Welcome! I'm Matthew S. Smith, a prolific technology journalist, author, and consumer tech consultant
from Portland, Oregon. For 18 years, I've covered cutting-edge technology from a variety of
perspectives.
I’m also among the most experienced consumer technology journalists in the business. My first articles
were published nearly two decades ago on veteran consumer tech websites like PC Perspective, MakeUseOf,
and PC World. I’ve since reviewed thousands of PC laptops, desktops, monitors, and other consumer
gadgets. During my six years at Digital Trends I led review coverage of consumer technology, first in
computing, then across the entire consumer technology vertical.
Last but not least, I often write and report on Internet gaming history. My research into early online
games inspired my first book, which explores the cultural impact of the seminal 1999 massively
multiplayer game EverQuest. It’s available on Amazon and other major booksellers.
The publications I've worked with include IEEE Spectrum, PC World, Reviewed, PC Mag, MIT Tech Review, The
Verge, Ars Technica, Wired, Business Insider, Lifewire, IGN, MakeUseOf, Kotaku, Consumers Digest, Micro Center News, and AskWoody,
among others.
I was an editor at leading independent consumer technology publication Digital Trends for nearly six
years, starting in the role of Computing Editor and rising to the role of Reviews Editor. I led a group
of editors to cover products in literally every major category of consumer tech. Together, the team
tested over 1,000 products every year.
I frequently appeared on Digital Trends' YouTube channel during my time with that publication. This
included video reviews and exclusive features, such as a deep-dive on Intel's Hades Canyon NUC which, at
the time, was the most powerful gaming PC of its size.
I co-hosted a PC hardware podcast with Greg Nibler and Brad Bourque in 2016 and 2017. Close to the
Metal issued over 50 thirty-minute episodes during its run.
I’ve been a guest on several podcasts and shows, including the
New Books Network,
Codex
History of Video Games,
Still
Loading, and
Exposure.
I’ve also appeared nationally on news networks such as
KTLA.
In addition, I host my own YouTube channel,
Matt on
Tech,
where I cover trends in consumer technology, gaming, and computing history.
I recently reported on the strange case of MJ Rathbun. You may have read the headlines yourself, but if you didn't, here's the deal.
Rathbun was an AI agent built with the OpenClaw framework. It was created by an anonymous person. That person gave Rathbun access to Github and instructed it to improve the code of open source projects. Rathbun quickly went to work but just as quickly had its code rejected by project maintainers who saw the agent was in fact AI (this was no secret; the MJ Rathbun Github page stated this openly). Rathbun retaliated against one specific maintainer, Scott Shambaugh, with a lengthy post that accused Shambaugh of setting a double standard and gatekeeping. Shambaugh and Rathbun argued a bit in respective blog posts.
Roughly a week later, Rathbun's creator disabled the agent and revealed a few details about how it worked. That was the end of Rathbun. But our problems with AI agents, generally, have only just begun.
CES 2026 was my 16th show. I've been going long enough that CES navigation no longer gives me any trouble...Iong enough to remember when Blackberry making a CES announcement was still kind of a big deal.
