Communications of the ACM
The opinion archive provides access to past opinion stories from Communications of the ACM and other sources by date.
September 2010
From ACM Opinion
Administration Internet-Wiretap Proposals Forget History
Any headline that uses the phrase "wiretap the Internet" is likely to make people on the Internet cranky. When this wiretapping scheme comes from an administration that already has an iffy record on digital-rights issues,…
From ACM Opinion
5 Reasons the Media Cover Apple So Much
A study published Monday drew on a host of metrics to conclude something we all already knew: The media covers Apple more than any other company.
From ACM Opinion
Friends Without Benefits
The Valley used to be a place run by scientists and engineers, people like Robert Noyce, the Ph.D. physicist who helped invent the integrated circuit and cofounded Intel. The Valley, in those days, was focused on hard science…
From ACM Opinion
A Q&A With a PARC Pioneer Reflecting on 'the Office of the Future' 40 Years Later
Palo Alto Research Center research fellow David Biegelsen, who has been at Xerox's legendary R&D lab from the beginning, reflected on being at the forefront of the personal computing revolution during PARC's 40th anniversary …
From ACM Opinion
"india Has a Big Role to Play in It's Future"
Natarajan Chandrasekaran, Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director of India’s largest IT outsourcer Tata Consultancy Services, recently discussed technology trends in India.
From ACM Opinion
The Anthropology of Hackers
A "hacker" is a technologist with a love for computing and a "hack" is a clever technical solution arrived through a non-obvious means. It doesn't mean to compromise the Pentagon, change your grades, or take down the global…
From ACM Opinion
Java Creator James Gosling: Why I Quit Oracle
When James Gosling led the team that created the Java language and platform, Sun Microsystems was riding high and Java stood as a landscape-changing revolutionary technology, but financial realities eventually brought Sun…
From ACM Opinion
Finally, a 21st Century Browser from Microsoft
Like many of us, Microsoft does its best work when it's running scared.
From ACM Opinion
The School of Hard Drives
U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan answers questions pertaining to education and technology.
From ACM Opinion
School For Hackers
The do-it-yourself movement revives learning by doing.
From ACM Opinion
New Business Models Emerge For the Web
I am constantly impressed by the crazy amount of energy entrepreneurs spend hatching innovative services, so I have never understood why they seem to spend so little time figuring out their business models.
From ACM Opinion
The Snoop In Your Browser
Everyone and his Big Brother wants to log your browsing habits, the better to build a profile of who you are and how you live your life—online and off. Search engine companies offer a benefit in return: more relevant search…
From ACM Opinion
Robots vs. Suicide Terrorists
In February 2008, a pair of suicide bombers struck the Israeli town of Dimona. One of the attackers detonated his explosive vest, killing an Israeli, and injuring nine others. The accomplice was shot before he could trigger…
From ACM Opinion
Crisis in Computing
It may not be obvious, but if you’ve checked the weather today, ridden in a car or an airplane, made a phone call, or used any number of consumer products, down to the clothing you wear and the detergents that keep them clean…
From ACM Opinion
Why God Did Not Create the niverse
There is a sound scientific explanation for the making of our world—no gods required.
From ACM Opinion
Google's Earth
"I actually think most people don't want Google to answer their questions," said the search giant's chief executive, Eric Schmidt, in a recent and controversial interview. "They want Google to tell them what they should be…
From ACM Opinion
Ban Drone-Porn War Crimes
Death by joystick is immoral and illegal.
From Communications of the ACM
Principles of the Law of Software Contracts
An overview of a new set of legal principles for software contracts developed by the American Law Institute.
From Communications of the ACM
Objects Never? Well, Hardly Ever!
Revisiting the Great Objects Debate.
From Communications of the ACM
Return at Risk
Calculating the likely true cost of projects.
From Communications of the ACM
Discussing Cyber Attack
Cyber attack—the other side of cyber defense—deserves a more open discussion than it has been getting.
From Communications of the ACM
Future Internet Architecture: Clean-Slate Versus Evolutionary Research
Should researchers focus on designing new network architectures or improving the current Internet?