Communications of the ACM
Innovation Is Overrated: A Provocation
Digital innovation is not working in the interest of the whole of society. It is time to radically rethink its purpose without…
From ACM Opinion
Hugh Herr and the Liberating Age of Bionics
"It's extraordinary that we live in this day and age with all our wonderful modern technology, and still we have shoes that give us blisters," says Hugh Herr, with...
From ACM Opinion
Let's Rescue Metadata From the Spy Agencies
Once the civil libertarians have had their say, let's hope the really interesting questions start being asked.
From ACM Opinion
Should Patents Be Awarded to Software?
The goal of the U.S. patent system is clear: to provide individuals or companies with an incentive to innovate by offering them 20 years of exclusive rights to...
From ACM Opinion
Sorry, College Grads, I Probably Won't Hire You
Dear college graduates: The next month is going to be thrilling as you cross this major milestone in your education.
From ACM Opinion
Bitcoin vs. Ben Bernanke
Could a virtual currency created by an anonymous Internet hacker someday replace the U.S. dollar?
From ACM Opinion
The Dark Side of the Digital Revolution
How do you explain to people that they are a YouTube sensation, when they have never heard of YouTube or the Internet?
From ACM Opinion
Will Google's Ray Kurzweil Live Forever?
Ray Kurzweil must encounter his share of interviewers whose first question is: What do you hope your obituary will say?
From ACM Opinion
Q&a with Samsung's Mobile Chief
Samsung Electronics Co. is coming off its strongest year ever, reporting record earnings, and leapfrogging Apple Inc. to become the world's biggest smartphone maker...
From ACM Opinion
Eric Schmidt nloads on China in New Book
Google executive chairman Eric Schmidt is brutally clear: China is the most dangerous superpower on Earth.
From ACM Opinion
Innovation Is Messy Business
Nine years ago, Boeing Co. BA executives decided to take the biggest leap in airliner technology in a generation and develop the 787 Dreamliner.
From ACM Opinion
The Future of Medicine Is Now
In our era of instant gratification, the world of medicine seems like an outlier.
From ACM Opinion
The Father of Fractals
In nature,technology and art the most common form of regularity is repetition: a single element repeated many times, as on a tile floor. But another form is possible...
From ACM Opinion
Who's Behind the Wheel? Nobody.
The Mazda Raceway at Laguna Seca is a 2.2-mile asphalt roller coaster plunging and soaring across California's tawny Monterey highlands.
From ACM Opinion
Sometimes, One Little Phone Can Have a Big Impact on the Economy
The next iPhone, which Apple Inc. AAPL plans to unveil this week, could do something the White House, Congress, and Federal Reserve have struggled to do: boost...
From ACM Opinion
Will the Next Election Be Hacked?
Two years ago, hackers gained access to an online voting system created by the District of Columbia and altered every ballot on behalf of their own preferred candidates...
From ACM Opinion
Can Data Mining Stop the Killing?
Would Total Information Awareness have stopped James Eagan Holmes?
From ACM Opinion
Who Really Invented the Internet?
A telling moment in the presidential race came recently when Barack Obama said: "If you've got a business, you didn't build that. Somebody else made that happen...
From ACM Opinion
Taking the Cyberattack Threat Seriously
Last month I convened an emergency meeting of my cabinet and top homeland security, intelligence and defense officials. Across the country trains had derailed,...
From ACM Opinion