John Battelle asked me a few Qs about my thinking on the themes in The Future of the Internet in the three years since the book came out (four since it was drafted!).  John’s review is available on his blog, and I’ve reproduce the core of it here: JBAT: – You wrote the Future of […]

IR-transmitted metadata. Last week, Apple filed for a patent on an iOS camera that can detect infrared in addition to visible light. If a user aims the camera at an object that is sending out additional information about that object in the IR band, the camera transmits that information to the device, and potentially also […]

Smartphone tracking data. Two researchers reported last month that Apple has been storing time-stamped location information on users’ iOS devices since June. An unencrypted file with these data is saved onto a user’s computer each time she syncs her device with it, as well. Apple appears to have good reasons for collecting the location information, […]

Rumor — and that’s all it is — is that Google will announce  a $10/month Chrome OS laptop rental.  That such a rumor could be credible, whether or not it actually bears out, is a testament to how much our IT ecosystem has evolved in just the past few years.  I’ve long been concerned about […]

Last month the OpenNet Initiative published a report that shines light on one of the more sensitive business practices of Western Internet security and filtering companies. These companies – including McAfee (an Intel subsidiary), Websense, and Netsweeper – promote their filtering technologies in the West as tools for parents and schools trying to shield children […]