We’ve covered an extensive amount of technology here at Telegraph Recommended, from the latest smartphones and laptops to voice-activated kitchen bins. There are a lot of products on the market, but one person who knows how to sort the wheat from the chaff is Jason Bradbury.
The tech expert is best known for presenting Channel 5’s technology programme The Gadget Show for 12 years. He’s also the author of a series of techno-thrillers for children, and has also been on the judging panels for the BAFTA Video Games Awards and the MediaGuardian Innovation Awards.
We sat down with Bradbury at the Ideal Home Show in Birmingham, where he curated the smart home showcase, for our Readers Ask series, where industry specialists answer queries from our Telegraph Recommended Reader Panel. Read his answers below.
Is there a best time of year to purchase new gadgets?
Boris, North West
Yes. Often, new technology is showcased in January and is sometimes revisited in summer, then is available to buy in the autumn. That means September, October or November is the best time to buy new tech, like games consoles, virtual reality helmets or new smartphones.
If you were on a desert island, which gadget would you miss the most?
My Onewheel. As the name suggests, it’s a single wheel with a skateboard built around it. It’s the closest you’ll get to being like Marty McFly in Back To The Future. At the ripe age of 57 years old, this is my daily driver. When I’ve taken my kids to school, I jump on my skateboard and glide down into town. I live in Newquay, Cornwall, and while you can go on the beach with it, it’s got to be a flat beach. A desert island isn’t going to be ideal.
Do you prefer iPhone or Android devices?
This is a political question for which 50 per cent of the population are going to hate me. In fact, a larger proportion of people actually have Android devices.
I love both for different reasons, and both have amazing features to offer. The walled garden that is the iPhone is a coherent operating system, but you can’t put stuff on or get stuff off it easily, which Android is great for.
Are we pushing technology into areas of the home that don’t need it?
Anthony, Yorkshire
There’s nothing wrong with an AI feature-rich bird table. We may be pushing technology into areas of the home that it never belonged in, but it’s a choice. We get pressured to buy the shiniest new thing, but it’s easy to go off grid. I have a campervan, and while yes I plug it in to charge the battery, it’s pretty much off grid. I could take an Xbox with me, but I don’t.
If you choose to buy technology that enhances life for you, that’s great. Take the bird feeder – one I saw at the Ideal Home Show, for example, uses AI to identify the species of bird that’s nibbling on the seeds that you put out. If you’re not as mobile as you used to be, you get to interact with your garden in a way that you wouldn’t ordinarily be able to. Someone else would say that was a ridiculous idea.
It’s an exciting time. I like where smart tech is going. In the health area, it could be seen as an intrusion, collecting the most intimate data around your body. But it’s important to know where your health is so you can take action and own it.
What are your tech predictions for the next few years?
Brian, London
AI is going to bring us new materials. There will be efficiency gains in the recovery of thermal energy, with benefits for fuel efficiency. We’ll see new types of polymers and non-polluting plastics, with gains through AI in biology to make organisms that can consume plastic. This will hopefully solve microplastic pollution – a dreadful problem in Cornwall. There will also be advances in surgery, identifying disease in treatment and pharmacology.
I understand people’s jobs are at risk from AI, and that’s a real consequence. But if you stop the cynicism for a minute, it is an incredible moment in our history. I feel privileged to be gazing through the window of the next two years and beyond. We could be looking at fusion reactors efficient enough to work properly, self-driving vehicles that will make travel safer and more efficient, new fuels… It’s mind-blowing.
When did your interest in tech begin?
Daniel, London
My father, who was a plastics expert working for a factory, brought home a prototype for the first generation of digital watches and calculators.
I was born in 1969, and it was an amazing time to be alive. Growing up and being conscious of tech in the 70s and 80s felt similar to how it does now. The ‘70s was quite analogue before the mass adoption of consumer electronics, computers and video games. The fervour around new ideas, born of the obsession and efficiency gains with AI, is a similar feeling to the 80s.
Who was your biggest inspiration?
Ekaterina, West Midlands
My father. He was a huge fan of technology and insisted on buying me computers and first-generation consoles. He got me to try programming and be connected to the world in which he was making prototypes for the new computer generation.
There’s also Sir Clive Sinclair, who was the ‘80s answer to Elon Musk, if Elon Musk was ginger and looked like a geography teacher. He was the brains behind the first computer that a lot of British kids in the 80s got their hands on, the ZX80, ZX81 and the ZX Spectrum. I actually own the Sinclair C5 vehicle from 1985, although I don’t drive it too often because it’s not that reliable.
Does having a smart home pose any security risks?
Liam, London
Yes. When you install cameras and smart devices that track you, there is, without a shadow of a doubt, a consideration there around who does what with that data. When everything’s connected, someone can hack it. There are efforts every minute of every day to grab your personal information to monetise it. You need to consider that, especially with AI, which is great at writing code, hacking and putting that power in the hands of all kinds of people.
What I’d say on that score is to get a router with good security, and don’t go with default passwords.
What’s your ‘take’ on children and gadgets?
Patricia, West Midlands
As the father of three crazy young people, one of whom is a professional Fortnite player, I have an open attitude to technology. But I also don’t like seeing kids in restaurants staring at an iPad. I also understand the pressures that parents have and I’m guilty of doing the same thing. Sometimes you’ve been up all night with a baby, so your toddler gets the iPad instead of you.
I don’t think people need me to patronise them and tell them what they already know, which is that technology is empowering, wonderful and fun, but when it’s sunny outside, get out there and get dirty. It’s all about balance.