Technology
The state we’re in
As Britain starts its long Covid recovery, are deeper problems lurking beneath the surface? Matthew d’Ancona certainly thinks so, and…
The next big thing
Welcome to Utopia — not an idyllic arcadia but a secretive tech incubator in a Manhattan office block. Here a…
Routine procedures
Among the horrors, some aspects of lockdown were bizarrely less gruelling than expected; indeed for some people, the experience was…
Video nasty
The TikTokisation of global politics
The writing’s on the wall
Towards the end of April, my mum sent me a letter. She doesn’t write as a rule — we speak…
The tech trap
Back in late 2019 I met someone from Zoom who was visiting London. The company, then as now, offered free…
War games
Conflict in cyberspace is a growing threat to us all
Who’s really to blame for the Post Office scandal?
The alleged frauds for which the Post Office prosecuted no fewer than 736 of its sub-postmasters has turned out in…
Internet connection
Dear Sir, I beg to introduce myself to you as a clerk in the Accounts Department of the Port Trust…
War machines
Who can take on China in the tech arms race?
High life
Chelsea/Gstaad Oh, to be in England! But let’s start at the beginning. I challenge any reader to claim they are…
After Covid, get ready for the Great Acceleration
Before the pandemic struck, there was talk of a ‘Great Stagnation’ – the idea that the world economy was doomed…
31 inventions that really could transform the 21st century
‘Get Brexit done, then Arpa’ read Dominic Cummings’s WhatsApp profile. Arpa was what’s now the American Defense Advanced Research Projects…
The year of living contagiously
We have reached Covid-19’s first anniversary in the UK — and I really think we should do something fitting to…
The free speech row tearing apart the tech community
Donald Trump’s Twitter suspension after the riot at the US Capitol made headlines around the world. What was less reported,…
Urban legends
In March last year, the world made an interesting discovery. We found that a high proportion of knowledge-work could be…
Amid the mayhem of today, an upbeat tale from 50 years ago
The online fashion retailer Boohoo is buying Debenhams without its stores and staff, confirming the demise of the high street.…
Historical re-enactments
The Wimborne Militia of Dorset prides itself on being the only formally commissioned ‘private army’ in England. We’re well known…
Control, halt, delete
Can anyone stand up to big tech?
A brief history of luck
One of the staples of crime drama is the ‘cold-case squad’. This allows programme-makers to add period detail to the…
The price of vanity? At least £3,000
If you’re a journalist with a fondness for appearing on television — and, let’s face it, most of us are…
eBay of pigs
The auction site has banned me and won’t tell me why
Concrete poetry
Since technology is developing at such light-speed pace, why does it feel so strangely slow? There is a sense that…
The power of networks
In 1989 I answered my first mobile phone call on Oxford Street using a brick-sized Motorola borrowed from work. Several…
What’s the point of trying to break up ‘big tech’?
The ‘antitrust’ law suit launched by US authorities against Google has been reported as a potential turning point in the…
