[Editor’s note: This is part of a series examining the internet’s first 50 years and predicting the next half century. Join Xconomy and World Frontiers Forum on July 16 for Net@50, an event exploring the internet’s past and future.] For my feature article “Special Report 2069: Predicting the Internet’s Next 50 Years,” I asked my Twitter … Continue reading “How Do YOU Think the Internet Will Evolve? A Sampling of Your Tweets”
Author: Wade Roush
Between 2007 and 2014, I was a staff editor for Xconomy in Boston and San Francisco.
Since 2008 I've been writing a weekly opinion/review column called VOX: The Voice of Xperience. (From 2008 to 2013 the column was known as World Wide Wade.)
I've been writing about science and technology professionally since 1994. Before joining Xconomy in 2007, I was a staff member at MIT’s Technology Review from 2001 to 2006, serving as senior editor, San Francisco bureau chief, and executive editor of TechnologyReview.com. Before that, I was the Boston bureau reporter for Science, managing editor of supercomputing publications at NASA Ames Research Center, and Web editor at e-book pioneer NuvoMedia.
I have a B.A. in the history of science from Harvard College and a PhD in the history and social study of science and technology from MIT. I've published articles in Science, Technology Review, IEEE Spectrum, Encyclopaedia Brittanica, Technology and Culture, Alaska Airlines Magazine, and World Business, and I've been a guest of NPR, CNN, CNBC, NECN, WGBH and the PBS NewsHour. I'm a frequent conference participant and enjoy opportunities to moderate panel discussions and on-stage chats.
My personal site: waderoush.com
My social media coordinates:
Twitter: @wroush
Facebook: facebook.com/wade.roush
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/waderoush
Google+ : google.com/+WadeRoush
YouTube: youtube.com/wroush1967
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Pinterest: pinterest.com/waderoush/
Future of the Internet: What Scares Networking Pioneer Radia Perlman
[Editor’s note: This is part of a series examining the internet’s first 50 years and predicting the next half century. Join Xconomy and World Frontiers Forum on July 16 for Net@50, an event exploring the internet’s past and future.] Bob Metcalfe co-invented Ethernet, the communications standard still used for most local on-site networking, but Radia Perlman … Continue reading “Future of the Internet: What Scares Networking Pioneer Radia Perlman”
Why Ethernet Inventor Bob Metcalfe is an Internet Optimist
[Editor’s note: This is part of a series examining the internet’s first 50 years and predicting the next half century. Join Xconomy and World Frontiers Forum on July 16 for Net@50, an event exploring the internet’s past and future.] Right alongside Moore’s Law, which describes the exponential growth in computing power since the 1960s, there’s Metcalfe’s … Continue reading “Why Ethernet Inventor Bob Metcalfe is an Internet Optimist”
Ex-Apple UX Guru Don Norman Calls for Replacing the Internet
[Editor’s note: This is part of a series examining the internet’s first 50 years and predicting the next half century. Join Xconomy and World Frontiers Forum on July 16 for Net@50, an event exploring the internet’s past and future.] No one has done more than Donald Norman to teach us that every piece of hardware … Continue reading “Ex-Apple UX Guru Don Norman Calls for Replacing the Internet”
What Is the Future of the Internet? Experts Predict Next 50 Years
[Editor’s note: This is part of a series examining the internet’s first 50 years and predicting the next half century. Join Xconomy and World Frontiers Forum on July 16 for Net@50, an event exploring the internet’s past and future.] It’s a good thing journalists, pundits, and consultants can’t be held liable for the predictions we … Continue reading “What Is the Future of the Internet? Experts Predict Next 50 Years”
