It’s a dream week for tech docs

# It’s a dream week for tech docs Source: [https://www.theverge.com/tech/1013367/best-tech-documentaries-musk-holmes-installer](https://www.theverge.com/tech/1013367/best-tech-documentaries-musk-holmes-installer) Hi, friends\! Welcome to*Installer*No\. 148, your guide to the best and*Verge*\-iest stuff in the world\. \(If you’re new here, welcome, hope you’re enjoying all your pumpkin\-flavored everything, and also you can read all the old editions at the[*Installer*homepage](https://www.theverge.com/installer-newsletter)\.\) This week, I’ve been reading about[**Marc Andreessen**](https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2026-10-15/how-ai-crypto-and-dei-drove-marc-andreessen-to-maga)and[**the future of math**](https://www.quantamagazine.org/is-ai-the-end-of-math-as-we-know-it-20261005/)and[**Mike Tomlin**](https://www.gq.com/story/mike-tomlin-profile)and[**Citizens United**](https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2012/05/21/money-unlimited), reminiscing about[**the heyday of MySpace**](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bKunNwD0uT8), sending[**this article**](https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/2026/11/text-communication-social-obligation/688696/?gift=-pzApl_qRpBxCFP0g-J3xFKl80o5mHEBBnsVBWZ8Wgw)to everyone as an apology for my bad texting, listening to the Pet Shop Boys’[**new Alan Turing album**](https://www.petshopboys.co.uk/news/2026-10-09/a-man-from-the-future-4)and[**Dwarkesh Patel’s thoughts on AI**](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b-jsSfh0a9M), barely keeping myself from preordering an[**iPhone Duo**](https://apple.sjv.io/c/482924/435031/7613?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.apple.com%2Fiphone-duo), asking a lot of questions about that[**“flying” Tesla Roadster**](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qt5p-_tE8d0), and endlessly shopping for tripods to hold my phone for social videos\. I have thought way too much about tripods this week\. I also have for you a couple of huge new tech docs and a whole bunch of gadgets worth a look\. Gadget season, baby\! Let’s go\. \(As always, the best part of*Installer*is your ideas and tips\. What are you watching / reading / listening to / playing / throwing in the trunk this week? Tell me everything:[installer@theverge\.com](mailto:[email protected])\. And if you know someone else who might enjoy*Installer*, forward it to them and tell them to[subscribe here](https://www.theverge.com/subscribe)\.\) ## The Drop - [***You Can See Everything***](https://www.themoviedb.org/movie/1765072-you-can-see-everything?language=en-US)**\.**I can’t remember the last time I was so excited about a documentary \(especially a three\-hour one\)\. The pairing of Elizabeth Holmes and Nathan Fielder, the shocking level of access, the incredible meta\-ness of the whole project\. I’ll be seeing this the first minute I can\. Oh, and after you watch the doc, watch[**Josh Johnson’s hourlong set**](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lc06dK-JiAY)on all things Elizabeth Holmes\. Glorious\. - [***Musk***](https://www.themoviedb.org/movie/1096228-musk?language=en-US)**\.**And here’s four more hours of tech doc\! The reviews here are also spectacular, and even if you’ve been following the news the last decade or so, I suspect seeing it all in a row at once is going to be an experience\. - [**The Apple HomeView**](https://apple.sjv.io/c/482924/435031/7613?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.apple.com%2Fapple-homeview)**\.**I keep staring at the buy button on this new $299 home hub\. I’m not sure what I need it for, really — my very basic smart home is working just fine — but there’s something almost old\-school about the idea of this as a sort of family computer\. I’m certainly in the market for fewer reasons to look at my phone\. - [**The new Siri Remote**](https://apple.sjv.io/c/482924/435031/7613?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.apple.com%2Fshop%2Fproduct%2Fmlfc4am%2Fa%2Fsiri-remote)**\.**I cannot in good conscience recommend a $300 Apple TV, but I can totally tell you to drop $60 on the new Find My\-enabled remote\! I mean, wait until you lose your existing one first\. But you will\. These remotes are impossible\. - [**The Fairphone Fairbuds 2**](https://www.fairphone.com/fairbuds-2)**\.**I’ve come to like both Fairphone’s minimalist aesthetic and its emphasis on repairability, and the fact that it gets both into a lighter, smaller, longer\-lasting, cheaper\-than\-AirPods[package](https://www.theverge.com/tech/1010906/fairphone-fairbuds-2-price-release-audio-repairability)is pretty exciting\. - [**The Xbox Nano Controller**](https://go.skimresources.com/?id=87443X1797501&xs=1&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.xbox.com%2Fen-US%2Faccessories%2Fcontrollers%2Fxbox-nano-controller)**\.**Look at this little guy\! A pocket\-sized game controller comes in handy more often than you think \(makes the waiting room a*lot*more fun\), and this one has all the buttons you’d expect for Xbox and other games\. If the battery life is good, this one’s gonna be a winner\. - [**The Fitbit Edge\.