Selected essays 

  Tributes, warnings and a look at life in the '90s 

• To our daughter, Emma, on a very important day (1997)
• The Bill Gates giveaway: Why it doesn't matter to you, Gene and me (1999)
• To the thief who robbed me (1991)
• Readers cheer our stand against the hacker-thief (1991)
• Why the thief won't get us down (1991)
• Toast of the town: A parable for PC owners (1999)
• The end of innocence at Apple (1990)
• Extra warranties 1: A waste of money (1991)
• Extra warranties 2: On reflection, an even bigger waste of money (1992)
• Who killed the Atari ST? A drama in three parts (1998)
• When buying locally makes sense, and when it doesn't (1993)
• Does your skateboard pick up Channel 13? (1993)
• In telecommunications, only one part of that word really counts (1991)
• Progress is not our most important product (1990)
• How Sony killed the Betamax (1988)
• Magic headlights and a longing for Preston T. (1991)
• AOL freebies, unkind remarks and a question of ethics (1993)
• Banned in Boston, and everywhere else (1990)
• It's not my voice, and it's not my mail, but guess what they call it? (1990)
• Windows as easy as DOS? What a selling point! (1992)
• When system managers blame the messenger, watch out (1988)
• Green markers, or why conviction is stronger than truth (1986)
• Casting a spell 1: Why cant they spel rite anymor? (1988)
• Casting a spell 2: They can't spell, and they can't edit, either (1994)
• The dumb PC, before plug-and-play was invented (1993)
• Tandy's THOR recordable CD, and reflections on a technological turning point (1988)
• The Patent Office: Absurd, and still going strong (1984)
• The tornado, my neighbor Tom and the miracle on Van Ness Road (1994)
• Dick Tracy's dreams (1988)
• Batteries included: Why modern toys have lost their mysteries (1991)
• In a time of sadness, small victories count the most (1991)
• Can animals talk? Sure. Can they understand? Maybe (1991)
• When the patient and the writer are one and the same (1990)
• Rubber type? Maybe the Pope would understand (1984)
• Little phone makes a big impression (1989)
• Do brand names count? Don't bet on it (1991)
• Master remotes tame your tangle of gadgets (1987)
• Getting the answering machine to behave (1988)
• How the Mac (and Windows, and everyone else) got a GUI (1992)
• Happy decade to all us non-mathematicians (1990)
• The day I got sick and found another me at the museum (1990)
• Video's big secret: It plays a trick on our brains (1991)
• Children and computer interfaces: A little one shall lead the way (1992)
• Fighting the good fight against the techno-cafeteria (1987)
• Father of the bride, without a camcorder in sight (1990)
• When your radio goes crazy (1989)
• Call it great 1: The greatest invention? It's not a close call (1990)
• Call it great 2: Alex Bell should take a bow (1994)
• Looking back at 50: Can somebody please program my VCR? (1993)
• The day Frank's radio came back to life (1993)
• When technology needs a zapper of its own (1994)
• All the math you can do on two fingers (1994)
• Citroen: The car that time forgot (1985)
• ST computing: Secrets of Geneva (1994)
• ST computing: Secrets of NeoDesk 4 (1995)
• The Thought Police and the question of children's rights (1991)

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