The Verge's Installer Flags a 'Dream Week' for Tech Documentaries, Alongside a Wave of New Gadgets
The 148th edition of The Verge's Installer newsletter, published Oct. 17, 2026, spotlights two new feature-length tech documentaries and a slate of new devices including Apple's $299 HomeView hub.
The first, "You Can See Everything," is a three-hour film that the newsletter describes as pairing Elizabeth Holmes with Nathan Fielder, and praises for its unusual level of access and for the self-referential construction of the project itself. The newsletter also directs readers to a hour-long stand-up set by Josh Johnson on Holmes after watching the documentary.
The second, "Musk," adds what the newsletter calls "four more hours of tech doc." It says the reviews are "spectacular" and that seeing roughly a decade of news assembled in one stretch is likely to be an experience even for readers who have followed the coverage closely.
On hardware, the newsletter's picks include Apple's $299 HomeView home hub, which the writer frames as a kind of family computer and as a way to spend less time looking at a phone, while noting that a basic existing smart home setup already works fine. It also flags the new $60 Siri Remote with Find My support, even as it declines to recommend the $300 Apple TV box the remote accompanies.
Other items on the list are Fairphone's Fairbuds 2, described as lighter, smaller, longer-lasting and cheaper than AirPods while keeping the company's emphasis on repairability; the pocket-sized Xbox Nano Controller, which the newsletter says carries the full set of buttons expected for Xbox and other games; the Fitbit Edge, a tracker that restores a time display and adds workout and biometric tracking; and the milk-carton-shaped CMF Speaker S, a Bluetooth speaker the writer bought immediately and is considering doubling up for stereo pairing.
The newsletter also points to a new generation of color E Ink, Kaleido 4, which promises better colors and better performance for the many devices that use the panel. It treats the news as significant for a broad category of hardware rather than for any single product.
In reading and listening, the newsletter recommends Kevin Roose's new book "The AGI Chronicles" for its reporting, and notes that Roose and Casey Newton are preparing to launch a new show, "Machine Gods," sometime next week. The edition closes with a rundown of Roose's phone home screen and the apps he uses.