**](https://www.anrdoezrs.net/links/101881227/type/dlg/https://store.google.com/us/product/google_fitbit_edge?hl=en-US)I’ve been using a[**Fitbit Air**](https://www.anrdoezrs.net/links/101881227/type/dlg/https://store.google.com/product/google_fitbit_air?hl=en-US)for a while, and I like it a lot, but I*do*miss having a fitness tracker that also told me the time\. This one does that, plus[a little more](https://www.theverge.com/gadgets/1008410/fitbit-edge-price-battery-specs-fitness-tracker%E2%80%99)workout and biometric tracking\. It’s not the handsomest wristwear I’ve ever seen, but it is very Fitbit\. - [**The CMF Speaker S**](https://go.skimresources.com/?id=87443X1797501&xs=1&url=https%3A%2F%2Fus.nothing.tech%2Fproducts%2Fcmf-speaker-s)**\.**I am a sucker for a cool Bluetooth speaker, and these[futuristic milk carton\-looking devices](https://www.theverge.com/tech/1008191/nothing-cmf-speaker-m-s-series-bluetooth-design-customize)are*fabulous*\. I bought one of the small ones immediately, and I’m already debating a second to build out the stereo pair\. More companies should make speakers that look good\! - [**E Ink Kaleido 4**](https://www.eink.com/brand/detail/Kaleido)**\.**This isn’t so much a specific gadget as it is good news for a whole category of gadgets: We have[a new version](https://www.theverge.com/tech/1011384/e-ink-paper-color-kaleido-4-screen-upgrade-gamut-contrast-brightness)of the color E Ink panel found in lots of devices, with promises of both better colors and better performance\. Kaleido has let down a lot of devices, but I’m excited to see what comes of this\. I’ve been reading[**Kevin Roose**](https://kevinroose.com/)’s new book,[***The AGI Chronicles***](https://theagichronicles.com/), this week, and I truly cannot recommend it enough\. We sometimes make fun of Kevin for loving \(and being loved by\) AI too much, but this book is fabulously reported, has taught me a ton, and makes so many things about the AI industry make a lot more sense\. And Kevin’s not done\! He and \(friend of*Installer*\) Casey Newton are getting ready to launch their new show,[***Machine Gods***](https://machinegods.fm/), sometime next week\. \(If you were a*Hard Fork*fan, you’re gonna need to be listening to this one\.\) So I figured now was a good time to see how Kevin gets it all done — and whether he’s just Claude Code\-d himself out of existence altogether\. Have I even been texting with the real Kevin this week? WHO KNOWS\. Here’s Kevin’s homescreen, plus some info on the apps he uses and why: [](https://platform.theverge.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/10/Kevin-Roose-homescreen.jpeg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0,0,100,100) **The phone:**iPhone 15 Pro \(barely works, battery life is a joke, storage is full, but I’m holding out until I can preorder the Duo and become a new man\)\. **The wallpaper:**A photo of my son fishing at the Russian River\. **The apps:**Voice Memos, WhatsApp, Signal, Spotify, Google Maps, Safari, Day One, Brick, Stash, Superwhisper, Substack, Slack, Town, Apple Notes, Phone, Gmail, Messages\. I’m a big dictation guy, I barely type anymore, and I use[**Superwhisper**](https://superwhisper.com/)and Voice Memos for everything\. I vibe\-coded a Pocket replacement called[**Stash**](https://kevinroose.com/stash/)that is still a delight many months later\. \(Building your own apps is so fun\!\) And I’m running a swarm of AI agents that includes Skynet \(my[**ChatGPT Dot**](https://chatgpt.com/features/dots/), which I use mostly for personal tasks\), Hootie \(my work agent, which runs on an app called[**Town**](https://www.town.com/)that Casey got me into\), and Nancy \(my[**Muse**](https://muse.ai/)agent, who trades Kalshi on my behalf and has lost me $41 to date\)\. I have a “red flags” app folder for social media and everything else I know is rotting my brain, a “green flags” folder for things that feel vaguely enriching, and an AI folder for all of my silly little bots\. *I also asked Kevin to share a few things he’s into right now\. Here’s what he sent back:* - I’m hopelessly addicted to[***Balatro***](https://www.playbalatro.com/), a poker roguelike game that Casey got me into\. \(I will never forgive him for this\.