take the facts of a case, the law as written, and predict the outcome of that case with any real certainty, even though the formality of the legal system makes people think it works like a computer, that it’s predictable.
Because at the end of the day, it’s actually ambiguity that’s at the very heart of our legal system. It’s ambiguity that makes lawyers lawyers. Honestly, it’s ambiguity that makes people hate lawyers because it’s always possible to argue the other side, and it’s always possible to find the gray area in the law. That’s why prosecutors end up working as defense attorneys and why our regulators tend to end up working for big corporations.
So you can see the obvious collision between software brain and lawyer brain. This thing that looks like a computer isn’t actually anything at all like a computer. A lot of people even argue that the law should be more like a computer, that the system should be verifiable and consistent, and that merely issuing the right commands at the right times should lead to objectively correct outcomes.
Bridget McCormack, who used to be the chief justice of the Michigan Supreme Court, was on Decoder a few months ago pitching a fully automated AI arbitration system. Her argument to me was that people perceive the traditional legal system to be so unfair, they will accept a worse outcome from an automated system as more fair as long as they feel heard. And if there’s one thing AI can do, it’s sit there and listen all day and night. I don’t know if any of that is correct or even workable, but I do know software brain, and that is pure software brain. The idea that we can force the real world to act like a computer and then have AI issue that computer instructions.
You can see the same thing happening in every other kind of industry. You don’t hire a big consulting firm to actually come in and study your business and make it more efficient. You hire them to make slide decks that justify layoffs to your board and shareholders. Big consulting firms are great at this, and now they’re just going to generate those decks with AI. They are already doing this and the layoffs have already begun.
Any business process that looks like code talking to a database in a repetitive way is up for grabs. That’s why Anthropic has been so relentlessly focused on enterprise customers, and it’s why OpenAI is now pivoting to business use. There’s real value in introducing AI to business because so much of modern business is already software, collecting data, analyzing it, and taking action on it over and over again in a loop. Businesses also control their data, and they can demand that all their databases work together. In this way, software brain has ruled the business world for a long time. And AI has made it easier than ever for more people to make more software than ever before, for every kind of business to automate big chunks of itself with software. The absolute cutting edge of advertising and marketing is automation with AI. It’s not being in creative.
But not everything is a business, not everything is a loop, and the entire human experience cannot be captured in a database. That’s the limit of software brain. That’s why people hate AI. It flattens them. Regular people don’t see the opportunity to write code as an opportunity at all. The people do not yearn for automation. I’m a full-on smart home sicko; the lights and shades and climate controls of this house are automated in dozens of ways. But huge companies like Apple, Google and Amazon have struggled for over a decade now to make regular people care about smart home automation at all. And they just don’t.
AI isn’t going to fix that. Most people are not collecting data about every single thing that they do. And if they’re collecting any at all, it’s stored across lots of different systems — your email in Gmail, your messages in iMessage, your work schedule in Outlook, your workouts in Peloton. Those systems don’t talk to each other and maybe they never will, because there’s no reason for them to. And asking people to connect them all freaks them out.
Even taking the time to consider how much of your life is captured in databases makes people unhappy. No one wants to be surveilled constantly, and especially not in a way that makes tech companies even more powerful. But getting everything in a database so software can see it is a preoccupation of the AI industry. It’s why all the meeting systems have AI note takers in them now. It’s why Canva, which is design software, now connects to corporate email systems. My friend Ezra Klein just went to Silicon Valley, and he described the people that are actively trying to flatten themselves into a database:
Ezra Klein: You might think that A.I. types in Silicon Valley, flush with cash, are on top of the world right now. I found them notably insecure. They think the A.I. age has arrived and its winners and losers will be determined, in part, by speed of adoption. The argument is simple enough: The advantages of working atop an army of A.I. assistants and coders will compound over time, and to begin that process now is to launch yourself far ahead of your competition later. And so they are racing one another to fully integrate A.I. into their lives and into their companies. But that doesn’t just mean using A.I. It means making themselves legible to the A.I.
You can give it access to everything that’s there: your files, your email, your calendar, your messages. It operates continuously in the background, building a persistent memory of your preferences and patterns so it can better act on your behalf. The cybersecurity risks are glaring, but there’s a reason millions of people are using it: The more of your life you open to A.I., the more valuable the A.I. becomes.
I’ve reviewed a lot of tech products over the past decade and a half, and all I can tell you is that it is a failure when you ask people to adapt to computers. Computers should adapt to people. And asking people to make themselves more legible to software, to turn themselves into a database, is a doomed idea. It’s an ask so big, I can’t imagine a reward that would make it worth it for anyone, even if the tech industry wasn’t constantly talking about how AI will eliminate all the jobs, require a wholesale rethinking of the social contract and — oops — also the latest models might cause catastrophic cybersecurity problems that might lead to the end of the world.
Does this sound like a good deal to you? Can you market your way out of this? This only makes sense if you have software brain, if your operative framework is to flatten everything into databases that you can control with structured language. The people paying thousands of dollars a month to set up swarms of OpenClaw agents and write thousands of lines of code, they’re people who look at the world and see opportunities for automation, to repeat tasks, to collect data, to build software. AI is great for them. It’s even exciting in ways that I think are important and will probably change our relationship to computers forever.
For everyone else, AI is just a demanding slop monster. It’s a threat. I’m not saying regular people don’t use Excel or Airtable to plan their weddings or have fun throwing PowerPoint parties, or even that AI won’t be useful to regular people over time. I think a lot of people enjoy data and tracking different parts of their lives. There’s my WHOOP band. I’m just saying these things aren’t everything. Not everything about our lives can be measured and automated and optimized. It shouldn’t be.
And so the tech industry is rushing forward to put AI everywhere at enormous cost — energy, emissions, manufacturing capacity, the ability to buy RAM — and locked into the narrow framework of software brain without realizing they are also asking people to be fundamentally less human. They then sit around wondering why everyone hates them. I don’t think a couple haircuts are going to fix it.
Questions or comments about this episode? Hit us up at decoder@theverge.com. We really do read every email!
Decoder with Nilay Patel
A podcast from The Verge about big ideas and other problems.
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