The Wiki Man
The rocketing success of Zoom
Next time there is a highly deserved round of public applause for NHS workers, do add one additional clap for…
Tech to plug in to while you’re self-isolating
For the past 12 years, Roger Alton and I have shared this half page like Box and Cox: he writes…
Titanic shifts
It wasn’t a coincidence that the US government chose Ellis Island as an immigration station. The crucial word is ‘island’.…
Why the BBC licence fee makes sense
A consensus seems to be forming that the BBC licence fee is for the chop. In a digital age, the…
Wireless disconnection
In the recent debate over Britain’s 5G infrastructure, one dog didn’t bark in the night. At no point did anyone…
Central reservations
Some years ago, two British supermarket chains needed to place a large order for replacement trollies. They had to decide…
The great train robbery
Outside mathematics, the word ‘commute’ can mean two things. Mostly it refers to the act of making a daily journey…
Something is badly wrong with the housing market – so why aren’t we talking about it?
In 1991, 67 per cent of 25- to 34-year-olds owned their own home. In 2016, that figure had fallen to…
Technological progress is as messy as Darwinian evolution
There is a famous chart which shows the time it took for various technologies to be adopted by 50 million…
This year’s top gadgets – according to my inner chimp
I’d hoped to spend this week writing about my new Geberit Japanese-style toilet, but since the grout is not yet…
No one else has the weird levels of self-regard shown by people who appear regularly on TV
One of the more tedious tropes of recent years is for journalists to bemoan the rise of populism while busily…
How veganism became mainstream
I have just returned from Canada, which seems to share Britain’s new-found obsession with veganism. There, chains such as Burger…
Plumbers always have the best restaurant recommendations
Whenever I use the security lane at an airport, I enjoy watching people retrieving their bags and metallic items when…
Why averages don’t add up
I recently learned from a doctor friend that salt isn’t necessarily bad for you. Yes, there is a minority whose…
Why business is perfectly relaxed about Brexit
It’s difficult to go into the office nowadays, since most of my colleagues are so distraught by the prospect of…
Business is the only area of human activity where you get paid to change your mind
In 1891, a 29-year-old man moved from Philadelphia to Chicago intending to start a business. With $32 to his name,…
Why no one ever moves back to London
In last week’s Spectator, Martin Vander Weyer replied to a couple with a baby who had sought his advice on…
Looking for a new idea? Try borrowing an old one
Recently I suggested a new approach to commuter-train overcrowding. It simply involved reformulating the problem by accepting that not all…
Is the future of work flexible?
Today we suffer disillusion, not because we are poorer than we were — on the contrary, even today we enjoy,…
Why extravagant things don’t have to feel expensive
‘Suppose you bought a case of claret a few years ago for £20 a bottle. It now sells at auction…
Why governments should spend big on tech
I was talking to a large Silicon Valley video-conferencing firm the other day. ‘Just for interest,’ I asked, ‘what would…
The service station problem: it’s becoming impossible to correct a mistake
My first award for intelligent design this week goes to Dublin airport for displaying a sign which reads ‘Lounges. Turn…
It’s easy to sex up the business of paying tax
To fund the war against Napoleon in 1813, Princess Marianne of Prussia invented an ingenious tax-raising scheme. Wealthy Prussians were…
Could my slogan have swayed the Brexit vote?
People sometimes ask what slogan could have swayed the Brexit vote: the opposite of the touchstone phrase ‘Take back control’.…
Why don’t we see more big infrastructure projects?
In 2012 I finished a meeting in Berlin and headed to Tegel airport. Apparently mine was a historic flight, since…
