Though I will blog and tweet about some of my book news and appearances, this page will be the single best place to keep up-to-date on all things related to The Smartphone: Anatomy of an Industry.

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UPCOMING EVENTS

  • TK

GENERAL BOOK NEWS

  • Alternate book coverA Belgian art student created her own cover for my book, apparently as a school assignment to “choose a crappy book cover and make a new one” — ha! The result is very different from the original! Here’s a link to her portfolio page, which shows both of her proposed covers. And here’s a (small) version of one of her designs:
  • Book UofTlibraries largeI love that a number of libraries have bought my book. The library at the University of Toronto is among that group and its employees recently posted a cool photo that shows my book’s cover. Here’s a link to the original Instagram post and a (small) version of the post/photo:
  • Metro newspaper interviewed me for an article, “Are Smartphones Going to Disappear?” which appeared in its Mexican and Canadian editions. Here’s the story in Spanish and in French.
  • BookAuthority named my book the No. 4 top-rated smartphone book of all time (based on Amazon reviews.)
  • BizTech mentioned my book in an article about the historical significance and technological impact of the BlackBerry 5810 smartphone.
  • A Chinese translation of my book was published in April 2016. This version of the book is on sale in Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Macau. Here’s the online listing. Chinese smartphone coverAnd here’s the Chinese-language book cover (which I actually prefer to my U.S. book cover):
  • The company Republic Wireless, which sells Wi-Fi and cellular coverage plans for smartphones, cited a “wireless waste” statistic from my book in a July 7, 2015 press release.
  • IRE (Investigative Reporters and Editors), a “grassroots non-profit organization dedicated to improving the quality of investigative reporting within the field of journalism,” included my book on its list of nonfiction, investigative journalism books.IRE BOOK LIST 2014 While the list isn’t exactly a shortlist — IRE added 186 books besides mine to the list in 2014 — I was happy to see the investigative aspect of my book recognized. To the right is a screenshot of the list (click to enlarge).
  • I recently recorded a segment about the smartphone industry for teleSUR, a Latin American satellite TV network. (The segment appeared on the TV show Imaginary Lines, which is hosted by the journalist Chris Spannos.) The interview referenced my book quite a bit. You can watch the show online here.
  • I co-authored an article about the state of the smartphone industry with Michael Vakulenko, a mobile industry analyst whom I quoted extensively in my book. The article, “How Smartphone Makers Can Compete With Xiaomi’s Disruptive Business Model” — which you can read here — touches on a number of points I made in my book, including the industry’s brutal business dynamics and the rise of low-cost, Chinese smartphone makers.
  • I held a book giveaway through Goodreads in January, 2015. The winners, who were randomly chosen by Goodreads, hailed from Idaho, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Mexico and Ontario (Canada). Each of them received a hard copy of my book. Thanks to all 467 people who entered the giveaway!
  • I joined the Goodreads Author program. You can see my Goodreads author profile here. You can also rate and/or review my book on Goodreads here.
  • The Utne Reader, a progressive magazine I started reading as a teenager, published an excerpt from my book. The section discusses smartphone plan pricing and consumer rights.
  • The Yale Daily News mentioned my book in a story about Yalie.com, a relatively new website that promotes Yale alumni books (and other artistic works.) You can read the article here.
  • Matthew Hall from Australia’s Sydney Morning Herald/The Age newspapers interviewed me about gray market (counterfeit and/or smuggled) smartphones. (This is a topic I cover in my book.) You can read the article and see some photos here.
  • Library Journal reviewed my book. The review appeared in the October 1, 2014 issue. You can read the review here.
  • Maclean’s reviewed my book. The review appeared in the September 11, 2014 issue. You can read the review here.
  • Kirkus reviewed my book. The review appeared in the August 15, 2014 issue. You can read the review here.
  • Booklist reviewed my book. The review appeared in the August 1, 2014 issue. You can read the review here.

PAST MEDIA APPEARANCES

  • On September 9, 2016, I was a guest on On Point with Tom Ashbrook, a Boston-based NPR show. This was my second time on On Point, but this time I did it from NPR’s Boston studio, where the show is based, rather than remotely from New York. I talked about the iPhone 7 launch, Samsung’s recall of the Galaxy Note 7, and the future of smartphones. You can listen to the entire show here.
  • On September 17, 2014, I was a guest on the Brian Lehrer Show (WNYC radio), where I talked about my book, particularly the “Smartphone [Users] Bill of Rights” section. You can listen to the entire episode here.
  • On June 23, 2014, I was a guest on On Point with Tom Ashbrook. I was primarily there to discuss Amazon’s new Fire smartphone, but I also mentioned some of the reporting I did for my book. You can listen to the full show online here.