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 Are the Odds We Are Living in a Computer Simulation?
Last week, Elon Musk, the billionaire founder of Tesla Motors, SpaceX, and other cutting-edge companies, took a surprising question at the Code Conference, a technology...
From ACM Opinion
A Russian Cybersleuth Battles the 'dark Ages' of the Internet
A sense of menace stirs right off the elevator on the fifth floor of Kaspersky Lab's Moscow headquarters, where a small television screen displays cyberthreatsa...
From ACM Opinion
Wikipedia Warns Against French Attempt to Extend Eu Privacy Law Globally
Wikipedia co-founder Jimmy Wales has said an attempt by France to give an online privacy ruling global force is opening up a "disastrous can of worms" and could...
From ACM Opinion
Will the Constitution Protect Your Next Smartphone?
More than a decade ago, the keynote speaker at a major annual cybersecurity conference strode into the spotlight and predicted the death of the password.
From ACM Opinion
The All-American Iphone
Donald Trump says that if he becomes president, he will "get Apple to start making their computers and their iPhones on our land, not in China." Bernie Sanders...
From ACM Opinion
Jobs Threatened By Machines: A Once 'stupid' Concern Gains Respect
They replaced horses, didn't they? That's how the late, great economist Wassily Leontief responded 35 years ago to those who argued technology would never really...
From ACM Opinion
How New Technology Is Illuminating a Classic Ethical Dilemma
On a pleaant Friday afternoon in April, the grassy quadrangle at the center of the Carnegie Mellon University campus is buzzing with activity.
From ACM Opinion
Dear Apple: Please se These Ideas to Modernize the Mac
I took a vacation last month. I traveled some. I read a lot. And I refurbished an old late 2008 MacBook Pro, one of the original aluminum unibody models.
From ACM Opinion
A Strip of Pluto
I know, that image above doesn't look like much, does it? But go ahead, click it. I dare you.
From ACM Opinion
Kevin Kelly on Soft Singularity and Inevitable Tech Advances
Kevin Kelly knows technology can't be stopped.
From ACM Opinion
To Beat the Blues, Visits Must Be Real, Not Virtual
Imagine being stranded on a desert island with a roof over your head and sufficient provisions—but no human contact other than what you can get from your smartphone...
From ACM Opinion
The Snowden Effect: Privacy Is Good For Business
On June 6, 2013, Edward Snowden—holed up in a Hong Kong hotel room with two Guardian reporters and a filmmaker—told the world about a secret surveillance program...
From ACM Opinion
Elegy For the Capital-I Internet
We've long stopped referring to the Internet as "the information superhighway," but there was a reason for the metaphor.
From ACM Opinion
The Real Reason America Controls Its Nukes with Ancient Floppy Disks
America's nuclear arsenal depends on a surprising relic of the 1970s that few of us may recall: the humble floppy disk.
From ACM Opinion
The Woeful Tsa Doesn't Need More Staff. It Needs This Tech
American airport security has never been something to look forward to, but in the past few weeks, it's attained new levels of misery.
From ACM Opinion
Smart Tampon? The Internet of Every Single Thing Must Be Stopped
Let's play a game. Which of the following is a real smartphone-connected product?
From ACM Opinion
American Schools Are Teaching Our Kids How to Code All Wrong
The US Department of Labor projects that one million jobs in computing will go unfilled by 2020.
From ACM Opinion
The Privacy Problem with Digital Assistants
For the last century, we've imagined a future where we're surrounded by robotic butlers that are classy, smart, and discreet.
From ACM Opinion
Checklist of Worst-Case Scenarios Could Help Prepare For Evil AI
Artificial intelligence—what's the worst that can happen? For Roman Yampolskiy, a computer scientist at the University of Louisville in Kentucky, the sky’s the...
From ACM Opinion