Review: Inside the House of Lies at Theranos
Youth. Charm. Fearlessness. Ruthless focus. These can be positive attributes in an entrepreneur, but in a more rational world, technology investors wouldn’t overvalue them. Risk capital would be allocated based mostly on evidence, data, progress towards milestones—in short, on proof. In the real world, of course, proof is hard to come by. Hope, avarice, or … Continue reading “Review: Inside the House of Lies at Theranos”
Chet Kanojia Paints Vision of a New Kind of ISP at Starry Internet
[Updated, 10:10am. See below] When it comes to buying home broadband service, there hasn’t been an abundance of choices. If you have at least two decent options—say, Comcast and Verizon—you’re in the lucky half of the population. One-quarter of U.S. households have no choice at all. But that’s all starting to change, and the cable … Continue reading “Chet Kanojia Paints Vision of a New Kind of ISP at Starry Internet”
Six Useful Things You Can Do With Your New Smart Speaker
TL;DR: It’s time to buy a smart speaker. They’re ridiculously cheap—$30 for the Amazon Echo Dot, and $29 for the Google Home Mini—and increasingly powerful. It will be a long time before they’re as empathetic as Samantha in Her or as industrious as Rosie in The Jetsons. But they can already make your life easier, … Continue reading “Six Useful Things You Can Do With Your New Smart Speaker”
Cord Cutting: How to Get High-Speed Internet Without Cable, 2017 Edition
Hey folks. If you’re thinking about breaking away from the cable monopolies and getting your data, music, and video in other ways, congratulations, I’m with you. I cut the cord back in 2009, and now millions of people are doing the same every year. With the growing interest in cord-cutting, you’d think it would be … Continue reading “Cord Cutting: How to Get High-Speed Internet Without Cable, 2017 Edition”
Nathan Myhrvold: The Full Xconomy Voices Interview
Episode 3 of our new podcast, Xconomy Voices, features a conversation about nuclear power with Nathan Myhrvold, the founder and CEO of Intellectual Ventures. The former Microsoft chief technology officer is now vice chairman of TerraPower, a Bellevue, WA-based spinout of Intellectual Ventures that aims to revive commercial nuclear energy. The company is researching next-generation … Continue reading “Nathan Myhrvold: The Full Xconomy Voices Interview”
Xconomy Voices, Episode 3: Nathan Myhrvold and TerraPower
We’re pleased to bring you the third episode of Xconomy Voices, our new podcast featuring conversations with entrepreneurs, innovators, and investors from Xconomy’s home cities and regions. This week our guest is Nathan Myhrvold, the former Microsoft chief technology officer who, since 2000, has headed Intellectual Ventures, a Bellevue, WA-based firm that buys, develops, and … Continue reading “Xconomy Voices, Episode 3: Nathan Myhrvold and TerraPower”
Christopher Ahlberg: The Full Xconomy Voices Interview
The second episode of Xconomy’s new podcast, Xconomy Voices, features Recorded Future co-founder and CEO Christopher Ahlberg. His Somerville, MA-based cybersecurity company monitors both the public, visible Web and the Internet’s darker corners for “threat intelligence” that can help its clients prepare for, and fend off, cyber attacks. Ahlberg’s background in data analytics and his … Continue reading “Christopher Ahlberg: The Full Xconomy Voices Interview”
Xconomy Voices, Episode 2: Christopher Ahlberg of Recorded Future
On our new Xconomy Voices podcast, we find the smartest, most successful entrepreneurs and innovators in Xconomy’s network of cities and regions, and we ask them to open up about what they’re working on, what they’re excited about, and why they think their company, product, or idea is going to take the world by storm. … Continue reading “Xconomy Voices, Episode 2: Christopher Ahlberg of Recorded Future”
