# Installer 147: Tech goes to the movies

> David Pierce returns from parental leave with recommendations spanning a new Facebook film, AI books, gaming, and the apps reshaping his digital life.
- Title: Installer 147: Tech goes to the movies · The Verge | Shortify
- Summary: David Pierce returns from parental leave with recommendations spanning a new Facebook film, AI books, gaming, and the apps reshaping his digital life…
- Keywords: david pierce, installer newsletter, tech culture, streaming, gadgets, ai industry, gaming, note-taking apps, the social reckoning, cupertino, amazon alexa tablet 12 pro, microsoft surface laptop ultra
- Source: The Verge — https://theverge.com/tech/1008836/social-reckoning-cupertino-techlash-installer
- Author: David Pierce
- Published: 2026-10-10T12:00:00+00:00
- Read time: 2 min
- Topics: david pierce, installer newsletter, tech culture, streaming, gadgets, ai industry, gaming, note-taking apps, the social reckoning, cupertino, amazon alexa tablet 12 pro, microsoft surface laptop ultra
## Welcome back to Installer
David Pierce returns from parental leave part time with Installer number one forty-seven, your guide to the best and Verge-iest stuff in the world.
## Tech goes Hollywood
The Social Reckoning, a new Facebook movie starring Jeremy Strong and written by Aaron Sorkin, marks tech's growing presence in prestige entertainment.
## Amazon finally nails tablets
The Amazon Alexa Tablet twelve Pro is the iPad but cheaper that consumers have waited years for, with a high-end model featuring a fancy screen.
## Inside the AI industry
Kevin Roose's book The AGI Chronicles reveals how a few executives and their relationships came to determine the future of artificial intelligence.
## Star Wars racing arrives
Star Wars: Galactic Racer is a high-fidelity racing game where you pilot a podracer, available free to Prime subscribers on Amazon's Luna service.
## Tech gets a procedural
Cupertino, from the makers of The Good Wife, is a thoughtful tech and AI procedural that Pierce describes as exactly what you think it is.
## Microsoft's laptop answer
The Surface Laptop Ultra costs two thousand six hundred dollars and offers uncompromising MacBook Pro competition with impressive AI capabilities.
## Gears of War origin story
Gears of War: E-Day delivers on raw combat, story and exploration, fulfilling the long-awaited origin-story title fans have been waiting for.
## Michael Lewis on DOGE
Blockers tells the story of Elon Musk and DOGE, focusing on government employees who tried to stop them from running roughshod over the federal government.
## Parental leave screen time
Pierce spent seven weeks on the couch with a baby, filling time with Reddit, TikTok, reading and crosswording, then redesigned his entire homescreen.
## iPhone seventeen setup
Pierce uses an iPhone seventeen with a black wallpaper and apps including Unread, Instapaper, Google Maps, Capacities, Daygame, Flora and Pocket Casts.
## New note-taking discoveries
Flora is a journaling app in TestFlight that pulls in workout data and photos. Prism is a note-taking app as fast as texting with organizational powers.
## Reading setup overhaul
Pierce switched from Readwise Reader to Instapaper after buying a Kobo for its integration, though the Boox Palma three arrival may reshape his reading universe.
## Community picks this week
Installer readers shared StarCraft two, old-school Garmin GPS, Hyperfixed podcast, Wolverine on PS five, retro Nintendo three DS XL gaming and more.
## HTX Studio YouTube channel
Pierce recommends HTX Studio, a Chinese maker channel over a year old with innovative tech videos including one about AirDesk he has watched twenty-five times.
## Key takeaway

Installer 147 showcases tech culture's growing presence in entertainment, from The Social Reckoning to Cupertino, alongside new hardware and software reshaping how people work and play.