Communications of the ACM
Generative AI Degrades Online Communities
How large language models are influencing online communities.
From ACM Opinion
Facebook's 'evil Interfaces'
Social networking companies don't have it easy. Advertisers covet their users' data, and in a niche that often seems to lack a clear business model, selling (or...
From ACM Opinion
Google's Nightmare: Facebook 'like' Replaces Links
Facebook dropped a bombshell on the tech industry last week in the form of a Web-wide "Like" button and the launch of the "Open Graph". Using this new platform,...
From ACM Opinion
Steve Jobs' Thoughts on Flash
Apple has a long relationship with Adobe. In fact, we met Adobe’s founders when they were in their proverbial garage. Apple was their first big customer, adopting...
From ACM Opinion
Today Facebook, Tomorrow the World
With a dizzying array of announcements this week, it seems almost inevitable that the web will become, at least for the near future, an extension of Facebook. Like...
From ACM Opinion
App Rejected? There's a Rule For That.
The story could have been programmed to draw media coverage, were it not for its implausibility: Apple (a reader magnet) banned a future Pulitzer Prize winner's...
From Communications of the ACM
Cloud Computing and Electricity: Beyond the Utility Model
Assessing the strengths, weaknesses, and general applicability of the computing-as-utility business model.
From ACM Opinion
A Less Personal Computer
In Web parlance, "chrome" is the part of the browser that surrounds the page: the address bar, the "Back" button, and those all-important bookmarks. Chrome is also...
From ACM Opinion
Has Apple Reached the Limits of Industrial Design?
The next iPhone is going to look amazing. This is as close to a truism as you get in the tech industry--it's sort of like predicting that Warren Buffett will make...
From ACM Opinion
Why Nasa Is Sending a Robot to Space That Looks Like You
A humanoid robot will visit space for the first time in September aboard the Space Shuttle Discovery, NASA announced Wednesday. The Robonaut 2, which was co-developed...
From ACM Opinion
I Was Hacked in Beijing
The reality--and my fears--dawned only slowly. For weeks, friends and colleagues complained I had not answered their e-mail messages. I swore I had not received...
From ACM Opinion
Rethinking a Gospel of the Web
For about a decade now, ever since it became clear that the jungle of the World Wide Web would triumph over the walled gardens of CompuServe, AOL and MSN, a general...
From ACM Opinion
You Don't Need an Ipad
But once you try one, you won't be able to resist. I picked up my iPad at a San Francisco Apple Store early on Saturday morning, and I spent the rest of the weekend...
From Communications of the ACM
Be Careful What You Wish For
Reflections on the decline of mathematical tables.
From ACM Opinion
Is Motion Control Patent a Powder Keg For Mobile?
Here's a potentially noteworthy development in the patent litigation-riddled mobile device market. The patent is No. 7,679,604, "Method and apparatus for controlling...
From ACM Opinion
Beware the Nsa
Early this year, the big brains at Google admitted that they had been outsmarted. Along with 33 other companies, the search giant had been the victim of a major...
From ACM Opinion
Toyota Hardware Defects/software Bugs
Is embedded automotive software as buggy as a desktop operating system?
From ACM Opinion
Cisco's New Router: Trouble For Hollywood
Cisco's CRS-3 router made a bit of a splash when it was announced on March 9, but the power of this new device hasn't yet sunk in. Consider: The CRS-3, a network...
From ACM Opinion
The Ipad Paradox: Less Is More
The introduction of Apple's iPad predictably divided gadget fans into "love it" and "hate it" camps. The haters say iPad lacks multitasking, a Webcam, Flash support...
From ACM Opinion
Braking Bad
The Obama administration has said that it may require automakers to install “smart pedals” on all new cars. This kind of system—already used in BMWs, Chryslers...
From ACM Opinion