Hello my friends! My protocol pals! My computational compadres!

I’m David, a technology reporter and co-host of the Waveform Podcast. I’ll be hosting a subscriber-only “AMA” today at 11AM PT / 2PM ET. For the next six weeks I’m filling in for senior reviewer Allison Johnson, who you are all likely very familiar with. That means I’ll be covering new releases from Apple, Google, Samsung, and the works. I’ve already done some freelancing for The Verge, including camera reviews, attending the Switch 2 launch event, and co-hosting episodes of the Vergecast and Version History, so you may have seen me before!

I’ve been covering technology since about 2007 when I saw the first iPhone unveiled at MacWorld on a school trip. I then went and bought an Android phone the next year. When I was in high school, Microsoft paid me $100 to put one of my Android apps on the Windows Phone store, but we all know how that went. I quit my engineering job at Intel to head up reviews at Android Authority from 2016 to 2021, and worked as Marques Brownlee’s writer and helped run The Studio Channel for many years.

My specialties generally encompass computational and analog photography, protocols, emoji and linguistics, but I’m always trying to pressure-test the delta between what companies say they’re offering and how people actually use that technology. And most of all, I care about how technology works alongside our lives, for better or worse. Please bring back ambient computing, I’m begging you.

If you’re curious about anything, ask some questions and I’ll be happy to answer them!