Mary Lou Jepsen: The Full Xconomy Voices Interview
For the inaugural episode of our new podcast, Xconomy Voices, we chose to speak with Bay Area entrepreneur and executive Mary Lou Jepsen. She leads a startup called Openwater, which is developing a new kind of wearable imaging device that might one day enable communication by thoughts alone. Of course, there are nearer-term goals as … Continue reading “Mary Lou Jepsen: The Full Xconomy Voices Interview”
Introducing Xconomy Voices (Podcast), Episode 1: Mary Lou Jepsen
It’s always been Xconomy’s mission to reach audiences—both here on our website, and at our many live events around the country—with deep insights into the innovation process, divined from experts embedded in the world’s most important hubs of high-tech entrepreneurship. And now we’re doing that in one more medium: podcasting. I’m thrilled to be collaborating … Continue reading “Introducing Xconomy Voices (Podcast), Episode 1: Mary Lou Jepsen”
Audio Startup 60dB Upgrades Streaming App for Short Radio Stories
In the smartphone era, many music fans are abandoning downloads and even broadcast radio in favor of subscription-based streaming services. You can just press Play on Pandora, Spotify, or Apple Music and you’ll hear an endless stream of songs tailored to your interests. What’s strange, then, is that there’s no Pandora or Spotify for spoken-word … Continue reading “Audio Startup 60dB Upgrades Streaming App for Short Radio Stories”
50 Podcasts You Should Be Listening To—and 5 New Ways to Find Them
If you’re not much of a podcast listener and you have a sense that you’re missing out on a lot of great content, you’re absolutely right. But now is a good time to fix that, thanks to a new profusion of listening options. And to get you started, I have a few shows to suggest. … Continue reading “50 Podcasts You Should Be Listening To—and 5 New Ways to Find Them”
How a War on Climate Change Could Restore Economic Growth in America
What’s the biggest, scariest threat facing the United States right now? I know for sure that it’s not immigration, free trade, or “radical Islamic terrorism.” And I’m going to resist the easy answer that it’s Donald Trump. But I have a hard time deciding which of these two very real challenges is more urgent: a) … Continue reading “How a War on Climate Change Could Restore Economic Growth in America”
How Will Apple Innovate Beyond the iPhone 7? With Next-Gen Siri
Apple’s iPhone 7 is due out next month. According to the Wall Street Journal, PFWTMs (“people familiar with the matter”) say the new device will look pretty much the same as the iPhone 6s. The biggest change: no more headphone plug. Customers who want to listen to music or podcasts on their iPhones will need … Continue reading “How Will Apple Innovate Beyond the iPhone 7? With Next-Gen Siri”
Clinton Versus Trump: Who’s Stronger on Innovation?
With the Republican National Convention behind us and the Democratic convention in full swing, it seems like a good moment to ask how a Donald Trump presidency or a Hillary Clinton presidency might affect the prospects for high-tech entrepreneurship and business growth in the United States. At this stage, both candidates have given major economic … Continue reading “Clinton Versus Trump: Who’s Stronger on Innovation?”
Can Innovation Save Us?
During a summer that’s been marred by political upheaval and horrific violence inside and outside the U.S., it’s natural for startup entrepreneurs and others immersed in the technology world—including us journalists—to wonder about the role of innovation in solving social problems. In the wake of the murder of five police officers in Dallas, which followed … Continue reading “Can Innovation Save Us?”
