What’s Going to Happen to All the Unsold Snapchat Spectacles?
Hundreds of thousands of these glasses will now find out where failed tech products go to die (and sometimes get reborn).
TFW You Can Play 'TFW' in Words With Friends
Why the popular mobile game is adding certain abbreviations to its lexicon—breaking with a rule held sacred by its forebear, Scrabble
Why Businesses Misunderstand Old People
A counterfactual narrative of aging blinds marketers to the real desires of retirees.
Are Face Scans Resurrecting the False Science of Physiognomy?
Many researchers fear the consequences of training computers to identify a person’s sexual orientation and criminality based solely on physical appearance.
The Digital Ruins of a Forgotten Future
Second Life was supposed to be the future of the internet, but then Facebook came along. Yet many people still spend hours each day inhabiting this virtual realm. Their stories—and the world they’ve built—illuminate the promise and limitations of online life.
Why Sign-Language Gloves Don't Help Deaf People
Wearable technologies that claim to translate ASL overlook the intricacies of the language, as well as the needs of signers.
The Tower at the Heart of the Tech Boom
A symbol of the industry's reach takes its place in San Francisco's skyline just as Americans begin to reckon with the power of Silicon Valley's companies.
‘We Thought You'd Like to Look Back on This Post from 1 Year Ago’
Reexperiencing Election Day 2016 through the social network’s “memories” feature can be painful for those who lost.
The Computer Scientist Who Prefers Paper
Barbara Simons believes there is only one safe voting technology.
Self-Driving Cars Are Roaming Public Roads Outside Phoenix
Unlike some other technologies, the development of autonomous vehicles is right on schedule.
Should Children Form Emotional Bonds With Robots?
For better and worse, toys powered by AI are becoming an intimate part of kids’ lives.
Google's Mass-Shooting Misinformation Problem
When no reputable information is available, the search engine promotes fake news.
How Racial Data Gets 'Cleaned' in the U.S. Census
The national survey offers more identity choices than ever—until those choices get scrubbed away. An Object Lesson.
Even Trump Is Vulnerable to Internet Chaos
In the same day, the president of the United States and many local journalists both suffered the precariousness of life online.
15 Things We Learned From the Tech Giants at the Senate Hearings
The key takeaways from two days of testimony about Russia’s electoral mischief during the 2016 election
Social Media in 1857
Newspapers once featured telegraph items that bear a striking resemblance to tweets.
Are Facebook, Twitter, and Google American Companies?
This week’s Senate hearing highlights a deep tension in the tech giants’ self-definitions.
The Atlantic Made $0.004 From Russian Ads
In times like these, the magazine must come clean about the ways it profited from Russia’s electoral mischief.
Not That George Papadopoulos
What happens when the internet thinks you’ve been indicted
Does Facebook Even Know How to Control Facebook?
Under intense congressional scrutiny, the social giant will have to answer questions about whether it can rein in its own product.