The original caption to this 1989 photo read, "Cellular phones are being offered by many car manufacturers as optional equipment for drivers who can't bear to be out of touch, even on the road." Richard Sheinwald/AP hide caption

New technology helps trackers follow consumers' digital imprints — including across devices — through browser settings, battery levels and other details. Mark Airs/Getty Images/Ikon Images hide caption

Apple (left) and Google screenshots of the Willamette National Forest. The pins in each image indicate where each app says the forest is located, when searched. Apple & Google/Screenshots by NPR hide caption

Self-driving Uber vehicles are lined up to take journalists on rides during a media preview at the company's Advanced Technologies Center in Pittsburgh earlier this month. Gene J. Puskar/AP hide caption

Quid, a data analytics firm, uses proprietary software to search, visualize and analyze text. Quid hide caption

Tollbooth cashier Henry Gregorio collects change from drivers at the New Rochelle Toll Plaza on I-95. Gregorio has worked in a tollbooth since 1980. Tollbooths are gradually being replaced by E-ZPass technology. Stephen Nessen/WNYC hide caption

Samsung's Galaxy Note 7 is demonstrated in New York on July 28. All owners of the new smartphone have been urged to exchange the device after reports of phones' exploding or catching fire. Richard Drew/AP hide caption

A self-driving car leaves Uber's newest riverside hub in Pittsburgh. Company officials say the Rust Belt city is perfect for beta testing, citing diverse topography, frequent weather maladies, near-constant construction and hundreds of bridges and tunnels. Megan Harris/WESA hide caption

Jake Middleton (right) coaches his brother, Justin, on the cobra pose, which he says can help gamers improve their posture. Alex Smith/KCUR hide caption

This is a June 8, 1972, file photo of South Vietnamese forces following after terrified children, including 9-year-old Kim Phuc (center). The Pulitzer Prize-winning image is at the center of a heated debate about freedom of speech in Norway after Facebook deleted it from a Norwegian author's page. Nick Ut/AP hide caption

Police crime tape marks the scene where a 16-year-old boy was shot and killed and an 18-year-old man was wounded in April in Chicago. The grim milestone of 500 homicides already passed this year in Chicago. Joshua Lott/Getty Images hide caption

Federal Communications Commission Chairman Tom Wheeler says lack of competition in set-top boxes has meant consumers pay more to get TV services. Daniel Acker/Bloomberg via Getty Images hide caption

The new Apple iPhone 7 lacks a separate headphone jack, which makes people wonder how they can charge the phone while listening to music through a wired headphone via the Lightning connector. Apple's answer: a separate dock that starts at $39. Stephen Lam/Getty Images hide caption

An early version of the QWERTY keyboard appears on this late 1870s typewriter. Science & Society Picture Library/Getty Images hide caption