Larry Magid

I was an Android user for years and still have several Android devices. But last October I bought an iPhone 4S and I'm glad I did. I remember the exact date I bought it, because it was the last time Apple updated the iPhone. Unlike Android devices, there is only...

There has been a lot of debate and handwringing over whether the Internet and social media have redefined "privacy," but while the Internet makes it easier to share, it doesn't force us to share. It's a matter of making choices and balancing the benefits of sharing with the risks, whether...

I recently attended Imagine K12's "demo day" where a group of startups in the education space pitched their companies to potential funders.

As I sat and listened to these mostly young entrepreneurs, I wondered which ones might disrupt education just as technology has changed other industries such as...

When Consumer Reports writes about home appliances it tells you their strengths and weaknesses, but I've never seen any dire warnings about how you can lose your hand if you stick it in a garbage disposal. Even when they review cars, they don't fill their articles with awful statistics about...

Google last week announced its long-awaited Google Drive, which lets you store files on it servers, sync them to other PCs or Macs, and open them on Android devices and -- soon -- on iPhones and iPads.

It's similar to services such as Dropbox, SugarSync and Trend Micro's SafeSync, but...

I've been testing Samsung's new 7-inch Galaxy Tab 2 tablet (my full review is at TabTimes) and, in some ways, I like it better than the iPad. Sure, the newest iPad's Retina screen (ironically, made by Samsung) is more dazzling and the iPad has a faster processor, a bigger screen...

My favorite chapter in Carol Realini's new book Bankrupt: Why Banking Is Broken and How It Can Be Transformed, is where she invokes the holiday classic, It's a Wonderful Life, comparing George Bailey, played by James Stewart, to banker and...

As far as I can tell, the app "Girls Around Me" wasn't violating any laws. But it was high on the creepy scale when, according to reports, women's identity, photographs and location were being revealed to strangers, even though the women never opted into the service. Although the developer, Moscow-based...

The Federal Trade Commission's final report on digital privacy contains some very welcome recommendations.

The recently released report, "Protecting Consumer Privacy in an Era of Rapid Change," looks at challenges consumers face in "today's world of smart phones, smart grids, and smart cars," as "companies are collecting, storing,...

Facebook is more than a social network. It's also a platform that allows independent developers to create applications, or "apps" that greatly expand what the service can offer. Games, including social games like Words with Friends, are very popular, but there are also education apps, photo sharing apps, apps to...

The telephone as we know it -- or at least as we adults knew it -- may soon be a thing of the past. I'm not talking about smartphones -- they're really not phones, but pocket-sized personal computers with an optional voice function -- but I do wonder whether the...

It seems that just about everyone is talking about the Kony 2012 video that's received more than 70 million views since it was posted last week.  It's part of a campaign by the non-profit group Invisible Children to bring awareness to the evil deeds of rebel leader Joseph Kony who's Lord's Resistance...

Some people are worried that on March 1, Google will begin consolidating information across its many products. That means that any information you enter in one product, say YouTube, can be combined with information from other Google services including search, Gmail or Google's new Google+ social networking site. In its...

When it comes to social media privacy, there is some good news from the Pew Research Center's Internet & American Life Project. It...

The recent revelations that some iPhone and Android apps are uploading and storing users' phone address books without permission is very troubling. It not only violates the privacy of the person using the phone but, potentially, everyone in that person's address book.

What bothers me is that we need to...

I'm writing from Moscow, where I spoke at Russia's Safer Internet Day conference last week. Safer Internet Day, which originated in Europe, is celebrated in much of the world, though there are relatively few events in the United States. (Scroll down to view the PowerPoint from one of...

A lot has been written about "Facebook addiction." Indeed some press coverage of a recent study from the University of Chicago suggests that "Facebook and Twitter are more addictive than cigarettes or alcohol." But a new study published in the journal Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking...

This week I spoke at Russia's Safer Internet Day Conference and thought I'd share an edited version my remarks.

The Internet has an enormous impact on all aspects of life including commerce, journalism and education and no single group has been more adaptive to technology than our...

Many people are celebrating the "people's victory" that derailed, at least temporarily, the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) in the House and the Protect IP Act (PIPA) in the Senate.

These controversial bills would require websites to refrain from linking to any sites "dedicated to the theft of...

When Google launched Google+ in June, 2010, it was for adults only. Now it's open to anyone 13 or older. The reason Google kept teens off the service at first is not because the social network was ever about what we euphemistically call "adult content," but because Google wanted to take extra time...