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
Save a Soccer Referee. Hire a Machine to Rule on Goals.
Referees are the worst. Anyone who plays, coaches, or watches sports will agree. They call either too little or too much. They're blind, stupid, paid off, or just...
From ACM Opinion
The Bitcoin Bubble and the Future of Currency
A few days ago, the value of all the bitcoins in the world blew past $1 billion for the first time ever. That’s an impressive achievement, for a purely virtual...
From ACM Opinion
Interview with Computing Pioneer Alan Kay
Born in 1940, computer scientist Alan Curtis Kay is one of a handful of visionaries most responsible for the concepts which have propelled personal computing forward...
From ACM Opinion
Apple and the Mysterious Case of the Missing Moonshot
When John Morrell left his post at Yale University last year and decamped to Apple, some members of the robotics community were perplexed.
From ACM Opinion
You'll Never Believe the Data 'wiped' Smartphones Store
Few things are more precious, intimate, and personal than the data on your smartphone.
From ACM Opinion
The Child, the Tablet, and the Developing Mind
I recently watched my sister perform an act of magic.
From ACM Opinion
The Story of My App
Recently, I created an app called Petting Zoo. It is an interactive app for iPhones and iPads, and creating it was a difficult but interesting process.
From ACM News
Bitcoin May Be the Global Economy's Last Safe Haven
One of the oddest bits of news to emerge from the economic collapse of Cyprus is a corresponding rise in the value of Bitcoin, the Internet’s favorite, media-friendly...
From ACM Opinion
The Chilling Effects of the Dmca
It was hard to believe, but the student insisted it was true.
From ACM Opinion
Nolan Bushnell: 'steve Was Difficult,' Says Man Who First Hired Steve Jobs
Somehow even when he's sitting still, Nolan Bushnell seems to be in constant motion.
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 Self-Driving Robot Cars Are Ruining My Commute
My hometown, Mountain View, Calif., has become the unofficial capital of the robotic car revolution.
From ACM Opinion
Yahoo Buys News App from British Teenager For a Reported $30 Million
When Yahoo was founded in 1995, Nick D'Aloisio wasn't even born yet. He says he taught himself to program computers using books and video tutorials.
From ACM Opinion
The Promise and Perils of a Datafied World
In a former life I was a research assistant. After painstaking weeks spent gathering data, I was tasked with putting the numbers into a statistics application that...
From ACM Opinion
Stop Pagination Now
This weekend’s New York Times Magazine features a fascinating, 7,200-word epic profile of Metropolitan Opera General Manager Peter Gelb. Like most NYT Magazine...
From Communications of the ACM
Are the Costs of 'Free' Too High in Online Education?
Considering the economic implications as educational institutions expand online learning initiatives.
From Communications of the ACM
Peacebuilding in a Networked World
Harnessing computing and communication technologies in fragile, conflict-stressed nations.
From ACM Opinion
How Relying on Algorithms and Bots Can Be Really, Really Dangerous
So you can’t wait for a self-driving car to take away the drudgery of driving? Me neither! But consider this scenario, recently posed by neuroscientist Gary Marcus...
From ACM Opinion