\) - We’re starting a new, YouTube\-first podcast, so I’m watching a lot of popular YouTube shows like[***New Heights***](https://www.youtube.com/@newheightshow)and[***Good Work***](https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC_-hYjoNe4PJNFa9iZ4lraA)to get ideas\. - For fun, I usually stick with my hobby channels:[***Served***](https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC0k_--YLuTNuDvq1Dw4zHmw)\(a tennis podcast hosted by Andy Roddick\) and[**Roffle Lite**](https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCLnar-aS8iHa2ldj1w_pgJQ)\(a*Balatro*streamer whose videos I sometimes fall asleep to\), plus some stuff my son likes \([**Mark Rober**](https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCY1kMZp36IQSyNx_9h4mpCg),[***Bluey***](https://www.themoviedb.org/tv/82728-bluey),[**Yoto stories**](https://go.skimresources.com/?id=87443X1797501&xs=1&url=https%3A%2F%2Fus.yotoplay.com%2F)\) that I’ve also gotten into\. - My favorite new app right now is[**Dreambeans**](https://labs.google/dreambeans), a truly demented Google Labs app that sends AI\-generated illustrations of personalized suggestions for things to do every day\. I’ll open it up and it’s like, “Today you could go birdwatching at Point Reyes” and it’s just a stylized cartoon of me looking at a heron through binoculars\. I don’t think people know Dreambeans exists but I love it and am preemptively sad for 6 months from now when Google shuts it down\. ## Crowdsourced *Here’s what the*Installer*community is into this week\. I want to know what you’re into right now as well\! Email*[*installer@theverge\.com*](mailto:[email protected])*or message me on Signal — @davidpierce\.11 — with your recommendations for anything and everything, and we’ll feature some of our favorites here every week\. For even more great recommendations, check out the replies to*[*this post on Threads*](https://www.threads.com/share/P1m8QiJD0/)*and*[*this post on Bluesky*](https://bsky.app/profile/davidpierce.xyz/post/3mxwwacpfx22l)*\.* “I’ve been using the markdown writing app,[**Em**](https://useem.app/)\. I’m a longtime fan of iA Writer, but this plays so nicely with Ghost that my head has been turned\.” — Chris “Just got my[**Bose Wired Earbuds**](https://www.anrdoezrs.net/links/101881227/type/dlg/https://www.bose.com/p/earbuds/bose-noise-cancelling-wired-earbuds/NCWEARB-HEADPHONEIN.html?dwvar_NCWEARB-HEADPHONEIN_color=BLACK&quantity=1), and I haven’t felt this excited and happy for a pair of earbuds since AirPods\.” — Sai “I’ve been liking the app[**Shelf & Story**](https://shelfandstory.com/)for finding good books for my kids\. Goodreads never quite cut it for me for that\.” — Martha “Made by the founder of TV Time,[**Bingers**](https://bingers.app/)is my new favorite media tracker\. Lots of really neat features \(like easily updating dates and automatically populating a watchlist\)\. Still can be improved but it’s off to a great start and is the first thing I reach for over Letterboxd these days\.” — pegasusisme “Just finished the most recent season of[***Jet Lag: The Game***](https://www.youtube.com/c/jetlagthegame)\. Probably their best one yet\. A fantastic jumping on point for anyone new to it\.” — Shane “[***Carrie***](https://www.themoviedb.org/tv/288673-carrie), as soon as my internet provider resolves the outage affecting my area\.” — Kev “Doing my annual listen to[***Snow Crash***](https://go.skimresources.com/?id=87443X1797501&xs=1&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.audible.com%2Fpd%2FSnow-Crash-Audiobook%2FB002UUKWCY)— very much worth picking up in current times for anybody who has or hasn’t had the pleasure \(Jonathan David is a PLEASURE to listen to\)\.” — Jonathan “Still playing[***Fire Emblem: Fortune’s Weave***](https://go.skimresources.com/?id=87443X1797501&xs=1&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nintendo.com%2Fus%2Fstore%2Fproducts%2Ffire-emblem-fortunes-weave-switch-2%2F%3Fslug%3Dfire-emblem-fortunes-weave-switch-2)\. Completed my first path\. Just in time for the expansion pass to get announced\.” — Connor “I’ve been really hooked on small roguelikes, like the city\-builder meets*Balatro*in[***Combolands***](https://go.skimresources.com/?id=87443X1797501&xs=1&url=https%3A%2F%2Fstore.steampowered.com%2Fapp%2F4075620%2FCombolands_Roguelike_Citybuilder%2F)and the same twist but billiards in[***Ultrapool***](https://ultrapoolgame.com/)\. I’ve been playing them on the Steam Deck which is good with some mouse tweaks, but you need to be comfy with the trackpads\.” — Scott ## Signing off I mentioned last week that I’ve switched notes app, this time to[**Capacities**](https://capacities.io/)\. Again\. A few of you asked what finally clicked for me, and the answer is really simple: Capacities has this concept of “objects” instead of “notes,” which treats everything you save as a discrete type of thing\. Images get treated and categorized one way; PDFs another; text notes another\. Everything lives on its own, but is also organized by tags, dates, and however else you want\. Getting this setup right is a*lot*of work, because you have to create and tune each object the way you want, but I spent an afternoon watching football and entering metadata and suddenly I can find things in my notes app again\. This system won’t be for everybody — even at its best it’s pretty fiddly — but if you do wind up mucking around in Capacities, stare long and hard at[this page in the documentation](https://docs.capacities.io/tutorials/creating-new-objects)first\. It’ll help\. See you next week\! **Follow topics and authors**from this story to see more like this in your personalized homepage feed and to receive email updates\. - David Pierce