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 Companies Desperately Need to Make Wearables Cool
Both consumer electronics and apparel are notoriously difficult businesses competing in mature industries. Wearable technology—everything from activity trackers...
From ACM Opinion
Will Ibm's Watson sher in a New Era of Cognitive Computing?
Computers as we know them have are close to reaching an inflection point—the next generation is in sight but not quite within our grasp.
From ACM Opinion
Our Government Has Weaponized the Internet. Here's How They Did It
The internet backbone—the infrastructure of networks upon which internet traffic travels—went from being a passive infrastructure for communication to an active...
From ACM Opinion
Drm in Cars Will Drive Consumers Crazy
Forget extra cupholders or power windows: the new Renault Zoe comes with a "feature" that absolutely nobody wants.
From ACM News
The Daunting Challenge of Secure Email
When users of Lavabit, an encrypted e-mail service, logged on to the site this past August, they found a bewildering letter on the site's main page.
From ACM Opinion
The Head of Google X Thinks We're All Too Risk-Averse
Google X is responsible for some of Google's most literally fantastic projects: Google Glass, self-driving cars, gigantic inflatable balloons that beam Internet...
From ACM Opinion
A Stronger 'online Eraser' Law Would Be a Mistake
Excited teenagers—in other words normal teenagers—have never been famous for consistently wise decisions, nor should they be.
From ACM Opinion
Should Tech Designers Go With Their Guts—or the Data?
For many tech companies, design is no longer subjective.
From ACM Opinion
Nest's Tony Fadell on Smart Objects, and the Singularity of Innovation
Tony Fadell is the founder and chief executive of Nest, a company that is trying to bring a high-end technology experience to some of the most prosaic areas of...
From ACM Opinion
The False Promise of Classroom Technology
The cover story of Life magazine on Oct. 16 was "U.S. Schools: They Face a Crisis."
From ACM Opinion
Markus 'notch' Persson: The Mind Behind Minecraft
Markus Persson, known also by the online handle "Notch," is an indie game success story like no other.
From ACM Opinion
Is Google Autocomplete Evil?
"Women shouldn't have rights." "Women shouldn't vote." "Women shouldn't work."
From ACM Opinion
Here's What the Morris Worm Prosecutor Thinks About Aaron Swartz
It was 25 years ago Tuesday that The New York Times first named 23-year-old Cornell graduate student Robert Morris as the culprit behind what became known as the...
From ACM Opinion
Tim Berners-Lee: Encryption Cracking By Spy Agencies 'appalling and Foolish'
Sir Tim Berners-Lee, the computer scientist who created the World Wide Web, has called for a "full and frank public debate" over Internet surveillance by the National...
From ACM Opinion
Should We Believe More in Big Data or in Magic?
One year I spent a lot of time with professional magicians.
From ACM Opinion
A Force For Face-to-Face Communication
Clifford I. Nass, a professor of communication at Stanford who died on Saturday, regaled me several times over the years about his method for torturing students...
From ACM Opinion
How Steve Jobs Made the Ipad Succeed When All Other Tablets Failed
Steve Jobs's solution to Google's Android-everywhere strategy was simple and audacious: he unveiled the iPad.
From ACM Opinion
Why the Googlification of Obamacare Really Matters
The Internet is piling yet more vitriol on the shoddy Obamacare rollout in response to a report, by Bloomberg's Alex Wayne, that the administration has recruited...
From ACM Opinion
Fifth Amendment Prohibits Compelled Decryption, New EFF Brief Argues
Encryption is one of the most important ways to safeguard data from prying eyes.
From ACM Opinion