Tech Guides by Ken Hollow

Every tech question you've been too embarrassed to ask, answered in plain English.

Illustration of Ken and Nana for the article: Why Every Meeting Could’ve Been an Email (and Every Email Is a War Crime)

Why Every Meeting Could’ve Been an Email (and Every Email Is a War Crime)

By Ken Hollow, survivor of 4,000 Slack pings and counting I have seen the face of hell, and it is a recurring calendar invite labeled…

Illustration of Ken and Nana for the article: Why Every App Wants to Be a Bank Now

Why Every App Wants to Be a Bank Now

By Ken Hollow, unwilling financier of the attention economy Here’s what I wanted from social media: to post a picture, scream into the void, maybe…

Illustration of Ken and Nana for the article: Nana Wants a Livestream (Pray for Me)

Nana Wants a Livestream (Pray for Me)

By Ken Hollow, unwilling stream tech and chaos manager Here’s a sentence I never wanted to say: I am now the livestream producer for a…

Illustration of Ken and Nana for the article: Why Every App Wants to Be TikTok (and Fails Miserably)

Why Every App Wants to Be TikTok (and Fails Miserably)

By Ken Hollow, unpaid trend chaser, reluctant doomscroller Let me tell you a secret: I don’t hate TikTok. I respect it. It’s the apex predator…

Illustration of Ken and Nana for the article: Threads Is Dead, Long Live Whatever Comes Next

Threads Is Dead, Long Live Whatever Comes Next

By Ken Hollow, unwilling caretaker of expired social logins Remember Threads? Of course you don’t. And if you do, it’s only because the app is…

Illustration of Ken and Nana for the article: Nana Wants a Podcast. I Want to Die.

Nana Wants a Podcast. I Want to Die.

By Ken Hollow, podcast producer by blackmail Let me start by saying: I don’t hate podcasts. I hate this podcast. The podcast that was never…

Illustration of Ken and Nana for the article: If You Reply “LOL” to Feedback, I Will Take It Personally

If You Reply “LOL” to Feedback, I Will Take It Personally

By Ken Hollow, professional overthinker and part-time emoji decoder Feedback is supposed to be constructive. Helpful. Collaborative. Instead, it’s often delivered in the most emotionally…

Illustration of Ken and Nana for the article: The Group Chat Is a Full-Time Job

The Group Chat Is a Full-Time Job

By Ken Hollow, professional tab juggler and part-time actual worker Every freelancer has their own productivity kryptonite. For some, it’s TikTok. For others, it’s the…

Illustration of Ken and Nana for the article: Every Client Thinks They’re My Only Client

Every Client Thinks They’re My Only Client

By Ken Hollow, part-time diplomat, full-time liar-for-hire Here’s the first rule of freelancing: every client needs to feel like they are your one and only.…

Illustration of Ken and Nana for the article: The Algorithm Thinks I’m a Different Person Every Week

The Algorithm Thinks I’m a Different Person Every Week

By Ken Hollow, freelance chameleon and reluctant trend hopper Every Monday, I check my analytics like a responsible content creator who pretends to enjoy numbers.…