Magazine

Why Software Is So Bad

July/August 2002

For years we´ve tolerated buggy, bloated, badly organized computer programs. But soon, we´ll innovate, litigate and regulate them into reliability.

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Features

Categorized in 17037
Wind Power for Pennies
Windmills may finally be ready to compete with fossil-fuel generators. The technology trick: turn them backwards and put hinges on their blades.
Categorized in Uncategorized
The Wireless Arcade
They don’t have fancy 3-D graphics, but video games for handheld devices stand poised to capture a huge U.S. market. Why? Because we all have to wait.
Categorized in 17035
Antibody Drug Revival
The human immune system is still the best resource for fighting disease. After a decade of failed promise, drugs that exploit it are finally flooding the market.
Categorized in
Ghana’s Digital Dilemma
The lesson from West Africa: good computers and fast modems don’t matter if you can’t get a dial tone and the power keeps going out.
Categorized in Uncategorized
The Programmable Building
The MIT Media Lab’s Neil Gershenfeld tours the building of the future, where interchangeable power sockets, switches and appliances snap into the walls–then plug into the Internet.

Also in this issue
- Prototype
  Straight from the lab: technology’s first draft
  Categorized in Uncategorized
- Taking Hold of Supply Chains
  A “tangible interface” turns simulations into collaborations.
  Categorized in Uncategorized
- Real-World Video Game
  Surveillance was never so much fun.
  Categorized in 17032
- Infinite Drug Diversity
  New chemical-synthesis methods help researchers build more varied and complex drug candidates.
  Categorized in 17035
- Networked Cockpit
  Boeing’s “electronic flight bag” brings more computation to the skies.
  Categorized in 17032
- Magnetic Future
  Isolating bits on a disk drive could shatter storage limits.
  Categorized in 17032
- Choking Off Cancer
  New drugs kill tumors from the inside out.
  Categorized in 17035
- Incubating Defense Technology
  The army grows firms that may wire the battlefield.
  Categorized in 17035
- New Nuke Solution
  A possible solution to the Yucca Mountain controversy.
  Categorized in 17037
- Declare E-Mail Independence
  Big e-mail providers snap their fingers, and the masses obey, like sheep. But there’s a way to reclaim control.
  Categorized in Uncategorized
- Garbage In, Innovation Out
  From coal mining to computer networks, sometimes the bathwater is worth more than the baby.
  Categorized in 17035
- When Patenting Works
  Despite its flaws, the system does protect inventors against big companies who might usurp their ideas.
  Categorized in Uncategorized
- Prosody
  Computers will really understand what you say when they know how you feel when you say it.
  Categorized in 17032
- Magnetic Random-Access Memory
  Take a tour through a magnetic random-access memory cell.
  Categorized in 17032

Updated

Magazine

Why Software Is So Bad

Features

Wind Power for Pennies

The Wireless Arcade

Antibody Drug Revival

Ghana’s Digital Dilemma

The Programmable Building

Prototype

Taking Hold of Supply Chains

Real-World Video Game

Infinite Drug Diversity

Networked Cockpit

Magnetic Future

Choking Off Cancer

Incubating Defense Technology

New Nuke Solution

Declare E-Mail Independence

Garbage In, Innovation Out

When Patenting Works

Prosody

Magnetic Random-Access Memory

Past issues

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