Well… there’s no other way to say it… welcome to 2026 everyone! Yes I know, the more things change the more they stay the same and all that. Resolutions made and near-instantly broken. Craigslist and Facebook Marketplace flooded with all the… umm… “stuff” from last year that you need to get rid of to make room for all the… yeah… “stuff” that magically appeared over the holiday shopping season… and, as if that weren’t enough… it’s CES time once again!

That’s right, back to the desert, back to the endless rows of startups, established legends, and global phenomenons allequally trying to convince us that their widget is, in fact, the next big thing…

We’ve actually said for a couple CES’ in a row now that true “gadgets” continue to be on the rise… As the (entirely, at least) App-driven economy becomes even more commoditized, room continues to present itself for new, interesting ways to productize, package, and ship the latest, greatest way to do everything from scrambling eggs to exploring the outer reaches of space…

CES is all that and a bag of micro-chips this year, as much as any other. But, just underneath the surface, there’s also a different vibe just waiting to take the headline… With RAM-pocalypse in full swing, every brand you’ve ever heard of is pivoting prices, adjusting shipping timelines, and honestly re-assessing if certain offerings even make sense considering the environment…

With AI squarely to blame… it’s no less ironic that, at the core of far too many of the gadgets themselves is, well… AI!

Used to be, something was effectively vaporware until it shipped… now I have to wonder if it’s vaporware until it’s been shipped, delivered, and, well… proven to actually do anything?

Let’s see what we can find…

A new year somehow always presents a… certain type of friction.

We’re tempted, all at once, to think back reflectively on our most recent past while at the same time told to be visionaries about our quickly-approaching future (and beyond)…

Well, you’ve likely been listening long enough to know there’s… not a whole lot of what we would call “visionary” happening here at the Solid State Podcast but hey, at least we have fun doing it?

In all seriousness, the life that is tech is far more than a job, a hobby, or even a passion. It is an integral part of who we are, and this show is an expression of that.

So as we look back at 2025, ahead to 2026, and ask ourselves where we see all this going and… if it were up to us… how that trajectory might be a bit different… it should come as know surprise that we had (and still have)… umm, thoughts…

With that there’s no other way to say it… we did it again! Another year basically in the bag and a new one hangs there, just on the other side of the hill.

If RAM prices are any indication it’s… not going to be a cheap yet. But, if nothing else, it’s going to be a lot of fun…

Let’s hit it.

The meaning of things can just… change with time. It’s inescapable, nostalgia is very much a thing, and it’s honestly a tired trope at this point too. That said… sometimes when a thing changes, people insist on acting like it hasn’t and that might just border on (or run right over) the edge of insincerity.

So with that in mind, it’s time for some real talk. In just a couple short weeks, tired from turkey and well… family… Black Friday will arrive for us all. See, once upon a time that meant one thing… consume as much caffeine as possible, pile into a car (or several of them), and proceed to wander aimlessly around the nearest Outlet mall hoping to score the latest season of Big Bang Theory for no less than $5 cheaper than any other day of the year. Or was that just me?

Could you save some money? Sure. Would emotions, relationships, and raw humanity be tested endlessly? All but certainly. Was it worth it? I refuse to answer on the grounds that it may incriminate me.

Now flash forward to more recent years and… let’s just face it… the thing has changed. Sure there’s still a day, sure there’s even still endless lines and supposed “door busters” to be had. But I can also confidently tell you that “Black Friday” started much closer to October 31st than November 28th and that’s… just the way things are.

So all the advertisements, emails, and circulars can tell you about an impending ONE-DAY-ONLY opportunity right around the corner… I’m here to tell you those and many other deals are here today, they were here two weeks ago, and they’ll all but certainly be around two weeks after.

And to put that theory to the test, we armed ourselves with a pile of Monopoly money and asked the only question that matters… what does several thousand dollars get you on Black Friday 2025?

Check please…