acm-header
Sign In

Communications of the ACM

Recent Opinion


bg-corner

From ACM News

The Giants Among ­S

The patent world is quietly undergoing a change of seismic proportions. In a few short years, a handful of entities have amassed vast treasuries of patents on an...

Now 4 Billion People Know the Joy of Txt
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.

­.n. Efforts Put Internet Freedom at Risk
From ACM Opinion

­.n. Efforts Put Internet Freedom at Risk

A mounting effort to transform a United Nations agency into a global Internet regulator is threatening to undo decades of policymaking that helped the Internet...

I (robot) Thee Wed
From ACM Opinion

I (robot) Thee Wed

It's hard to think of a more attention-grabbing title than "Robots, Men, and Sex Tourism"—especially in the academic world.

Is This Data Scientist a Consumer's Best Friend?
From ACM Opinion

Is This Data Scientist a Consumer's Best Friend?

In Oren Etzioni's world, telling you where to buy a product is so 20 years ago.

How a Private Data Market Could Ruin Facebook
From ACM Opinion

How a Private Data Market Could Ruin Facebook

To justify its sky-high valuation, Facebook will have to increase its profit per user at rates that seem unlikely, even by the most generous predictions.

The Flight From Conversation
From ACM Opinion

The Flight From Conversation

We live in a technological universe in which we are always communicating. And yet we have sacrificed conversation for mere connection.

The Distro Interview: Microsoft Principal Researcher Bill Buxton
From ACM TechNews

The Distro Interview: Microsoft Principal Researcher Bill Buxton

"The pursuit of ever more 'natural' ways of interacting with systems" is a key focus at Microsoft, according to Microsoft Research human-computer interaction researcher...

Why the Death of DRM Would Be Good News for Readers, Writers, and Publishers
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...

Google's Sebastian Thrun: 3 Visions in the 'age of Disruption'
From ACM Opinion

Google's Sebastian Thrun: 3 Visions in the 'age of Disruption'

Today we drive cars, shell out enormous sums for higher education, and navigate the world with electronics that demand the unwavering attention of our ears, eyes...

Andrew (bunnie) Huang on The End of Chumby, New Adventures
From ACM Opinion

Andrew (bunnie) Huang on The End of Chumby, New Adventures

One of my heroes and friends happens to be one in the same person, Andrew (bunnie) Huang. Bunnie tirelessly helps makers, businesses, and the world-at-large with...

How and Why You Should Do Data Journalism
From ACM Opinion

How and Why You Should Do Data Journalism

One of the big areas of focus for technology companies over the past year has been "big data"—in other words, the idea that there can be a lot of value in finding...

From ACM Opinion

When Will This Low-Innovation Internet Era End?

It's an age of unprecedented, staggering technological change. Business models are being transformed, lives are being upended, vast new horizons of possibility...

The Call of the Future
From ACM Opinion

The Call of the Future

In 2009, the United States crossed a digital Rubicon: For the first time, the amount of data sent with mobile devices exceeded the sum of transmitted voice data...

Is It Time To Stop Trusting Google?
From ACM Opinion

Is It Time To Stop Trusting Google?

Was Google's snooping on home Wi-Fi users the work of a rogue software engineer? Was it a deliberate corporate strategy? Was it simply an honest-to-goodness mistake...

Following the Breadcrumbs on the Data-Sharing Trail
From ACM Opinion

Following the Breadcrumbs on the Data-Sharing Trail

Would you like to donate to the Obama campaign? Sign up for a college course? Or maybe subscribe to Architectural Digest? 

The World's Five Biggest Cyber Threats
From ACM News

The World's Five Biggest Cyber Threats

Criminals do not stop at stealing someone's personal data.

Welcome to the Microsoft Store
From ACM Opinion

Welcome to the Microsoft Store

Three years ago, shortly after Microsoft announced that it would launch its own retail stores, I offered the company some unsolicited advice: Copy Apple "relentlessly...

Arm's Next Big Opportunity Is in Really Small Devices
From ACM Opinion

Arm's Next Big Opportunity Is in Really Small Devices

ARM's CEO Sir Warren East is casting his eye on the next big opportunity for the chip architecture firm—the Internet of things.

Cispa, 'national Security,' and the Nsa's Ability to Read Your Emails
From ACM Opinion

Cispa, 'national Security,' and the Nsa's Ability to Read Your Emails

This week the House of Representatives is debating the Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act, or CISPA, the dangerous "cybersecurity" bill that threatens...
Sign In for Full Access
» Forgot Password? » Create an ACM Web Account