Technology
My 2019: mice, Marrakesh and a fond farewell to my dear friend Christopher Booker
Another year over and it wasn’t all bad, you know. Here are some of my personal highlights. Best birthday parties:…
We’ve just had the best decade in human history. Seriously
Let nobody tell you that the second decade of the 21st century has been a bad time. We are living…
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…
Don’t tell me model railways aren’t art. My little engine is a thing of spirit and beauty
It’s a summer day at Llangenydd station, and the afternoon train is already late, not that anyone seems to mind.…
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…
Are you tingle-minded? The rapid rise of ASMR
I once had a flatmate called Tom, who behaved very oddly when our cleaner came round. On mornings when she…
I’m a doctor, and tried the new GP app. My experience was terrifying
Everyone agrees something dramatic has to be done to help the NHS. It is crumbling and the canary in the…
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…
What I’ve learned from 20 years without a TV
In the summer of 1999 I did something radical. Spurred on by my husband’s universal loathing of television I took…
Selfie-surveillance: Who needs Big Brother when we constantly film ourselves?
Did you see the Welsh Tory MP David Davies and a pro-Brexit protester arguing outside parliament, pointing cameras at one…
We all have servants now
Montego Bay, Jamaica When the Kennedy clan were children, JFK and his siblings would tear off their clothes before leaping…
In praise of privacy
David Niven’s younger son Jamie, now an old man and a bit overweight, approached my table and announced that he…
Ignore the science fiction: AI isn’t out to get us
Every ten to 15 years there is a technology breakthrough that really changes what it means to be human. The…
![Video-conferencing could revolutionise how we work – so why have we failed to invest in it properly? [GETTY IMAGES]](https://spectatorau.imgix.net/content/uploads/2019/02/GettyImages_517017732.jpg?auto=compress,enhance,format&crop=faces,entropy,edges&fit=crop&w=410&h=275)
We don’t need more technology, we need better technology
I’d like to propose a new scientific institution: the IUT, or Institute of Underrated Technology. Rather than trying to invent…
After Huawei, can we trust Chinese tech?
The world is a better place for China’s emergence from behind the bamboo curtain where it hid for half a…
When a reader invited me to stay with him in Exmoor estate, how could I refuse?
My first night back in Blighty, I sat all evening at the kitchen table drinking wine with a charming, courteous…
Why it’s so much easier not to speak to people
I recently saw a series of photographs depicting a rural home in China. Pride of place in a grimly furnished…
The most underpriced Christmas gift you can buy
During the second Gulf war, simply out of curiosity, I found myself visiting the website of a giant American mercenary…
In China’s new surveillance state, everyone will be watched, reviewed and rated
The bullet train from Beijing to Shanghai is the fastest in the world. It takes just over four hours to…
John McDonnell’s right – the four-day week could work
Most people were scandalised by John McDonnell’s proposal to promote a four-day working week. But before we get incensed about…
Alexa, who is Toby Young?
My oldest friend Sean Langan came to lunch last Sunday and, rather disappointingly, he seemed more interested in playing with…
I’m an equal of Socrates and Wittgenstein — and if anyone disputes it they can go to hell
The grandest view of Gstaad and the surrounding Saanen valley bar none — and that includes the vista from my…
Tech gurus don’t let their kids have smartphones. Here’s why
Pupils are back in classrooms and parents can finally have a brief respite from worrying about their children’s excessive screen…
Silicon Valley’s weird ideas on how to improve human life
Which is more diverse: London or Devon? That’s not a trick question. London is much more diverse than Devon. But…
Why data doesn’t always reveal the truth
In late 1973 the graduate admissions department at UC Berkeley discovered that for the forthcoming year it had awarded places…
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