Author Archives: GilPress
The Rise of Facebook to the Top of the Social Networking Market
Facebook was a late-comer to the social networking market, defying the business mantra of “first-mover advantage.” Why did it succeed so fabulously where the pioneers of the industry, already with millions of participants, have failed so spectacularly? On April 15, 1999, LiveJournal was … Continue reading
Posted in Facebook, social media, Social Networks
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2001: A Space Odyssey and our fascination with (killer) AI
50 years ago, on April 2, 1968, the film 2001: A Space Odysseyhad its world premiere at the Uptown Theater in Washington, D.C. Reflecting the mixed reactions to the film, Renata Adler wrote in The New York Times that it was “somewhere between hypnotic … Continue reading
Posted in Artificial Intelligence
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The 3 Eras of IT: Computing, Communications, Communities
A number of this week’s milestones in the history of technology trace the shift in the focus of the “computer industry” from computing to communications to communities and the shifting fortunes of key players such as IBM, Apple, and Google. … Continue reading
Posted in Community, Computer history, IT history
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Twitter as Entertainment
One of this week’s milestones in the history of technology, the launch of Twitter, sheds light on the way we live now—deriving social status and enjoyment by playing games and gaining popularity on the Internet, including creating and spreading fake … Continue reading
Posted in Twitter
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The Origins of Blue Origin SpaceX Race and the Broadcom Qualcomm Fight
This week’s milestones in the history of technology include communicating through the ether and travelling through space. On March 16, 1926, Robert Goddard launched the world’s first liquid-fueled rocket. Goddard and his team launched 34 rockets between 1926 and 1941, … Continue reading
Posted in Predictions, Wireless
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Yesterday’s Futures of Work
A number of this week’s milestones in the history of technology connect accidental inventors and the impact of their inventions on work and workers. On March 11, 1811, the first Luddite attack in which knitting frames were actually smashed occurred in … Continue reading
Posted in Automation, Innovation
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Debating the Impact of AI on Jobs
One of this week’s milestones in the history of technology sets the tone to two centuries of debating the impact of machines and artificial intelligence on human work and welfare. On February 27, 1812, Lord Byron gave his first … Continue reading
Reacting to New Technologies: AI, Fake News, and Regulation
A number of this week’s [February 19, 2018] milestones in the history of technology demonstrate society’s reactions to new technologies over the years: A discussion of AI replacing and augmenting human intelligence, a warning about the abundance of misinformation on … Continue reading
Posted in Artificial Intelligence, Facebook, Radio, Turing
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The Undaunted Ambition of American Entrepreneurs and Inventors and the Incredible Hype They Generate
A number of this week’s [February 12, 2018] milestones in the history of technology link the rise of IBM, the introduction of the ENIAC, and the renewed fascination with so-called artificial intelligence. On February 14, 1924, the Computing-Tabulating-Recording Company (CTR) … Continue reading
Posted in Computer history, IBM
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Deep Blue and Deep Learning: It’s all About Brute Force
There are interesting parallels between one of this week’s milestones in the history of technology and the current excitement and anxiety about artificial intelligence (AI). On February 10, 1996, IBM’s Deep Blue became the first machine to win a chess game … Continue reading
Posted in Artificial Intelligence
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The Story of Information 