Computerworld: Mike Elgan

How to understand Twitter's bad new direction

(Mike Elgan) — Sat, 23 Aug 2014 11:00:00 GMT

Twitter this week made two small changes that indicate a big shift in direction for everybody's favorite microblogging service

The trouble with trolls (and how to beat them)

(Mike Elgan) — Sat, 16 Aug 2014 11:15:00 GMT

A vulnerable person. A sociopath or two on social media tormenting that person without consequence. That's trolling in a nutshell. Mike Elgan explains what you can do about it.

Google, Facebook go beyond social, beyond identity

(Mike Elgan) — Sat, 09 Aug 2014 10:12:00 GMT

In order to understand the strange but spectacularly profitable world of Google and Facebook today, it's important to start in the fall of 2010.

In search of a social site that doesn't lie

(Mike Elgan) — Sat, 02 Aug 2014 11:00:00 GMT

Mike Elgan would like to find a social network that doesn't lie to users, doesn't experiment on users without their clear knowledge, and delivers by default all the posts of the people they follow.

If you can't check in, is it really Foursquare?

(Mike Elgan) — Sat, 26 Jul 2014 11:02:00 GMT

In their quest to copy competitors, social sites and apps increasingly drop features that are part of the popularity and identity of their products, says columnist Mike Elgan.

Rise of the Planet of the Lockscreens

(Mike Elgan) — Sat, 19 Jul 2014 11:15:00 GMT

The humble lockscreen is about to become the most important interface on your smartphone, says columnist Mike Elgan.

Why we need an underground Google

(Mike Elgan) — Sat, 12 Jul 2014 11:02:00 GMT

There has never been a search engine that accurately reflects the Internet.

Google shows Apple how to buy a music service

(Mike Elgan) — Sat, 05 Jul 2014 11:01:00 GMT

Google's purchase of music streaming service Songza will be a boost for the Google brand as well as its search, Play, Glass and other services. Maybe Apple could learn a thing or two from the deal.

Why Android Wear is the new iPad

(Mike Elgan) — Sat, 28 Jun 2014 11:15:00 GMT

Columnist Mike Elgan tested a smartwatch with Android Wear and said he has experienced a culture-changing platform.

Why you shouldn't buy the Amazon Fire phone

(Mike Elgan) — Sat, 21 Jun 2014 11:00:00 GMT

Amazon and its Fire phone are capable of the most comprehensive and aggressive personal data harvesting ever offered in any product. The company needs to be far more transparent about what the phone actually does, and how Amazon protects all this data.

Forget coffee, Starbucks is a tech company

(Mike Elgan) — Sat, 14 Jun 2014 11:00:00 GMT

People think Starbucks is a coffee company. But every restaurant sells coffee. What makes Starbucks unique is technology. Here's why.

Apple's iBeacon gets fun

(Mike Elgan) — Sat, 07 Jun 2014 11:00:00 GMT

Apple's iBeacon location technology used to be ignored or used on boring retail applications. Now it's showing up in consumer apps and being deployed in increasingly fun places.

Get ready for the summer of smartwatches

(Mike Elgan) — Sat, 31 May 2014 11:00:00 GMT

Smartwatches have been around for a while, but they have been bulky and clunky, and of interest primarily to gadget fans. This summer, all of that will change, says Computerworld columnist Mike Elgan.

The hottest trend in mobile: going offline!

(Mike Elgan) — Sat, 24 May 2014 11:06:00 GMT

The consumer electronics industry has spent the last 20 years making everything connect wirelessly to the Internet -- from PCs to TVs, cameras to speakers.

How Tom Wheeler's FCC plan will wreck your Internet

(Mike Elgan) — Sat, 17 May 2014 11:00:00 GMT

FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler's proposal is brilliant because it takes the U.S. as far away from net neutrality as possible by presenting the killing of net neutrality and making it sound like the opposite.

The rise of vagueness as a service

(Mike Elgan) — Sat, 10 May 2014 11:07:00 GMT

An unexpected trend is emerging in technology. Information presented to the user is growing vague. Columnist Mike Elgan explains why.

Inside Facebook's brilliant plan to hog your data

(Mike Elgan) — Sat, 03 May 2014 11:00:00 GMT

Facebook's Anonymous Login is designed to create scarcity in the user data market, which increases the value of that data, and forces more small companies to get that data through Facebook's ad network, rather than from the users directly.

