How Wikipedia Works
Wikipedia is a marvel of the modern world. The basic idea is so insane, it’s a wonder that it works. An encyclopedia that anyone can edit? It’s an idea as ridiculous as “Abraham Lincoln:...
Category: Technology
Death and Faxes
Fax machines are a fascinating anachronism. A modem fax machine is just a low-quality scanner and a dial-up modem. Not Real Till It’s on Paper Faxes persist because of people who think that something’s...
The Evolution of Twitter
When Twitter first came out, the Tweet Box said “What’s on your mind?” instead of “What’s happening?” Early Twitter was all about the narcissistic tweets, like “I just ate kumquats for breakfast.” Only later...
Phone Wars: iPhone vs Android
A bright light casts a dark shadow. The more loyal your followers are, the more rabid your detractors will be. No company in the modern world embodies this better than Apple, Inc, a multinational...
Facebook Rules: Third Time’s a Charm
New technology requires new etiquette. I imagine that a hundred years ago, when phones first came out, people spent a lot of time debating when to call and what to say. Then when the...
Steve Jobs: Time Traveler
I just finished the book Replay, by Ken Grimwood. It’s the story of a 43-year-old man who dies and awakes in his college dorm room. He then lives his life over again. Only this...
Facebook Ticker: Too Much Noise
Facebook users always seem to oppose changes to the service. But when it comes to the new Facebook Ticker, people seem more upset than usual. Looking like a “Facebook-in-a-Facebook”, the Ticker sits on the...
Steve Jobs: 56 Years of Genius
What can I say that hasn’t been said? Steve Jobs, founder of Apple, creator of the home computer, the graphical operating system and the smart phone, is dead at the age of 56. Fifty-six...
The Ghosts of Technology Past
I’m fascinated by the Ghosts of Technology, most notably the floppy disk icon. It’s been twenty years since anyone used floppies as their primary medium, yet the icon shows no signs of weakening. Even...
Facebook Oddities
If there’s such a thing as “Generation Z”, the Z must stand for “Zuckerberg”. Like it or not, we live in the Facebook era. As of September 2011, the social networking service is up...
