Jun 20Why the Crypto Crash is Nothing Like the Dotcom CrashGreat internet tech emerged from the rubble of the early 2000s — but there’s no reason to think blockchain will do the same — When people think about new technologies, they often draw analogies to older ones. This impulse is understandable —it feels like analogies give us something to hold onto. But analogies can also mislead, if we draw parallels between things that are not actually alike but treat them as if they are…Blockchain5 min read
Mar 29What Was “the New Economy”?This paper for the Business History Conference is the shaggiest thing I have written in years. Work and personal life developments — including happy things like getting a new puppy — meant I had to write this faster than I wanted. Still, my grumpiness with its form is more than…Technology25 min read
Oct 21, 2021The Myth of the “Pinto memo” is Not a Hopeful Story for Our TimeA few of the issues I mention below were changed after I finished this post, when Wired “updated” the article on 10/20/21, but I think it is still worth examining the article as it originally came out on 10/14/21, so I have left my post as is. If historians are…Big Tech10 min read
Feb 1, 2021You’re Doing It Wrong: Notes on Criticism and Technology HypeMaybe more people are writing about the real and potential problems of technology today than ever before. That is mostly a good thing. The list of books and articles from the last few years that have nuanced and illuminating perspectives on the contemporary technological situation is rich and long. Recently…Technology19 min read
Published in The Startup·Jan 25, 2021Seven Theses on Technology and the US EconomyOver the past five years, including while writing The Innovation Delusion with Andy Russell, I have been reading a number of works that paint a similar picture of technology and the economy in the United States. …Technology7 min read
Published in OneZero·Feb 26, 2020I Won’t Buy Another iPhone Until Apple Supports Right to RepairWhy one longtime Apple fan is giving up on the company — I have been a loyal Apple customer since 2003, when I met the woman who became my wife. When Abigail and I got together, she had an iMac, a blue bubble of a thing that looked cutting-edge for its day. I have fond memories of staying up late into the…Right To Repair11 min read
Feb 11, 2019Rifkin’s Erroneous Riffing, or Why Basing Plans on Techno-Prophecy is Such a Bad IdeaIn the last few weeks, friends at Virginia Tech have been asking me worried questions about the futurist and writer Jeremy Rifkin, who has apparently become a guru or “thought leader” in some quarters on campus. My friends asked, Is Rifkin really a respected thinker about economics and technology? And…Technology10 min read
Nov 26, 2018The Design Thinking Movement is AbsurdHave you ever heard of Design Thinking? Your answer to that question will depend largely on where you sit in the world. The phrase Design Thinking is known almost universally in design circles. It’s made its way around networks of business hype more than once. Hell, the folks at Singularity…Education35 min read
Oct 4, 2018The Lack-of-Positive-Futures HypothesisRecently, I’ve heard several people suggest that a lack-of-positive-futures, or optimistic visions of tomorrow, have hampered advances in science and technology. This lack-of-positive-futures hypothesis builds on well-known gripes about supposed deficits in recent technological progress. As billionaire vampire Peter Thiel put it, “We wanted flying cars, instead we got 140…Technology15 min read
Jul 26, 2018Proposal to Fortify University Water Supply with Sanitized Cat Feces to Increase Innovation and EntrepreneurshipIn a recent publication, business school professors and collaborators put forward evidence that a parasite found in feline excrement may be leading to increased entrepreneurial behavior. The reason, they argue, is that the parasite Toxoplasma gondii makes individuals it infects less risk averse and decreases fear of failure. …Higher Education4 min read