Why the social networks are falling apart

(Mike Elgan) — Sat, 26 Apr 2014 11:15:00 GMT

The social networks are falling apart -- breaking up into multiple sites and apps that do in a scattered way what used to happen centrally.

3 privacy violations you shouldn't worry about

(Mike Elgan) — Sat, 19 Apr 2014 11:15:00 GMT

There are many major threats to our privacy that we should be up in arms about, but iBeacons, Gmail scanning and Google Glass are not among them, says Mike Elgan.

Brace yourself, here comes the mobile appsplosion

(Mike Elgan) — Sat, 12 Apr 2014 11:15:00 GMT

Companies are engaged in a kind of arms race with competitors to see how many apps they can get everyone to use. But this aggressive push for more apps is going to end up giving users app fatigue.

4 reasons Microsoft is a new company

(Mike Elgan) — Sat, 05 Apr 2014 11:15:00 GMT

There's no question that today's Microsoft is a whole new company. Many of the changes announced under the leadership of CEO Satya Nadella were initiated under his predecessor, Steve Ballmer. But it's clear that it's a whole new Microsoft.

Why Twitter, Facebook, Google and Amazon want to be each other

(Mike Elgan) — Sat, 29 Mar 2014 11:00:00 GMT

It was a loony week in Silicon Valley. Four major technology companies announced expensive and risky programs to become less like themselves and more like their competitors.

15 mysteries about the Moto 360 smartwatch

(Mike Elgan) — Sat, 22 Mar 2014 11:00:00 GMT

We've seen pictures and videos of Motorola's round smartwatch. But the most important facts are still unknown, and Mike Elgan has a lot of questions.

Ready for your electronic tattoo?

(Mike Elgan) — Sat, 15 Mar 2014 11:00:00 GMT

Electronic tattoos are the ultimate wearable computer. There's no telling what a patch of electronics stuck to your body somewhere and connected wirelessly to a smartphone can do once app developers get involved.

How do you feel? Your phone may soon tell you

(Mike Elgan) — Sat, 08 Mar 2014 12:00:00 GMT

A variety of projects unveiled in the past year aim to give mobile apps the ability to instantly detect a person's emotional state.

Secure smartphones are nice, but not enough

(Mike Elgan) — Sat, 01 Mar 2014 12:00:00 GMT

In the past week, two new ultra secure smartphones have been in the news. One is called the Blackphone. The other is called the Black phone. The difference in their names is a space. Here's what we know about the two most secure smartphones ever created.

Google phone project could transform smartphones

(Mike Elgan) — Sat, 22 Feb 2014 12:01:00 GMT

Google has unveiled what is almost certainly the most interesting phone of the year. It's part of Project Tango

How apps are changing fast food

(Mike Elgan) — Sat, 15 Feb 2014 12:02:00 GMT

The world of fast food is getting faster -- and redefining the future of mobile payments. Just look at what Taco Bell and Chipotle are doing.

Why wearable computing is waiting for A.I.

(Mike Elgan) — Sat, 08 Feb 2014 12:00:00 GMT

This week, Google Glass got a new app called 'Refresh' that seems small, but it represents the future of wearable computing.

How 'Lenovorola' changes the mobile world

(Mike Elgan) — Sat, 01 Feb 2014 12:15:00 GMT

Google is selling Motorola to Lenovo. The deal makes Google better, Lenovo bigger and Motorola gets a new lease on life.

Why Facebook and Google+ are headed in opposite directions

(Mike Elgan) — Sat, 25 Jan 2014 12:15:00 GMT

The two major social sites, Facebook and Google+, are embracing opposite strategies for the future, but they are heading to the same place: To add social intelligence to everything you do.

Why the 'Internet of Things' may never happen

(Mike Elgan) — Sat, 18 Jan 2014 12:15:00 GMT

The so-called "Internet of Things" will be littered with multiple, warring, incompatible standards and systems for connectivity, making it very unlike the actual Internet, which is a shame, writes columnist Mike Elgan.

Three big trends converge at CES

(Mike Elgan) — Sat, 11 Jan 2014 12:01:00 GMT

Lifelogging and lifestreaming got a boost from wearable computing and the quantified self at International CES this week. Welcome to the future.

Is Apple's 13-in. iPad a desktop for kids?