Trading Quality for Ease: Confessions of an Earbud Junkie
This is the story of a reawakening. I’ve come home to the world of real home stereo sound, after too many years hooked on music trickling through smartphone earbuds and devices with small, crappy speakers. Don’t worry, I haven’t turned into an audiophile. I’m not going to preach to you about some $40,000 turntable with … Continue reading “Trading Quality for Ease: Confessions of an Earbud Junkie”
One Writer’s Strategy for Avoiding Information Overload
This week one of my favorite podcasts, WNYC’s Note to Self, is featuring a project called Infomagical. Every day the show is sharing new challenges designed to help listeners cope with information overload. We all know that feeling of being so far behind on the e-mails, texts, articles, and all the other stuff our digital … Continue reading “One Writer’s Strategy for Avoiding Information Overload”
The Best Podcasts of 2015: A Guide for New Listeners
The percentage of Americans who say they’ve never listened to a podcast is steadily shrinking, but it’s still pretty large — 67 percent, according to a 2015 survey by Edison Research and Triton Digital. I’m going to assume for a minute that you’re in this uninitiated group. You know what podcasts are, and you’re vaguely … Continue reading “The Best Podcasts of 2015: A Guide for New Listeners”
Apple Watch: The First Wearable Device Worth Wearing
It’s just a watch. I’ve had my Apple Watch for three weeks now, and I have no qualms about telling you that the device’s killer app is telling time. That’s what I was expecting. After all, it looks like a wristwatch, you wear it in the same place as a wristwatch, and the first thing … Continue reading “Apple Watch: The First Wearable Device Worth Wearing”
Carless in Cambridge: Bike & Car Sharing and the Future of Traffic
Nine weeks ago, I lost my fancy hybrid street/trail bike to one of San Francisco’s plentiful bicycle thieves. Seven weeks ago, in preparation for a big move east, I sold my car. Now I’m settling into a new apartment in Cambridge, MA, and for the first time in my adult life, I don’t own a … Continue reading “Carless in Cambridge: Bike & Car Sharing and the Future of Traffic”
Linda Stone’s Antidote to Quantified Self: The Essential Self
The Quantified Self movement emerged in the late 2000s in response to an absence: the lack of useful data about our bodies as we move through the day. Before the QS era, an EKG could show you your heart rhythms; a lab analysis could show you your cholesterol levels; a treadmill stress test could measure … Continue reading “Linda Stone’s Antidote to Quantified Self: The Essential Self”
Axial Exchange Aims to Keep Patients Healthy Outside the Hospital
The United States has some of the best hospitals in the world. That’s why 800,000 international patients come here every year seeking specialty care, according to data from Chapel Hill, NC-based Patients Beyond Borders. If only the great care most patients receive while they’re inside the hospital could continue after they’ve left. Too often, patients are … Continue reading “Axial Exchange Aims to Keep Patients Healthy Outside the Hospital”
Global Warming and the Power of Fear to Drive Innovation
[Corrected, see below] As graduation approached at my rural Michigan high school in 1985, our principal had a problem. The commencement ceremony usually featured two speeches: one from the valedictorian and one from the salutatorian. But in my graduating class eight people, including me, had a 4.0 grade point average. Who would give the valedictorian … Continue reading “Global Warming and the Power of Fear to Drive Innovation”
Dave Eggers’s “The Circle” Fails as Satire, Succeeds as Prophecy
When the anti-utopian book The Circle, the latest novel from McSweeney’s founder Dave Eggers, came out last October, reviewers hailed it as a “provocative” and “foreboding” warning about the spiritual costs of excessive sharing and transparency on the Internet. The Guardian even called it “a deft modern synthesis of Swiftian wit with Orwellian prognostication.” But … Continue reading “Dave Eggers’s “The Circle” Fails as Satire, Succeeds as Prophecy”
Raleigh’s ThinkHouse Live-In Accelerator: Think Maker Faire, Not MTV
Yes, ThinkHouse is a place where eight young entrepreneurs, all in their early 20s, apply for a chance to live under the same roof for nine months while they start their own businesses. But here are some images to put out of your mind right from the start: Video cameras. Confessional interviews. Rivalry, backstabbing, and … Continue reading “Raleigh’s ThinkHouse Live-In Accelerator: Think Maker Faire, Not MTV”
There Was Life Before Smartphones, But Who Can Remember It?
I’m lakeside this week in northern Michigan, hanging out with my extended family. It’s been interesting to observe my six-year-old nephew, who won’t go anywhere without a Power Rangers Megaforce robot in one hand and a Ty Monstaz plush toy in the other. They’re right beside him at the breakfast table, on the dock, at … Continue reading “There Was Life Before Smartphones, But Who Can Remember It?”
