Andrew Orlowski

Collected Journalism

  • Fixing the UK’s broadband crisis: Spiked’s Traffic jam debate

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    Andrew Orlowski

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    If you throw a rock in the air in London on any day of the working week, chances are it will land on a New Media conference. These are primarily social gatherings for the same group of academics and media hangers-on, and you can bet they’ll be Twittering. (I’m often invited – usually it’s because…

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  • Bringing it all back Hume: Anton Wylie

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    Andrew Orlowski

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    A philosophy of science that may be the best thing we’ve ever run WiReD magazine’s editor-in-chief Chris Anderson has just seen the end for scientific theories. And it is called Google. The concept of the mind, and by extension that of a person, was also affected, with far reaching implications. In psychology, Behaviourism was one…

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  • “What powers a solar-powered snail?”

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    Andrew Orlowski

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    Boffins have slammed examiners in England for setting school children seriously dumb questions. The Royal Chemistry Society said that the science exams for 14 year olds includes questions such as, “What powers a solar-powered snail?” The Society’s chief executive Dr Richard Pike told us that while the syllabus and text books covered a broad range…

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  • Flush away the Eco Slums

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    Andrew Orlowski

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    Who would have guessed that in 2008, a pledge to give British people flushing toilets would be a shock vote winner? The Conservatives this week promised to scrap the Government’s plans for 15 “eco towns” which will potentially house 100,000 people. These have been heralded as a new era in design, but you need to…

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  • Legal P2P ‘by year end’

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    Andrew Orlowski

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    Legal broadband subscription services that permit file sharing may appear on the market by the year’s end, according to music industry sources – after government intervention brought both music suppliers and ISPs to the table. The UK would become the second country after South Korea where the music business has agreed to offer licenses to…

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  • Farewell then, Symbian

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    Andrew Orlowski

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    Ten years ago to the day, I attended the surprise foundation of Symbian. I was in Norway and sorry to miss the event today that closed the chapter – and probably the book – on the great adventure. I find it exquisitely ironic that the philosophy behind the decision to end Symbian’s independent existence as…

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