A ‘witch hunt’ is what Trump called investigations into his campaign and Russian interference in the 2016 election. An anthropologist explains the connection between witch hunts and social control.
Did you recently buy a Samsung smart TV? If you are worried about privacy, you may be wondering how smart that decision was following the manufacturer’s warnings that its voice-activated televisions may…
The incredible rise of Uber demonstrates how technology can be simultaneously a disruptive and useful business idea popular with its users, while causing significant controversy elsewhere. The way Uber…
The world was a very different place in December 1999 when the first G20 met in Berlin. Steve Jobs had just taken back the reins at Apple, but Facebook, Google, Twitter and the dot-com bust were figments…
Australia’s big four banks are the most profitable in the world. Last year they made A$27 billion in profit, up 9.5% on the previous year. Tech leaders in Australia say the financial industry is ripe for…
Do you know someone who has lost their job in the last few years working in IT, media, finance or retail? These industries and many others are already feeling the pinch of “online gravity” - a special…
The crucial thing about “big data” is the data. “Big” is relative, and while size often matters, real disruption can come from data of any size. This is not a new idea, being several hundred years old…
When Amazon, known by most as an online department store, extended its web services business into Australia in 2012, few outside the IT sector noticed. Data released last week by the Australian Securities…
Earlier this year, I travelled to Melbourne for a conference. Instead of paying to stay in a hotel like I normally would, I paid a local couple to stay in their spare room. On arriving at their clean and…
The world of big business is littered with once popular but now discarded household names like Kodak, Borders and Blockbuster. In this disruptive forces series we find out who might be next, uncovering…