We used to get excited about technology. What happened?

Our Longing for Inconvenience

People are pining for old technologies—CD players, VCRs, Walkmans. What’s behind our longing for inconvenience?

Silicon Valley has forgotten what normal people want

Did the tech industry get high on its own supply?

After Forty Years, Still No Silver Bullet

As always, technology can help with production. What’s scarce is orientation.

100 years of whatever this will be

What if all these weird tech trends actually add up to something? Last time, we explored why various bits of trendy technology are, in my o...

Technology is Not Values Neutral: Ending the Reign of Nihilistic Design

We fail to take tech seriously when we do not grasp its full impact on humans

Big Tech’s attention economy can be reformed. Here’s how.

The business model is doing irreparable harm to society. But there is an alternative, and we don’t need to destroy the tech giants to get there.

The Beginning of the End of Big Tech

From politicians to VC firms, everyone is falling out of love with the massive, money-oriented, global technology titans. In their place, we have the chance to build something open and trustworthy.

Opinion | Let’s Get Excited About Maintenance! (Published 2017)

Innovation is overrated. When it comes to technology, we need to celebrate upkeep.

It Was Never About Innovation

This is the first in a series of articles about innovation and open computing. Because it’s a holiday time of year in the USA, I’ve decided that these next few articles will be a detour…

What technology takes from us – and how to take it back | Rebecca Solnit

The long read: Decisions outsourced, chatbots for friends, the natural world an afterthought: Silicon Valley is giving us life void of connection. There is a way out – but it’s going to take collective effort

War and the lost generation of inventors

Large wars destroy not only lives and infrastructure but also the human capital that fuels long-term economic progress. This column presents new evidence from Britain that shows that communities that lost many young men in World War I experienced persistent declines in subsequent innovation. The losses were particularly detrimental for frontier technologies and breakthrough inventions, highlighting how war can leave long-lasting scars on a country’s capacity to generate new ideas.

The Future of American Industry Depends on Open Source Tech

Instead of launching into a costly trade war with China, we need to fully embrace the fastest, safest, and most democratic way of advancing technology.

Lambda Land | Book Review: Technopoly

In Technopoly: The Surrender of Culture to Technology, Neil Postman argues that our infatuation with technology has insidiously eroded our culture. We gain much through technology, but it comes at a price; all too often we are blind to that price. This book seeks to call attention to the costs of a technology-focused society. I felt this poignantly because I, as a technology worker, know what that infatuation feels like.

People Loved the Dot-Com Boom. The A.I. Boom, Not So Much.

Tech leaders are beginning to worry about the public’s underwhelming enthusiasm for their plans to remake the world with artificial intelligence. Will that burst the bubble?

Calm Technology

The most profound technologies are those that disappear. They weave themselves into the fabric of everyday life until they are indistinguishable from it.