Communications of the ACM
Innovation Is Overrated: A Provocation
Digital innovation is not working in the interest of the whole of society. It is time to radically rethink its purpose without…
From ACM Opinion
17 of Apple's Favorite Apps
Steve Jobs was a stickler for detail, requiring final approval on everything from ads to wording on his Keynote presentations. It's no surprise then that the company...
From ACM News
How Secure Is the Papal Election?
As the College of Cardinals prepares to elect a new pope, security people like me wonder about the process. How does it work, and just how hard would it be to hack...
From ACM Opinion
How Samsung Is Out-Innovating Apple
There's no arguing that Apple set the standard for modern mobile devices with the iPhone and the iPad. It didn't take long after those two products launched for...
From ACM Opinion
Make Guns Smart
Voices across the political spectrum are debating how to prevent mass shootings such as the one in Newtown, Connecticut.
From ACM Opinion
How to Design a Better World
When I was young, my teachers praised me for being good at math and art, but my father would always tell people, "You know, John is good at math."
From ACM Opinion
Why Everybody Wants a Slice of Raspberry Pi
In a world where computers are increasingly powerful and are concealed within ever more glossy slabs of aluminum, the Raspberry Pi offers surprising proof for the...
From ACM Opinion
Cyborg Anthropologist: We Can All Be Superhuman
Cyborg anthropology is the study of the interaction between humans and technology, and how technology affects culture.
From ACM Opinion
Why We Must Fight For the Internet's Freedom
The Internet empowers each one of us to speak, create, learn, and share.
From ACM Opinion
How Steve Jobs' Legacy Has Changed
When Apple co-founder Steve Jobs succumbed to cancer in his California home a year ago today, the world rushed to eulogize him in glowing terms: Genius. Visionary...
From ACM Opinion
How Smartphones Make S Superhuman
Both men lit themselves on fire in protest. But only one of them is credited with starting a revolution.
From ACM Opinion
Why I Love Mars
Every now and then, I spend time on Mars. I dig my naked toes into the fine, red-orange soil, watch how it clings to my skin—and feel an incipient itch.
From ACM Opinion
His Other Car Is on Mars
On Earth, Scott Maxwell drives his red Prius without paying much attention to the San Gabriel Mountains in the distance.
From ACM Opinion
A National Id Card that Protects Voting Rights
In December, the U.S. Department of Justice intervened under the Voting Rights Act to stay a South Carolina voter ID law.
From ACM Opinion
We'll Someday Accept Computers as Human
Any author or filmmaker seeking ideas for a sci-fi yarn about the implications of artificial intelligence—good or bad—would be smart to talk to Ray Kurzweil.
From ACM Opinion
Google Knows Too Much About You
If you use Google, and I know you do, you may have noticed a little banner popping up at the top of the page announcing: "We're changing our privacy policy and...
From ACM Opinion
Why 2012, Despite Privacy Fears, Isn't Like Orwell's 1984
Last week was a remarkable one for the Web: A week that proved George Orwell's "Nineteen Eighty-Four" incredibly prescient yet woefully incorrect.
From ACM Opinion
I Want to Translate the Web
I want to translate the Web into every major language: every Webpage, every video, and, yes, even Justin Bieber's tweets.
From ACM Opinion
The Top 10 Tech Trends For 2012
A year is virtually a lifetime in the digital era. And yet we can at least make a guess at what will happen in the early part of next year simply by looking at...
From ACM Opinion