Boston Vs. San Francisco: Two Cultures of Innovation
Let’s say you’re an ambitious, creative professional or entrepreneur working in the United States. You’re interested in technology, you have the luxury of mobility, and you want to be close to the center of things. Which city should you choose as your home? If you’re attracted to a specific sub-field, the answer may be obvious. … Continue reading “Boston Vs. San Francisco: Two Cultures of Innovation”
Can Accela’s “Civic Cloud” Turn City Bureaucrats Into Heroes?
On April 9, 2013, a severe hailstorm swept through western Nebraska, pounding the Omaha area with stones so large they shattered car windows, punctured skylights, and destroyed roofs. Suddenly, thousands of Omaha homeowners needed emergency repairs. But first, they needed the city permits required for all that roof construction. It was the kind of crisis … Continue reading “Can Accela’s “Civic Cloud” Turn City Bureaucrats Into Heroes?”
Kiwi Startup Xero Pries Accountants Away from Intuit’s QuickBooks
[Updated 6/30/14, see below] If you run a small- or medium-sized business and it’s big enough to have bookkeeper, chances are he or she is using QuickBooks, the desktop accounting program sold by Intuit since the mid-1990s. QuickBooks has a market share of around 90 percent in North America, making it one of the most … Continue reading “Kiwi Startup Xero Pries Accountants Away from Intuit’s QuickBooks”
Five Annoying Tech Problems for the Next Hot Startup to Solve
Why is it that we can put a man on the Moon, but we can’t figure out how to screen jet passengers without making everyone take their shoes off? Well, the truth is, we can’t even put a man on the Moon—not anymore. It’s not a technical impossibility, but reconstituting the technologies that helped a … Continue reading “Five Annoying Tech Problems for the Next Hot Startup to Solve”
Pogoplug: One Service to Back Up All Your Devices
I’m a little obsessive when it comes to backups. In my Windows days, in the early 2000s, I used to make complete CD-ROM copies of my PC’s hard drive every couple of months. Until last year, I had two separate online backup services running on my Macbook Pro—Carbonite and Backblaze—along with an external hard drive … Continue reading “Pogoplug: One Service to Back Up All Your Devices”
Modern Meadow Grazes on $10M to Grow Leather Without Cows
Just because you like to eat meat or wear leather doesn’t mean you’re all that happy about the way these products are made. Few guests at Outback Steakhouse, for example, would really enjoy going out back to slaughter their own steer. And we can probably all agree—whether we’re carnivores or vegetarians—that the cattle industry is … Continue reading “Modern Meadow Grazes on $10M to Grow Leather Without Cows”
The Future of Work, Plus or Minus E-mail
I. Too Much of a Good Thing I’ll begin by admitting my biases. I don’t like electronic mail. In the pre-Internet days of the 1970s, when e-mail as we know it was invented, it may have been a decent solution to a certain problem—namely, the need for users logged into a single mainframe, server, or … Continue reading “The Future of Work, Plus or Minus E-mail”
How I Conquered My Reading List Using Pocket
If you’re a student, a researcher, a knowledge worker, or an entrepreneur, you probably swim in ideas all day long. Like it or not, replenishing those ideas through reading is a huge part of your job. After all, it’s hard to make new knowledge without old knowledge; it’s impossible to see new connections unless you … Continue reading “How I Conquered My Reading List Using Pocket”
If Tesla Made Bike Lights, They’d Look Like This; The Story of Sparse
Hardware is Silicon Valley’s new religion. At maker spaces like TechShop, hardware startup accelerators like HAXLR8R and Lemnos Labs, and conferences like O’Reilly Media’s Solid, there’s one overriding article of faith: that bits and atoms aren’t so different after all. Just as the cost and complexity of starting a software company has drastically declined over … Continue reading “If Tesla Made Bike Lights, They’d Look Like This; The Story of Sparse”
Indiegogo’s Danae Ringelmann on Crowdfunding as Market Research
