The Newest Thing

The event in Munich was secondary to the actual draw—spending time with colleagues like Gilly, Ümit, Thang, Christine, Frank, Fuchs, Micha, Rita, Marco, and Rainer, people who think seriously about design and technology. We looked at the Huawei Mate 10 Pro in some sterile event space, but the real substance was after: dinner at Hoiz Neobrasserie, drinks at Ruby Lilly, sleeping in a comfortable hotel. This is what tech journalism actually is—an excuse to be in a room with people you like, looking at the latest expensive thing.

The Mate 10 Pro itself is the kind of phone that makes you believe technology is still going somewhere. The screen is nearly frameless and the display is sharp. The dual Leica cameras are genuinely capable—you can shoot in darkness and get images that look like actual photography, not the overprocessed garbage most phones produce. It’s waterproof. It’s fast. None of this is surprising anymore, but it’s all done well.

I watched people see it and feel something I’d stopped feeling: that excitement about a new device, the sense that you’re not falling behind. My phone worked fine. There was no reason to want the Mate 10. But I could feel the pull anyway—that gravity of wanting the newest thing, the belief that it’s somehow a way of staying young.