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
How Big Data Algorithms See s—while They Eat S p
Four years ago I interviewed Sam Yagan, then CEO of OKCupid, about the mathematics underlying his free matchmaking site.
From ACM Opinion
The Adultery Arms Race
Jay's wife, Ann, was supposed to be out of town on business.
From ACM Opinion
Why Germans Are Afraid of Google
These days Germany is known for being many things: a leader in clean technology, a manufacturing powerhouse, Europe's foreign policy center.
From ACM Opinion
Find Out What Your Zip Code Predicts You'll Buy
Where you live says a lot about you—and nobody knows that better than marketeers. Now, though, you can take a glimpse at what they know, using this searchable map...
From ACM Opinion
5 Insights from Vint Cerf on Bitcoin, Net Neutrality and More
When Vint Cerf, often called the "father of the Internet," is speaking, it's wise to listen.
From ACM Opinion
Google's Schmidt Fires Back Over Encryption
To hear Google Inc. Executive Chairman Eric Schmidt tell it, the U.S. government has only itself to blame for new efforts by Google and Apple Inc. to keep police...
From ACM Opinion
Should We Tailor Difficulty of a School Text to Child's Comfort Level or Make Them Sweat?
"A man who traveled from Liberia to visit family members in Texas tested positive for Ebola on Tuesday, marking the outbreak's first diagnosis outside of Africa...
From ACM Opinion
Your Phone Screen Just Won the Nobel Prize in Physics
You've probably got the fruits of this year’s Nobel laureates' handiwork in your pocket. In fact, if you're reading this on your phone or a relatively recent flat...
From ACM Opinion
The Fourth Major Era of Computing Kicks In
With mobile users now outnumbering desktop users, a new economic cycle has begun.
From ACM Opinion
How The Cold War And George Orwell Helped Make The Internet What It Is
The story of how the digital age came to be involves a cast of more than 40 people, ranging from a 19th century English countess to California hippies.
From ACM Opinion
Intel Meets its 'makers,' with Chips For Diy Set and the Firms They'll Found
Intel's Edison chip has been launched in a rocket, floated in a weather balloon, fitted into a futuristic light-emitting dress and used to power a dancing robot...
From ACM Opinion
A Rare Look at Design Genius Jony Ive: The Man Behind the Apple Watch
I first catch sight of Jony Ive across the Apple campus, in a plain Dodger-blue T-shirt and white painter's pants, in conversation, nodding.
From ACM Opinion
Cyborgs: The Truth About Human Augmentation
At the height of summer, when London was baking in unseasonable heat, I made an ill-fated trip to the Serpentine lido in central London.
From ACM Opinion
The Toughest Case: What If Osama Bin Laden Had an Iphone?
In rebuking Apple and Google for their new smartphone encryption polices on Thursday, FBI Director James B. Comey became the latest law enforcement official to...
From ACM Opinion
When Everything Works Like Your Cell Phone
Everyone understands what it means to own a plunger.
From Communications of the ACM
A Turing Tale
Assessing the accuracy of popular descriptions of Alan Turing's influences and legacy.
From Communications of the ACM
Disrupting and Transforming the -University
Higher education institutions must modify their business models in response to technology-driven influences.
From Communications of the ACM