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 TechNews
Interview With Alan Kay
A.M. Turing Award winner Alan Kay says many programmers who code for money have a lack of awareness of the roots of their culture. He contends that "the Web . ....
From ACM Opinion
The End of Privacy?
Cellphones, email, and online social networking have come to rule daily life, but Congress has done nothing to update federal privacy laws to better protect digital...
From ACM Opinion
Why There Are Too Many Patents in America
Recently, while sitting as a trial judge, I dismissed a case in which Apple and Motorola had sued each other for alleged infringement of patents for components...
From ACM Opinion
Why We Need a Standard for the Internet of Things
The Internet of things is supposed to connect every aspect of our lives from our homes and cars to the objects we wear and the goods we consume. It's even connecting...
From ACM Opinion
With Apple
Late last summer, I was introduced to a new special someone. I wasn’t looking to meet this new muse; it all just kind of happened.
From ACM Opinion
Talking To Your Mac: The Coolest Feature of Mountain Lion, and the Future of Computers
Mountain Lion, the next big software cat for your Mac, has a gazillion new features. Too many to name, and frankly, to care about. But there's one you should pay...
From ACM Opinion
The Sun Shines on 'the Cloud'
What's the real lesson to be learned from Amazon's cloud computing failure two weeks ago, the one that knocked Netflix and other Websites offline?
From ACM Opinion
Why the Days Are Numbered For Hadoop As We Know It
Hadoop is everywhere. For better or worse, it has become synonymous with big data. In just a few years it has gone from a fringe technology to the de facto standard...
From ACM Opinion
How to Fly the .s.'s Trillion-Dollar Stealth Fighter Jet
The first rule of flying the world's most advanced fighter jet: Do not push the red button until you absolutely mean to.
From ACM Opinion
Future Planetary Rovers May Make Their Own Decisions
It's a hot summer day, and your eyes spot an ice cream cart up ahead. Without even really thinking, you start walking that direction. Planetary scientists would...
From ACM Opinion
We Already se Wi-Fi More Than Cellular; Why Not Continue the Trend?
We think of our mobile phones as connecting to mobile networks, but that’s really not the case. When it comes to mobile data, our smartphones are far more reliant...
From ACM News
The Robot of the Future That's About to Explore the Deep Past of Mars
I want to tell you about a special place on the surface of Mars. Back in the solar system's early days, a large object slammed into the red planet, leaving behind...
From ACM Opinion
Steve Jobs on Programming, Craftsmanship, Software, and the Web
In 1995, Steve Jobs gave a rare interview to Robert Cringely for a PBS special called Triumph of the Nerds to talk about the genesis of the personal computer.
From ACM Opinion
Why Google Glass Is the Next Frontier For Developers
When Google co-founder Sergey Brin demoed Google Glass, the search giant's attempt to build a next-generation wearable computer, with skydivers live streaming their...
From ACM Opinion
What the Well's Rise and Fall Tell S About Online Community
In the late 1980s, decades before the term "social media" existed, in a now legendary and miraculously still living virtual community called "The WELL," a fellow...
From ACM Careers
Automate or Perish
In Automate This, a book due out next month, author and entrepreneur Christopher Steiner tells the story of stockbroker Thomas Peterffy, the creator of the first...
From ACM News
Google Shaman Explains Mysteries of 'compute Engine'
Google started work on the Google Compute Engine over a year and a half ago, and it was all Peter Magnusson could do to keep his mouth shut.
From ACM News
Is .s. Government Reading Email Without a Warrant?
Does the U.S. government read your email? It's a simple question, but apparently there's no simple answer. And the Justice Department and the Internal Revenue Service...
From ACM Opinion
Google Glass Team: 'wearable Computing Will Be the Norm'
Even though I followed Google's I/O Conference from across the country, the event made it obvious that a company created with a strict focus on search has become...
From ACM Opinion