Way back when, in what simultaneously feels like yesterday and forever ago, ByteNow.net — this very website that you're reading — was a bustling thing. We served tens of thousands of recurring readers every month. While that's likely paltry by today's standards, we were really proud of what we built at the time.

ByteNow was originally a passion project my friend Chris and I began in 2010, simply as a hobby. We just wanted a place to write about tech news, bond over gadgetry, and fawn over the incredible growth that was taking place at the time in the mobile tech space. Things changed for us when we received an opportunity to travel to the last ever MacWorld conference in San Francisco. I had no idea what I was doing walking around the halls of the Moscone Center, but I knew I was in a spot where I wanted to continue exploring. I struck up dozens of conversations with accessory makers, which felt so exciting at the time, and left that conference with a vision for what I wanted ByteNow to continue evolving towards. A tech voice for the everyman.

In the years that followed, we built upon a recipe of speaking to everyday consumers in a language they understood to help drive them towards purchase decisions. It was a formula that worked. I never set out to create a prestigious technology journalism publication. What we got instead was something that sent friends, family members, friends of friends, and average consumers into our inboxes who all wanted to know the same things: what should I buy, how much should I spend, what is the difference between this and that?

We ran with it. It was a success for what it was. Unfortunately, the constraints of real life got in the way, the site lay dormant for several years, and I ended up losing control of the domain. I was lucky enough to reacquire it in 2023, and have clung onto it ever since. Unsure of what I'd eventually do with it, I've teased friends with the idea of writing over and over again, but never stuck to it. But I want to do it now. Between AI taking over the world, smartphones going through a bit of a resurgence, and the entire category of laptops feeling somewhat interesting again, I've had more thoughts and writing inspiration than I've had in years.

That brings us to now. I'm writing this with at least 3 post ideas in mind. I have new hardware coming in. Even more exciting new hardware is on the horizon. I've finally committed to the two smartphone life to put an end to my notorious personality flaw of switching back and forth between iOS and Android. I don't know where we'll go from here, but the good thing is we're starting again. I'm looking forward to it.

Coming soon:

• My thoughts on the MacBook Neo (maybe I'll buy one, for giggles)
• First impressions and an eventual review of the Galaxy S26 Ultra
• Secret idea I don't want to share yet.

I don't know who is going to see this, but if you do, I hope you find a way to stick around. Welcome back.

(P.S. I am still very much learning Ghost CMS. Post and site formatting may look weird for a minute.)