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December 23, 2024
 

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Esther Dyson
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 28, 2013
Measure of mismeasure confounds free choice
It's important to help people think clearly about why they might choose something less desirable than what they now have to avoid the risk of getting something even worse next time.
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 28, 2013
Liberating people to control their eating habits
When it comes to weight-loss programs, give people rules of thumb — not product manuals. Let them see how the media manipulates them already to consume more.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 18, 2013
Newspaper rescue defines today's good citizen
It would appear that Amazon.com CEO Jeff Bezos wants less to own The Washington Post than to set its values free financially, for at least a generation or two.
COMMENTARY / World
May 6, 2013
Better simulation of complex events raises bar for predicting individual needs/preferences
With today's computers, we can look at massive amounts of information and make pretty good predictions about individuals — from health care to furniture preferences.
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 1, 2013
Working around others who work works better
Yahoo!'s new CEO recently created a fuss when she no longer let employees work from home. Is her edict a step backward or a boon for creativity?
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 27, 2012
The rise of the attention economy
I was recently posed the following question: "The most important way in which the Internet and online social media are changing our world is [fill in the blank]."
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 26, 2012
Transforming how India addresses its problems
Last month, I visited the Jaipur Foot clinic in New Delhi. You may have heard of the Jaipur Foot. It is both an invention — a prosthetic foot made from cheap materials costing about $45 (versus $8,000 for a similar device in the United States) — and an amazing, low-cost network of clinics around...
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 2, 2012
Intelligent urban design that'll let people bloom
Two months ago, I was introduced to a startup called CityMart, a for-profit marketplace dedicated to helping vendors and city managers find one another — and to spreading municipal innovations outside of their home turf.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 23, 2012
Is the World Wide Web about to be 'closed'?
Within the tech community, there is much angst about whether the Web is about to be "closed." Will it be controlled by companies like Apple, Facebook, and Google, or will it remain "open" to all?
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 31, 2012
Back in Russia: peeling, meeting and shopping
In mid-December, while trying to understand what was happening in Russia, I checked Twitter and found a tweet that somehow signified everything.
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 23, 2011
Time to stop worshipping stirrers of stone soup
Last month I was in Kiev, speaking at a conference focused on entrepreneurs. I wanted to give a talk that would be of general interest but also concrete. So I started with one of my favorite parables.
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 13, 2011
'Jobs factor' made Apple's closed strategy work
Normally, you need a distinctive first name not to need a last name, but in this — as in everything that he did — Steve Jobs was different. He was always just "Steve."
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 30, 2011
'Protection racket' for Net domain names
The Internet's domain-name system (DNS) was formalized in the late 1990s by the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN). I was ICANN's founding chairman, and we more or less followed the rules of trademarks, with an overlay of "first come, first served."
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 1, 2011
'Venture mentors' can give as big a boost to startup companies as a capital infusion
In June, I participated in a meeting sponsored by the Clinton Global Initiative, the giant philanthropy, that focused on creating more jobs in the United States — presumably a goal shared by most countries.
COMMENTARY / World
May 24, 2011
Disorganized dreams of Egyptian democrats
The Internet is an extraordinarily powerful tool. It has changed how we do business, how we do politics, and even how we change our leaders — at least some of the time. But the ease with which we now communicate, the efficiencies we take for granted, can give us a false sense of how easy it is to follow...
COMMENTARY / World
May 4, 2011
Programming people to be better employees
In theory, it is hard to think of any nobler computer service than the typical "Help Wanted" board. It helps people find work that fulfills their potential, and it helps employers find people who can use their infrastructure (whether machines, office equipment or a methodology for service delivery) to...
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 27, 2011
Watershed moment for U.S. space exploration
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — More than 50 years ago (1957), the Soviets launched the world's first orbiting satellite, beating the United States into space. For Americans, the "Sputnik moment" was a wakeup call that pushed the U.S. to increase investment in technology and science education. Months later,...
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 18, 2010
WikiLeaks' flawed answer to a flawed world
NEW YORK — Long ago, I wrote about the Internet pioneer Julf Helsingius, who ran a precursor to WikiLeaks called anon.penet.fi. As I said then: "Anonymity in itself should not be illegal. There are enough good reasons for people to be anonymous that it should be [allowed] — at least in some places...
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 27, 2010
Dangerous myth of the hero entrepreneur
NEW YORK — Earlier this month, I sat on a panel in Monte Carlo, a hot spot of the establishment, discussing the question, "Why can't Europe be more like the U.S.?" The formal name of the panel was "Silicon Envy: Will Europe ever build the next new media giant?"
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 28, 2010
Living life by the numbers
NEW YORK — Recently I learned that I don't have cancer. My doctor called and said, "I have some good news!" Fortunately, we were in the middle of a fire drill in my office at the time, so no one noticed as I blinked back tears of relief.
Zelenskyy to replace Ukraine ambassador to Japan
Ukrainian Ambassador to Japan Sergiy Korsunsky delivers a speech during a handover ceremony of Self-Defense Force vehicles to Ukraine, at the Defense Ministry in Tokyo, in May last year.
Bankruptcies and suicides rise as Japanese struggle with mounting debt
Lawyers estimate that personal bankruptcies in Japan are on track to reach the highest since 2012 this year.
Honda and Nissan consider mutual production of vehicles, report says
Honda CEO Toshihiro Mibe at the Japan Mobility Show 2023 at Tokyo Big Sight in October 2023.
The mighty Mekong River's growing plastic problem
A group of elephant keepers in Chiang Saen, Thailand, remove plastic waste from the Ruak River, a tributary of the Mekong River, as a pair of Asian elephants bathe behind them.
Record 78% of people in Japan feel anxious, government survey finds
The public opinion survey on people's lives, conducted by the Cabinet Office, found that 28.1% of respondents think that their standard of living is at a lower-middle level among the general public — the highest percentage to give that response in 35 years.
Casual workouts, cool living, ‘complete’ food: Japan’s health trends of 2024
In 2024, efficiency trumped effort among Japan's fitness-focused aspirants.
The mighty Mekong River's growing plastic problem
A group of elephant keepers in Chiang Saen, Thailand, remove plastic waste from the Ruak River, a tributary of the Mekong River, as a pair of Asian elephants bathe behind them.
Japanese officials inspect Yokota Air Base over PFAS concerns
The Yokota Air Base in western Tokyo in September 2019. An inspection of the base by Japanese government officials on Friday came amid public pressure to investigate suspected links between the use of PFAS-containing firefighting foam by the U.S. base and contamination of soil and groundwater in western Tokyo.
Crime numbers rise in Japan for second straight year
A police officer stands in front of the residence of a man alleged to have stabbed two junior high school students in Kitakyushu.
North Korea aiding Russia where it needs it most, Canadian general says
North Korean special forces soldiers march and shout slogans during a military parade marking the 105th birth anniversary of the country's founding father, Kim Il Sung, in Pyongyang in April 2017.

Podcast

One of the many entrances to the Kabukicho neighborhood in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward.
Kabukicho: Tokyo’s ‘stadium of desire’

Longform

Visitors to Kyoto walk along a street near Kiyomizu Temple in April. A popular tourist spot, Kyoto has seen what locals feel to be an overwhelming amount of tourists in 2024.
Is Japan ready for 60 million tourists?
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