Communications of the ACM
The opinion archive provides access to past opinion stories from Communications of the ACM and other sources by date.
January 2010
From ACM Opinion
What Apple's Ipad Means For Your Wallet
From ACM Opinion
Don't Let Politicians Forget the E Word
Hugh Griffiths is chair of the executive committee of the Campaign for Science & Engineering (CaSE) and chair in intelligent radar systems at University College London
There has been much talk of the S Word, but the E word also…From ACM Opinion
10 Characteristics of a Linux Guru?
I just read a post on another site from someone who calls himself (herself?), linux guru, and it made me ponder the following question: What is a Linux Guru? I've worked with Linux since 1995 and still wouldn't call myself a…
From ACM Opinion
Don't Become a Tool of Hegemony, Google!
President of People's Daily Online He Jiazheng speaks on Internet freedom:
The Google-China dispute shows a strategic position change of the United States. In the past, the United States maintained its global hegemony relying…From ACM Opinion
Comment: Internet New Shot in the Arm For S Hegemony
Over the past 40 years, the US has been dominating the world Internet as the core technique holder with an inherent advantage of being the cradle of the Internet.
There are 13 terminal servers in the world to keep the Internet…From ACM Opinion
.s. Enables Chinese Hacking of Google
Google made headlines when it went public with the fact that Chinese hackers had penetrated some of its services, such as Gmail, in a politically motivated attempt at intelligence gathering. The news here isn't that Chinese hackers…
From ACM Opinion
Outsourcing Makes A Comeback
After fizzling out over the past couple years, outsourcing is back in vogue. A new PricewaterhouseCoopers study shows outsourcing has roared back to life in the past six months and is accelerating, driven by the same cost-cutting…
From ACM Opinion
The Web's Next Layer of Innovation: Q&A With Creative Commons CEO Joi Ito
The Internet is awash in digital images depicting pretty much anything your imagination can conceive. Sometimes a Web site administrator or a business might want to take some of the images they find out there and use them their…
From ACM Opinion
A Conversation With Google
Google CEO Eric Schmidt has long defended his company's decision to do business in China despite the restrictions that Beijing imposes on Internet freedom. Nevertheless, last week the company abruptly threatened to pull out after…
From ACM TechNews
Artificial Intelligence Is More Than Just Talk For Google's Top Inventor
Peter Norvig, head of research for Google, says that humans will soon be talking to computers. Norvig notes that humans and computers are already communicating, but are not using the same language.
From ACM TechNews
The Madness of Crowds and an Internet Delusion
An early advocate of the Internet's culture of openness, computer scientist Jaron Lanier has written a new book in which he reconsiders that view and takes a more negative position. In "You Are Not a Gadget," Lanier warns that…
From ACM TechNews
Does Dearth of Info Security Pros Pose Risk?
Dickie George, the technical director of the U.S. National Security Agency's (NSA's) Information Assurance Directorate, says the shortage of cybersecurity professionals is a "huge problem" for the agency because it forces it…
From ACM TechNews
STEM Talent: Moving Beyond Traditional Boundaries
Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy president Stephanie Pace Marshall points to a widening gap between the collaborative, exploratory, inquiry-based, and problem-centered environments needed to cultivate skills in science…
From ACM Opinion
Apple
Everybody's talking about the new tablet computer Apple is expected to unveil this month. Some say it will save newspapers by giving them a new platform where they can charge for subscriptions. Some say it will destroy cable …
From ACM Opinion
Google Quietly Changes the World Again
Do you remember where you were the day they unveiled Facebook? No? How about Twitter? Amazon.com? Google Search?
Massive, culture-shifting technologies are almost never recognized as such when first announced. They seem unimportant…From ACM Opinion
How the Aol-Time Warner Merger Went So Wrong
A decade ago, America Online merged with Time Warner in a deal valued at a stunning $350 billion. It was then, and is now, the largest merger in American business history.
The Internet, it was believed, was soon to vaporize …From ACM Opinion
With Nexus One And Quattro, The Knives Are Out Between Apple And Google
The knives came out in full view between Apple and Google earlier this week. On the same day that Google launched its latest Nexus One Android phone, Apple announced the $275 million acquisition of Quattro Wireless, a mobile…
From ACM Opinion
How Apple Does Controlled Leaks
A recent Wall Street Journal article, which provided confirmation of an Apple tablet device, had all the earmarks of a controlled leak. Here's how Apple does it.
Often Apple has a need to let information out, unofficially. The…From ACM Opinion
Why Twitter Will Endure
I can remember when I first thought seriously about Twitter. Last March, I was at the SXSW conference in Austin, Tex., where technology, media and music are mashed up and reimagined, and, not so coincidentally, where Twitter …
From ACM Opinion
Microsoft Big Brains: Butler Lampson
If there were a jack of all trades at Microsoft, Technical Fellow Butler Lampson, who is also an ACM Fellow and a former ACM A.M. Turing Award recipient, would be at the top of the list of those deserving that title.
Just before…From ACM Opinion
Q&A: Researcher Karsten Nohl on Mobile Eavesdropping
Last week brought some bad news for mobile phone users. German security expert Karsten Nohl demonstrated how easy it is to eavesdrop on GSM-based (Global System for Mobile Communications) cellphones, including those used by AT&T…
From Communications of the ACM
Q&A: HP's Running Man
Prith Banerjee discusses collaborating with universities, his startup experiences, and Hewlett-Packard Lab's approach to research and development.
From Communications of the ACM
The Evolution of Platform Thinking
How platform adoption can be an important determinant of product and technological success.