On the crowdfunding platform Indiegogo right now, there’s a campaign for a product called the New Matter Mod-t. It’s one of the first low-price 3D printers designed as a home appliance, allowing consumers to print their own craft items at home. (The New Matter video shows objects like towel holders, refrigerator magnets and pencil holders.) … Continue reading “Indiegogo’s Danae Ringelmann on Crowdfunding as Market Research”
Startups and “The Future of Informing”: Q&A with Matter’s Corey Ford
Don’t let it be said that the media industry is anti-innovation. Journalism schools sponsor hard-hitting studies saying news organizations must reinvent themselves to survive. A leaked innovation report from the New York Times shows that the venerable paper is serious about doing exactly that, even if it’s still struggling to figure out how. And KQED, … Continue reading “Startups and “The Future of Informing”: Q&A with Matter’s Corey Ford”
Cord Cutting: How to Get High-Speed Internet Service Without Cable
[Updated article for 2017 is here, 10/25/17.] Last fall I wrote a column called Please, Keep Paying $80 a Month for Cable So I Can Enjoy Cheap TV. The article was addressed to folks who complain about the exorbitant fees they’re paying to Comcast or AT&T for premium cable bundles. Adopting a cheeky, sarcastic tone—which … Continue reading “Cord Cutting: How to Get High-Speed Internet Service Without Cable”
Baxter Meets World: Rod Brooks on What Rethink Robotics Is Learning
At San Francisco’s Fort Mason yesterday, former MIT roboticist Rodney Brooks gave the opening keynote address at Solid, a new O’Reilly Media conference focused on innovation at the confluence of software and hardware. True to that theme, Brooks talked about Rethink Robotics, the company he founded in 2008 to build humanoid manipulator robots, and the … Continue reading “Baxter Meets World: Rod Brooks on What Rethink Robotics Is Learning”
Welcome to the Seven-Year Technology Pause
What’s even harder to endure than the collapse of an economic or technology bubble? The long lull that follows. The current bubble hasn’t popped quite yet—and it might not, at least not in the sudden and messy way that the dot-com bubble did, in March 2000. What’s just as possible is that that we’ll see … Continue reading “Welcome to the Seven-Year Technology Pause”
The Davis Dilemma: New Energy for Innovation, But Where to Grow?
Every economic development official in the country knows the story. In 1951, Frederick Terman, then the dean of engineering at Stanford University, decided to set aside 200 acres of Stanford-owned fruit orchards in Palo Alto for the new Stanford Industrial Park. The park was soon home to Varian Associates, Shockley Transistor, and Hewlett-Packard, as well … Continue reading “The Davis Dilemma: New Energy for Innovation, But Where to Grow?”
Can Sacramento End Its Innovation Drought?
It’s raining, at last, in the Sacramento region. It’s just past noon on the last day of March. As I’d glided east on Interstate 80 that morning, the sky had been darkly pregnant, a wash of Payne’s Gray. Yet not a drop of rain had streaked my windshield. Now, as I’m leaving City Hall in … Continue reading “Can Sacramento End Its Innovation Drought?”
Ignoring the Old Math, a San Francisco Startup Reinvents UAV Wings
What if you could eliminate turbulence around an aircraft wing and get twice as much lift for the same amount of engine power—or five or 10 times as much? What if the outer surfaces of a wing weren’t rigid, but were more like a living thing, moving relative to the wing’s interior parts? To most … Continue reading “Ignoring the Old Math, a San Francisco Startup Reinvents UAV Wings”
Radio is the New Netflix. Here’s Your Binge Listening Guide.
“Binge watching” TV shows wasn’t possible until the advent of full-season DVD sets in the late 1990s. And while bingeing was common enough in the 2000s—I definitely remember a few weekends spent inhaling 24, BSG, and The Wire—it didn’t really leap into the mainstream until 2013, when Netflix began streaming whole seasons of shows like … Continue reading “Radio is the New Netflix. Here’s Your Binge Listening Guide.”