Communications of the ACM
The opinion archive provides access to past opinion stories from Communications of the ACM and other sources by date.
December 2013
From ACM Opinion
Ars Editors Remember Their First Taste of Doom, 20 Years Later
On December 10, 1993, id Software uploaded the first publicly available version of Doom to a crowded BBS and FTP server, unleashing on the world the most influential game this side of Super Mario Bros.
From ACM Opinion
Why We Can't Let American Tech Take Over the World
Whenever an app, a website, or a physical product like a gaming console is exported, it ships with a side of cultural influence.
From ACM Opinion
President Obama Talks About Teaching Everyone to Code. This Professor Does It.
On Monday, President Obama kicked off computer science education week, encouraging every young person to acquire computer programming skills, even if they have no intention of becoming a software engineer.
From ACM Opinion
For Steve Ballmer, a Lasting Touch on Microsoft
On the eve of his exit as chief executive officer of Microsoft, after more than a decade on the job, Steve Ballmer is more than ever a CEO whose image does not always reflect reality.
From ACM Opinion
Why It's a Shame that Computer Science Courses Aren't Mandatory
Millions of students will learn some lessons in computer coding this week as part of "Hour of Code," a national campaign offering free tutorials.
From ACM Opinion
2013: The Year 'the Stream' Crested
The Stream has been the organizing metaphor for the web for the past several years.
From ACM Opinion
Edward Snowden, The Dark Prophet
To avoid surveillance, the first four Americans to visit Edward Snowden in Moscow carried no cell phones or laptops.
From ACM Opinion
Doom's Creator Looks Back on 20 Years of Demonic Mayhem
At the stroke of midnight on December 10, 1993, an executive at id Software uploaded a file to an FTP site on the University of Washington's network.
From ACM Opinion
Singularity: Reading Our Genes Like Computer Code
Raymond McCauley may go blind as he gets older.
From ACM Opinion
Will Your Next Phone Have No Screen?
Google is predicting a generation of screenless computing devices that rely on voice recognition, a senior engineer has said, emphasising that the company encrypts users' audio data to the same standard as text-based information…
From ACM Opinion
Could a $500 Gadget Have Prevented the Metro-North Tragedy?
Investigators are still studying what caused the derailment of a Metro-North commuter train on its way to Grand Central Terminal just over a week ago, killing four passengers and injuring 70 when the front cars of the train, …
From ACM Opinion
Falling in Love with AI Virtual Assistants: A Creepy Love Affair Nearer Than You Think
"I've never loved anyone the way I've loved you," swoons Joaquin Phoenix, in the movie Her.
From ACM Opinion
The Rise and Fall of Blackberry: An Oral History
In 1984, Mike Lazaridis, an engineering student at the University of Waterloo, and Douglas Fregin, an engineering student at the University of Windsor, founded an electronics and computer science consulting company called Research…
From ACM Opinion
Why Obama Still ses a BlackBerry
Barack Obama is the world's most prominent BlackBerry user.
From ACM Opinion
Saving the Net from the Surveillance State: Glenn Greenwald Speaks p
Big Brother may be watching you. But Glenn Greenwald is watching Big Brother.
From ACM Opinion
Moore's Law Isn't Making Chips Cheaper Anymore
At a wine bar in San Francisco on Wednesday, Broadcom Chairman and CTO Henry Samueli delivered some sobering news: Moore's Law isn't making chips cheaper anymore.
From ACM Opinion
7 Epic Fails Brought to You By the Genius Mind of Thomas Edison
Almost everyone can name the man that invented the light bulb.
From ACM Opinion
Google Puts Money on Robots, sing the Man Behind Android
In an out-of-the-way Google office, two life-size humanoid robots hang suspended in a corner.
From ACM Opinion
Is the Future of the Internet in Iceland?
When you clicked on the link to read this article, your computer, tablet or phone sent a request that traveled hundreds or perhaps thousands of miles at the speed of light.
From ACM Opinion
Diagnosis For Healthcare.gov: nrealistic Technology Expectations
The fiasco with the $600 million federal health insurance website wasn't all bureaucratic.
From ACM Opinion
23andme Is Terrifying, But Not For the Reasons the Fda Thinks
If there's a gene for hubris, the 23andMe crew has certainly got it.
From Communications of the ACM
Information Technology Impact Sourcing
New ways to contract IT work to base-of-the-pyramid suppliers.
From Communications of the ACM
Bringing Young Women Into Computing Through the NCWIT Aspirations in Computing Program
A program to encourage and support girls and women in pursuing their computer science interests.
From Communications of the ACM
From MOOCs to SPOCs
Supplementing the classroom experience with small private online courses.
From Communications of the ACM
A Lesson in Resource Management
Waste not memory, want not memory — unless it doesn't matter.
From Communications of the ACM
Patrick Blackett: Providing 'White Heat' to the British Computing Revolution
Reflections on a Nobel Prize-winning physicist's early contributions to computing.
From Communications of the ACM
Design Thinking
Design thinking is the newest fashion for finding better solutions to problems. Combining it with computational thinking offers some real possibilities for improving software design.