Technology

I’m a doctor, and tried the new GP app. My experience was terrifying

20 July 2019 9:00 am

Everyone agrees something dramatic has to be done to help the NHS. It is crumbling and the canary in the…

Why extravagant things don’t have to feel expensive

20 July 2019 9:00 am

‘Suppose you bought a case of claret a few years ago for £20 a bottle. It now sells at auction…

What I’ve learned from 20 years without a TV

22 June 2019 9:00 am

In the summer of 1999 I did something radical. Spurred on by my husband’s universal loathing of television I took…

Selfie-surveillance: Who needs Big Brother when we constantly film ourselves?

1 June 2019 9:00 am

Did you see the Welsh Tory MP David Davies and a pro-Brexit protester arguing outside parliament, pointing cameras at one…

We all have servants now

4 May 2019 9:00 am

 Montego Bay, Jamaica When the Kennedy clan were children, JFK and his siblings would tear off their clothes before leaping…

In praise of privacy

27 April 2019 9:00 am

David Niven’s younger son Jamie, now an old man and a bit overweight, approached my table and announced that he…

Credit: istockphoto.com

Ignore the science fiction: AI isn’t out to get us

23 February 2019 9:00 am

Every ten to 15 years there is a technology breakthrough that really changes what it means to be human. The…

Video-conferencing could revolutionise how we work – so why have we failed to invest in it properly? [GETTY IMAGES]

We don’t need more technology, we need better technology

16 February 2019 9:00 am

I’d like to propose a new scientific institution: the IUT, or Institute of Underrated Technology. Rather than trying to invent…

After Huawei, can we trust Chinese tech?

2 February 2019 9:00 am

The world is a better place for China’s emergence from behind the bamboo curtain where it hid for half a…

Credit: duncan1890

When a reader invited me to stay with him in Exmoor estate, how could I refuse?

26 January 2019 9:00 am

My first night back in Blighty, I sat all evening at the kitchen table drinking wine with a charming, courteous…

Why it’s so much easier not to speak to people

19 January 2019 9:00 am

I recently saw a series of photographs depicting a rural home in China. Pride of place in a grimly furnished…

The most underpriced Christmas gift you can buy

15 December 2018 9:00 am

During the second Gulf war, simply out of curiosity, I found myself visiting the website of a giant American mercenary…

In China’s new surveillance state, everyone will be watched, reviewed and rated

17 November 2018 9:00 am

The bullet train from Beijing to Shanghai is the fastest in the world. It takes just over four hours to…

John McDonnell’s right – the four-day week could work

27 October 2018 9:00 am

Most people were scandalised by John McDonnell’s proposal to promote a four-day working week. But before we get incensed about…

Alexa, who is Toby Young?

6 October 2018 9:00 am

My oldest friend Sean Langan came to lunch last Sunday and, rather disappointingly, he seemed more interested in playing with…

I’m an equal of Socrates and Wittgenstein — and if anyone disputes it they can go to hell

29 September 2018 9:00 am

The grandest view of Gstaad and the surrounding Saanen valley bar none — and that includes the vista from my…

Tech gurus don’t let their kids have smartphones. Here’s why

22 September 2018 9:00 am

Pupils are back in classrooms and parents can finally have a brief respite from worrying about their children’s excessive screen…

Silicon Valley’s weird ideas on how to improve human life

15 September 2018 9:00 am

Which is more diverse: London or Devon? That’s not a trick question. London is much more diverse than Devon. But…

Why data doesn’t always reveal the truth

18 August 2018 9:00 am

In late 1973 the graduate admissions department at UC Berkeley discovered that for the forthcoming year it had awarded places…

On a beach with no phone signal, I rediscovered the wonder of boredom

11 August 2018 9:00 am

After an hour’s beach work I was just about done. I’d read some book, I’d skimmed the papers, I’d eaten…

Amateur porn is not empowering

11 August 2018 9:00 am

If ever you find yourself bored and with 15 minutes to spare, I recommend looking up Pornhub’s annual report, the…

When it comes to new technology, we’re all Luddites at heart

21 July 2018 9:00 am

When I saw my first jogger in Wales in the early 1970s, I assumed he was running away from the…

The lost art of patience

14 July 2018 9:00 am

I’m losing my patience. Not so long ago I’d happily wait ten minutes for a bus, or even whole days…

Can democracy survive the tidal wave of technological progress?

30 June 2018 9:00 am

For a brief moment in 2011, standing among thousands of people occupying Syntagma, the central square in Athens, it looked…

Could an Owl make video conferencing take off?

28 April 2018 9:00 am

When I was ten, the two things we all expected to enjoy by 2020 were flying cars and videotelephony. What…