Communications of the ACM
The opinion archive provides access to past opinion stories from Communications of the ACM and other sources by date.
February 2017
From ACM Opinion
Listen, Technology Holdouts: Enough Is Enough
Even as fanatic customers can be counted on to line up outside the Apple store for the latest iPhone, there are still millions of Americans who don't use a smartphone at all.
From ACM Opinion
Hollywood Has No Idea What to Do with Vr
Would you watch a virtual-reality Casablanca?
From ACM Opinion
Face It, Meatsack: Pro Gamer Will Be the Only Job Left
Look at economic data closely and the trends aren't pretty: People with elite backgrounds are hoovering up an increasing share of new income and wealth.
From ACM Opinion
Crispr Pioneer Muses About Long Journey from China to Pinnacle of American Science
Feng Zhang occupies a corner office on the 10th floor of the gleaming, modern biotechnology palace called the Broad Institute.
From ACM Opinion
No, Robots Aren't Killing the American Dream
Defenders of globalization are on solid ground when they criticize President Trump's threats of punitive tariffs and border walls.
From ACM Opinion
The Former Secretary of Defense Outlines the Future of Warfare
To an engineer in Silicon Valley, the Defense Department can look a little old, a little slow, and a little fat.
From ACM Opinion
Meet the Scientist Bringing Gene Editing to Life: An Interview with Jennifer Doudna
About 10 years ago, scientists at a yogurt laboratory in Denmark noticed a peculiar feature in a bacterial genome.
From ACM Opinion
Talk of Tech Innovation Is Bullsh*t. Shut p and Get the Work Done, Says Linus Torvalds
OSLS Linus Torvalds believes the technology industry's celebration of innovation is smug, self-congratulatory, and self-serving.
From ACM Opinion
Texting and Driving Isn't a Millennial Problem. It's an Engineering Problem
Millennials love their smartphones and refuse to drive without them. No amount of fist shaking or age shaming will fix this problem. Banishing distracted driving demands an engineering solution.
From ACM Opinion
Who Will Be Hurt – and Helped – If .s. Tech Industry Can't Hire the World's Best Talent?
The H-1B visa program is a major contributor to U.S. economic growth but is quite bad for domestic computer scientists, according to recently published research.
From ACM Opinion
Hacker Knows Best: Privacy Tips from Kevin Mitnick
Kevin Mitnick knows all the ways your privacy could be violated through your phone, computer and tablet.
From ACM Opinion
Congress Could Make Self-Driving Cars Happen — or Ruin Everything
Congress can address all open questions about robocar technologies and ensure they succeed. Or they can screw it all up.
From ACM Opinion
Will Algorithms Erode Our Decision-Making Skills?
Algorithms are embedded into our technological lives, helping accomplish a variety of tasks like making sure that email makes it to your aunt or that you're matched to someone on a dating website who likes the same bands as you…
From ACM Opinion
'drone Bees' Are Comically Inept, Expensive and Dangerous to Real Bees
Bees are in decline in many areas.
From ACM Opinion
The AI Threat Isn't Skynet. It's the End of the Middle Class
In February 1975, a group of geneticists gathered in a tiny town on the central coast of California to decide if their work would bring about the end of the world.
From ACM Opinion
Coming Technology Will Likely Destroy Millions of Jobs. Is Trump Ready?
American manufacturing job losses to China and Mexico were a major theme of the presidential campaign, and President Trump has followed up on his promise to pressure manufacturers to keep jobs here rather than send them abroad…
From ACM Opinion
What If the Internet Stopped Working For a Day?
Jeff Hancock likes to give his Stanford University students weekend assignments that let them experience concepts discussed in class for themselves.
From ACM Opinion
Why Silicon Valley Wouldn't Work Without Immigrants
People in tech see something cataclysmic in Mr. Trump executive order barring immigrants from seven Muslim-majority countries: the end of America's standing as a beacon for the world's best inventors.
From ACM Opinion
Lady Gaga's Halftime Show Drones Have a Bright Future
The best Super Bowl halftime shows leave indelible memories, be it a notorious wardrobe malfunction, that goofy Left Shark, or every last second of Beyoncé's two appearances.
From ACM Opinion
Why Bill Belichick Cast Down His Tablet
As the New England Patriots' 10th appearance in a Super Bowl approaches, sports fans are eager to see the legendary pairing of quarterback Tom Brady and head coach Bill Belichick take on the Atlanta Falcons.
From ACM Opinion
How Trump's Immigration Rules Will Hurt the .s. Tech Sector
When President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Friday issuing a temporary ban on immigration from seven Muslim-majority countries, it went into effect immediately.
From ACM Opinion
Police Could Get Your Location Data Without a Warrant. That Has to End
The more we rely on technology, the more detailed a technological footprint we leave behind.
From Communications of the ACM
The Future of the Internet of Things
The IoT can become ubiquitous worldwide — if the pursuit of systemic trustworthiness can overcome the potential risks.
From Communications of the ACM
User-Centric Distributed Solutions For Privacy-Preserving Analytics
How can cryptography empower users with sensitive data to access large-scale computing platforms in a privacy-preserving manner?
From Communications of the ACM
Fostering Creativity Through Computing
How creative thinking tools and computing can be used to support creative human endeavors.
From Communications of the ACM
The Unholy Trinity of Software Development
Tests, documentation, and code.
From Communications of the ACM
Smart Machines Are Not a Threat to Humanity
Worrying about machines that are too smart distracts us from the real and present threat from machines that are too dumb.
From Communications of the ACM
AI Dangers: Imagined and Real
Arguing against the arguments for the concept of the singularity.