(Mike Elgan) — Sat, 28 Dec 2013 12:00:00 GMT

Rumors about Apple building a very large iPad have been unavoidable for seven months. But does a giant iPad make sense?

Why 2014 is the 'year of smart glasses'

(Mike Elgan) — Sat, 21 Dec 2013 12:00:00 GMT

More than a dozen smart glass products are expected to ship in the first half of next year, ranging in price from $79 to $3,000. So raise your glass to the coming wave of face-top computing gadgets.

Forget Amazon; I want a drone of my own

(Mike Elgan) — Sat, 14 Dec 2013 13:01:00 GMT

Governments and businesses are getting flying robots. But when will personal drones fly into our lives? Columnist Mike Elgan wants one.

Are your smartphone apps selling you out?

(Mike Elgan) — Sat, 07 Dec 2013 12:01:00 GMT

Apple's App Store, Google's Play store and other app stores are packed with apps that can compromise your security and privacy without you ever knowing anything bad happened. What's a mobile app user to do?

Why smartphone food photos look horrible

(Mike Elgan) — Sat, 30 Nov 2013 11:53:00 GMT

Martha Stewart wants to show you horrible pictures of nauseating-looking food for some reason. Mike Elgan finds this personally vexing.

Are we giving up on mobile payments already?

(Mike Elgan) — Sat, 23 Nov 2013 12:01:00 GMT

Mobile payments have still not caught on as U.S. users stick with their credit cards. Now the innovation is coming in the form of new debit cards.

Here comes the age of ambient everything

(Mike Elgan) — Sat, 16 Nov 2013 12:01:00 GMT

Trends in social, search, mobile, wearable and the Internet of things will alter our perception of reality. Change is in the air, says columnist Mike Elgan.

The new killer app is a real human

(Mike Elgan) — Sat, 09 Nov 2013 12:00:00 GMT

The future was supposed to be automated and computerized. But it turns out that automation is creating demand for the human element.

Is technology the cause of car crashes? Or the cure?

(Mike Elgan) — Sat, 02 Nov 2013 10:51:00 GMT

Passing laws to minimize accidents caused by distracted drivers is a good idea. But let's not dump advanced technology prematurely just because we assume it's a distraction, says Mike Elgan.

Are online comments full of paid lies?

(Mike Elgan) — Sat, 26 Oct 2013 11:01:00 GMT

A thriving industry of paid-for user comments pollutes social networks with fake opinions. Let the reader beware.

Are you a nomophobe?

(Mike Elgan) — Sat, 19 Oct 2013 10:09:00 GMT

The joys of mobile computing are not without a downside. A wide range of diseases, disorders and syndromes have emerged around our growing gadget habit.

Digital nomad survival tips you can use anywhere

(Mike Elgan) — Sat, 12 Oct 2013 11:00:00 GMT

Mike Elgan traveled over three continents in the past 18 months and has these tips for staying connected, keeping powered up and protecting your valuable gadgets from theft.

Does your phone need a phone of its own?

(Mike Elgan) — Sat, 05 Oct 2013 11:00:00 GMT

Phablets -- those smartphones almost as big a tablet -- are great, but it can be hard to get them out of a pocket or purse. Help is on the way in the form of tiny, phone-like devices that use Bluetooth to let you talk on the phone without holding a phablet up to your ear.

Why San Francisco today is like every city tomorrow

(Mike Elgan) — Sat, 28 Sep 2013 11:00:00 GMT

San Francisco residents are used as lab rats in Silicon Valley's many new high-tech services. And you won't believe the cheese they get.

Where's my solar-powered iPhone?

(Mike Elgan) — Sat, 21 Sep 2013 11:08:00 GMT

Is there a solar-powered smartphone in your future? Mike Elgan thinks so, and he explains what's being done right now to bring that technology to reality.

Why Apple's 'indoor GPS' plan is brilliant

(Mike Elgan) — Sat, 14 Sep 2013 11:00:00 GMT

Apple's iBeacons system will enable purchases, contextual marketing, automated check-ins and much more. And it's closer than you think.

Samsung and Qualcomm fail to launch the smartwatch revolution

(Mike Elgan) — Sat, 07 Sep 2013 11:00:00 GMT

The Samsung Galaxy Gear and the Qualcomm Toq are not starting smartwatch revolution you've been waiting for, writes Mike Elgan. Not to worry though, a flood of devices are coming next year.