I'm Back On ZDNET

I’m back on ZDNET as of a few days ago. Some of you are probably saying, “back?” Yes, I’m back. Maybe I should clarify. Picture it. Charlotte, North Carolina. 2012. It was about 6AM local time. I was at my humble desk in my humble abode known as “Chateau Ghetto” taking a look at what was going on for the start of Mobile World Congress which was happening in Barcelona, Spain.

I hope I don’t upset ZDNet and Red Ventures by modifying this logo for story’s sake. . . .

At the time, I’d been invited to join a startup tech blog called aNewDomain which was lead by Gina Smith. My intent was to get up early and write about anything I found interesting regarding the conference. To my surprise, I found a PDF file from Microsoft detailing the consumer preview of its Windows 8 operating system. I thought it was pretty cool to see the documentation about the “new look” of Windows and put a blog post together detailing what I had found. An hour or so passes and my Google chat window started blowing up with messages of excitement from Gina Smith. This caught me by surprise. Apparently, my blog post about the “leaked” document was a big hit. This lead to other sites picking up the story and linking back to me. In particularly, Mr. Jason Hiner of ZDNet mentioned my post.

This blew my mind because I was a big fan of the work Mr. Hiner had done over the years as tech news and tech journalism was all the buzz. To see he mentioned lil’ ol’ me in his piece was something I’ll never forget. But anyway, I’m technically “back on” ZDNet now. This time I’m on the team as a freelance contributor.

What does this mean?

As a freelance contributor, I’ll be creating content around the wonky world of consumer technology in the form of blog posts and videos. I’ll also lend a hand in shooting photography for the team as a hired camera, if you will. I look forward to working with Mr. Hiner and the ZDNet team. He and I go back quite a ways as he also gave me a freelance gig many years ago on TechRepublic. When I joined TWiT in 2019, I had to drop my contributions to TechRepublic because of some dumb ass proposition here in California. But yes, this is going to be a fun exerience. I look forward to it.

Why freelance and not full-time?

I’m freelance for a couple of reasons. First off, full-time employment isn’t offered at this time. Which is fine. Secondly, I can’t say that I’m interested in full-time work at this time. Real talk.

For pretty much most of my professional career, I’ve been a bit of a self-starter and on my own. Even though the majority of my career was in IT at a big company of some sort, I had a lot of autonomy and freedom. I “worked from home” for many years before that phrase was normalized during the 2020 pandemic. I didn’t have to deal with micro-management leadership. I’m grateful for that. So I always felt like a contractor, or freelancer in that regard.

Now in 2023 and 2024, we continue to read and hear about companies struggling financially around the country. I was laid off from TWiT in December 2023. It wasn’t personal, it was business and it made sense. I would have laid me off, too. Not to mention other huge companies such as Salesforce, Google, Microsoft, Sony and many more laying off staff in the coming months.

Are you sure?

I personally don’t believe finding full-time work in my field is going to happen. It’s a tough business. I want to be in control of my own destiny for that reason. I previously worked at a company of almost half of my life. I was given an opportunity to take another job elsewhere for better wages even though I wasn’t looking for a new job. You know what the company said to me which I worked at for 16 years?

“Are you sure?”

Not, “what can we do to keep you here” or anything of that nature. NO FREAKIN’ LOYALTY TOWARDS ME or anything I’d done for the previous 16 years as an employee. I was naive and that changed my outlook going forward. I needed to be able to control my destiny.

What I went through at TWiT was great. The Laportes were great to me. I had autonomy and was also able to learn other things during my time there. But again, it was more of a mental note to me that I need to keep pushing to have control. So I’m doing everything I can to get Ant Pruitt Media back on track and rollin’ forward.

Anyway, that’s the news. Be sure to check out ZDNet for other great consumer tech content. They do a good job of keeping it real when it comes to all the fuss about the new hotness of tech. I’ll see you soon. Thanks for all the support.

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What To Expect at CES 2024

CES is here and some of you care, most of you don’t care, most of the world really cares. For those that don’t know, CES is a massive trade show that happens each year in January at Las Vegas. Thousands of companies large and small come here to show off their products to corporate buyers and consumers alike. For the tech nerd, it’s a pretty cool event to attend. You can get hands-on time with some of your favorite tech items of the previous year that you may not have had access to. Or, you can get a glimpse of new releases for the current year or even concept products. It’s not just laptops, headphones, or even smartphones. It’s all that, everything in between and then some. Cars, agriculture equipment, smart home tech, TVs, circuit boards, doo-hickies to neatly wrap your mic cables around. Seriously. EVERYTHING.

