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3 days ago | 
bakerontech.com | Phil Baker
Chase just announced a massive annual fee hike for their popular Sapphire Reserve card—from $550 to $795/year, a 45% increase. A second card on the account jumps from $75 to $195. That makes it $990 for a card for both my wife and myself. With this jump, the card now carries the highest fee among consumer travel cards, even surpassing Amex Platinum’s $695.
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2 weeks ago | 
bakerontech.com | Phil Baker
I was back on the road this week traveling to Massachusetts from San Diego to visit old friends and take my wife to her college reunion. While we’ve traveled internationally a few time last year, this was the first cross-country trip within the U.S.San Diego’s new Sapphire Lounge – We had a chance to try out the new Sapphire Lounge in San Diego Airport’s Terminal 2. It was a large attractive lounge with a large bar serving free drinks, some breakfast foods, coffee and tea.
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3 weeks ago | 
bakerontech.com | Phil Baker
When I wrote a column a few weeks ago about how the Apple iPhone had stagnated and was falling behind some Android phones, several readers asked for examples. So I did a bit of research as if I was looking to purchase a new Android phone and see what I could find. I didn’t have to go far. Android brands like Samsung, Google, and Motorola have released new phones in 2025 that significantly outperform the iPhone 16 in real-world usability.
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1 month ago | 
bakerontech.com | Phil Baker
There great new business book, Apple in China, is currently number one on the business bestseller chart. Check out John Stewart’s interview with the author, Patric McGee. As noted in my review of two-weeks ago, the fast-paced book traces how Apple’s first foray into Asia, started with Taiwan and expanded into massive facilities in China.
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1 month ago | 
bakerontech.com | Phil Baker
There was a big announcement this week from Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, that his company is buying a device startup called io, launched by former Apple designer Jony Ive, for $6.5 billion.
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1 month ago | 
bakerontech.com | Phil Baker
Newark’s recent air corridor failures are not just about radar outages or overworked air traffic controllers. They’re about something much bigger — the convergence of negligence, performative politics, and Silicon Valley hubris. What was it’s cause? There is blame to go around: the gutting of federal agencies, billionaire egos thinking they can reinvent physics, scapegoating of social progress, and a crumbling public infrastructure that looks like it was built with duct tape and a lot of praying.
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1 month ago | 
bakerontech.com | Phil Baker |Phil Baker
Throughout my career in product development I’ve used Asian resources to supplement the work being done in the U.S. to bring new consumer tech products to market more quickly. When I worked at Polaroid in the 80s designing cameras, I used companies in Japan that were expert in optics to develop some cameras I designed. And years later when I was at Apple in the 90s, I led the development of the Newton using resources in Taiwan. That was the first time Apple developed a product from scratch in Asia.
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1 month ago | 
bakerontech.com | Phil Baker
In his first 100 days back in the White House, Donald Trump has dramatically reshaped the landscape of the U.S. tech industry, something I’ve been a part of over my entire career. He’s had an impact like no other president in such a short time. It’s included aggressive tariffs, abrupt policy reversals, isolationist moves, and ethically questionable ventures that have left the industry shaken and uncertain.
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Mar 27, 2025 | 
bakerontech.com | Phil Baker
Many of us complain about how much better things were in the good old days. And sometimes it’s even true, especially when it comes to products from big tech. With less competition, these near-monopolies know we have no alternatives. As a consequence, their services, apps, and other products are getting harder to use. It’s all by design.
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Mar 11, 2025 | 
bakerontech.com | Phil Baker
Elon Musk and Donald Trump are not just reckless or misguided—they are two of the most destabilizing forces in the modern world. In an era when democratic values and technological progress should be advancing hand in hand, these two men have instead used their wealth and influence to undermine institutions, spread misinformation, and erode public trust. They are not builders; they are dismantlers. And their destruction is catching up with them.
