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
What Next For the 'quantified Self'?
The quantified self movement—the idea that tracking metrics about yourself can lead to self-improvement—appears to be gathering steam.
From ACM Opinion
Google's Eric Schmidt Warns on China's Attempts to Control the Internet
Eric Schmidt, the executive chairman of Google, has described China as "the most egregious" example of a nation attempting to control the Internet, as he issued...
From ACM Opinion
Jaron Lanier: The Digital Pioneer Who Became a Web Rebel
Jaron Lanier is that rarest of rare birds—an uber-geek who is highly critical of the world created by the technology he helped to create.
From ACM Opinion
Google Glass: Is It a Threat to Our Privacy?
If you haven't heard about the excitement around Google Glass—the head-mounted glasses that can shoot video, take pictures, and broadcast what you're seeing to...
From ACM Opinion
Sony's Playstation 4: Five Things We Want to Know
New York, 6pm Wednesday, the next generation starts.
From ACM Opinion
Google's Eric Schmidt: Drone Wars, Virtual Kidnaps, and Privacy For Kids
Google's chairman has sketched out a future world in which cyberterrorists are targeted by government drone strikes, online identities are taken hostage and held...
From ACM Opinion
How to Build the Perfect Gaming Pc For 2013–and Beyond
There's little doubt that PC gaming is undergoing a renaissance at the moment.
From ACM Opinion
Is It Time For the Internet to Get the Plumber In?
The strange thing about the Internet is that it went from being something exotic to something mundane almost without us noticing it.
From ACM Opinion
Who Owns the Content You pload Online?
The outrage over Instagram's announcement that it is changing its terms and conditions has turned the spotlight on the relationship between websites and users who...
From ACM Opinion
Video Games in 2012: Five Things We've Learned
From the crowd-funding explosion to the arrival of the first "next-generation" console, the games industry has had quite a time of it this year.
From ACM Opinion
Ipad Mini Launch: Why Steve Jobs Thought 7in Tablets Would Fail
So if Apple is really launching a 7.85in "iPad mini", how does that square with what Steve Jobs said two years ago?
From ACM Opinion
Star Trek Technology: How 21st Century Scientists Are Making It So
Destination Star Trek London has kicked off at the ExCeL exhibition centre, and I'm willing to bet that among those heading down for a weekend of pointy-eared fun...
From ACM Opinion
Twitter: Who Do the Politicians Follow?
You can tell a lot about a politician's priorities from who they deign to follow on Twitter. When David Cameron joined the service on Saturday, he started out following...
From ACM Opinion
Think Smartphones Are biquitous Now? Just Wait a Few Years
Five years after the first iPhone went on sale, the sales of smartphones—loosely defined as phones that can run third-party "apps," and access the Internet directly—now...
From ACM Opinion
How Flame Virus Has Changed Everything For Online Security Firms
Here's a question: if you connect an unprotected Windows computer to the Internet, how long will it take before it is infected by malicious software?
From ACM Opinion
Now 4 Billion People Know the Joy of Txt
Here's a question: What's bigger and far more important than Facebook? Hint: it's very low-tech and doesn't need a smartphone or even an Internet connection.
From ACM Opinion
Why the Death of DRM Would Be Good News for Readers, Writers, and Publishers
At the end of April, Tor Books, the world's largest science fiction publisher, and its UK sister company, Tor UK, announced that they would be eliminating digital...
From ACM Opinion
How Much Do the Internet Giants Really Know?
To briefly state the obvious, the Internet giants are seriously big: Google is not only the world's largest search engine, it's one of the top three email providers...
From ACM Opinion