I’ve always enjoyed CES. As a matter of fact, this year I was reminded that my very first time to Las Vegas and CES was ten years ago. It was an incredible experience and opened a lot of doors for me professionally. Gina Smith and team brought me, Mat Lee and others out to cover the event. I remember taking this picture in the central hall because it really encapsulated what I always imagined CES would look like. I’m forever grateful for that trip out here.

Image: Ant Pruitt

Anyway, what to expect at CES this year? Easy, pretty much the same marketing gibberish from 2023 around the world of AI. I swear, EVERY SINGLE EMAIL I’ve gotten from marketing and PR departments about attending CES has had them pitching some form of AI within the first three sentences. Some of it sounds “ok,” and some of it sounds cringy. They should have lead with the second paragraph in this email. . . .

Let me be straight with you, as I always am, I’m pretty tired of talking bout AI. Most of the time when AI is discussed it’s around some gloom and doom or it’s “flowers and sunshine.” There’s hardly any coverage of the middle ground. Quite frankly, the middle ground is rather interesting and worthy of discussion. I spoke previously about AI on Marina Franklin’s podcast. As a comedian and creator, she had great concerns about AI. And I get that. But not all AI is bad, just as not all AI is good. Far as what’s been pitched to me in all these emails from marketing teams, it’s mostly content that makes me ask why is AI even needed for that. “We’re announcing an AI-driven soaker hose for your garden.” Is there something wrong with the timers used on current soaker hoses?

In a bit of better/useful announcements, I did see that Withings launched a new product. I’ve dealt with Withings before as they make smart watches and other smart tech such as scales to aide in fitness tracking. They’ve announced what they’re calling a “multiscope” to assist with home health checkups. Granted, you should always lean on a medical professional, but this BeamO tool can be used for getting vital signs and more.

Image via Withings

I know there will be more than AI discussed at CES, so I still look forward to what’s to come. Samsung announced it’s using AI to upscale what’s seen on your favorite broadcast to almost 8K. I need to see it to believe it. Granted, upscaling AI tools that are currently in place are pretty dadgum good. One of my favorites is Upscayl. But to see upscaling done on-the-fly with a live broadcast (of MOVING frames) will be fascinating. I’ll see if I can get my eyes on it.

I decided to take the trip to Las Vegas and attend CES this year after not being here the last two years. But, this will be a different approach. Usually, when I come to CES it is a GRIND. I’m running around the floor trying to gather images, video, audio, notes to get content created almost on-the-fly. Not this time. I’m here to do my best to shake some hands and do a mental/physical reboot.

Real talk, I need work. I’ve applied for several jobs and gigs. I’ll continue to do so. But I came here because of the relationships. And I’m grateful for the relationships I was able to create over the years at previous CES events. It opened doors. Relationships such as Canon. Real talk, I’m pretty much a NOBODY, but Canon has been REALLY SUPPORTIVE of me for YEARS. I look forward to shooting some street photography with my Canon camera.* So yeah, I’m here to find myself something that will contribute to paying my day-to-day bills and supporting my family’s needs. Then, I’m gonna lay low and just chill out. Maybe go take some pictures here and there, but I’m NOT going to go 200mph like I used to out here. Only about 25mph. My body has been wrecked recently. From having finally catching COVID a couple weeks ago to digestive issues and overall “not quite right” feeling. It’s time to chillout. Side note, be mindful of those “something’s not quite right” moments. I noticed something wasn’t right when I was in the gym. I felt fine, but the lifts I performed were much harder than usual. My body was wrecked and I needed to sit my ass down.

I didn’t tell anyone I was coming to CES because that leads to “hey let’s meet up at ABC or at XYZ and chat.” Granted, it’s nice to see some of the folks I’ve met over the years in person at this annual event, but that usually equated to a LOT of running around and a pretty flooded calendar for me. I have two things on my calendar that I set for myself as MUST DO events. That’s it. I’ll catch up with my man Tom Merritt while here. I’ve already scheduled an appearance on his show next month. That cat has been so supportive of me and other creators of color over the years doing what he can to help provide a bigger megaphone if you will. Nothing but love for him.

But anyway, those are my thoughts and plans for CES 2024. For the rest of the day, I’ll continue to roam the convention center checking out everything get set up up the official open on January 9, 2024. Pretty crazy seeing this perspective. Be well, folks. Do something nice for yourself because you deserve it. Do something nice for someone else. Even if it’s just offering an ear to allow someone to vent for a minute. And, if there’s a creator out there you enjoy, but sure to let them know and share their content with the masses. Not that stupid video of some idiots fighting in Walmart. Share creator’s works to everyone and donate to their funds if you can. It helps.

#CreateAndDominate

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