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
Why Siri Is a Google Killer
It has now been a couple of weeks since Siri debuted as part of Apple’s iPhone 4S. The response from most people has been very positive. However, Siri is tremendously...
From ACM Opinion
Why Microsoft Embraced Gaming
When the original Xbox video-game console went on sale in 2001, it wasn't clear why Microsoft, known for staid workplace software, was branching out into fast...
From ACM Opinion
Apple
In his recent biography of Steve Jobs, author Walter Isaacson says the Apple visionary revealed to him that he had finally "cracked" the problem with TV and was...
From ACM Opinion
5 Wishes For the Next Generation of Consoles
So what do Sony, Microsoft, and Nintendo have in store for us with the next generation of consoles? When will we see the Xbox 720, the PS4, and the Wii-2, and...
From ACM Opinion
Web Security Expert Warns Of Cyber World War
Eugene Kaspersky is not given to easy hyperbole. But the Russian maths genius who founded an internet security empire with a global reach, clutched at his thick...
From ACM Opinion
Web Security Expert Warns Of Cyber World War
Eugene Kaspersky is not given to easy hyperbole. But the Russian maths genius who founded an internet security empire with a global reach, clutched at his thick...
From ACM Opinion
The Joke's on Your Computer: The Latest Humor Coded Into Software
In Google Maps, the distance-measuring tool offers a choice of three unit systems: Metric, English or "I’m Feeling Geeky." If you click the third one, you’re...
From ACM Opinion
Why Your Next Phone Might Be Bendable
As we enter the final months of 2011, the thoughts of tech watchers like me are turning to what we can expect in 2012. Voice recognition in all our devices? Touch...
From ACM Opinion
The New Einsteins Will Be Scientists Who Share
In January 2009, a mathematician at Cambridge University named Tim Gowers decided to use his blog to run an unusual social experiment. He picked out a difficult...
From ACM Opinion
The Genius of Jobs
One of the questions I wrestled with when writing about Steve Jobs was how smart he was. On the surface, this should not have been much of an issue.
From ACM News
Kevin Mitnick Rates Today's Blackhats
Kevin Mitnick was hacking when the LulzSec kids were still in training pants.
From ACM Opinion
Why Steve Jobs Is Right About Android
Over the weekend I wrote, "What If Steve Jobs Is Right?" As the title implies, the post was a hypothetical look at the possibility that Steve Jobs' assertion...
From ACM Opinion
Jack Zylkin, sb Typewriter Guy
Jack Zylkin created the USB Typewriter. I interviewed him about his creation, the response he's received, and why people are so interested in "the muggle magic...
From ACM News
You Are Data
Bits and Base Pairs explores the concept that the information encoded in our DNA can be compressed down to just 4MB, the equivalent, for example, of "the three...
From ACM Opinion
Ice Cream Sandwich: A Deep-Dive Tour With Android
There are few things in this world I despise more than software updates. Downloading hundreds of files, waiting for the progress bar to fill, restarting the device—it’s...
From ACM Opinion
Wireless Demand Soon Outstripping Capacity
A new report from the Global Information Industry Center at the University of California, San Diego examines the projected disconnect between U.S. wireless infrastructure...
From ACM Opinion
Patriot Act Turns 10, With No Signs of Retirement
The USA Patriot Act, the law granting the government vast surveillance powers that was adopted in the wake of September 11, turns a decade old Wednesday. But...
From ACM Opinion
Why Do Big It Projects Fail? Part One: The Professionals
Academics, CIOs, lawyers, a professor of outsourcing, a consultant, and an investigative journalist answer the question on the minds of many a business and IT...
From ACM Opinion
What Open Source Can Learn From Steve Jobs, Part 1
The passing of Steve Jobs earlier this month triggered reactions that spanned the gamut—from expressions of appreciation and sober reflection to some tasteless...
From ACM News