Stories by Robert X. Cringely

In Pictures: CEOs Microsoft missed

In Satya Nadella, Microsoft played it sensible. Here are the Ballmer successors we tech wags wanted to make our Redmond-flogging jobs a little easier

Invitation to obsession: Apple's iPad 2

Spitting into tea cups, poking goat entrails, tracing the movements of the stars across the heavens, dialing up the Psychic Friends Network -- these things pale in comparison to today's preferred method of divination: Parsing the invitations to Apple special events.

IBM's Watson makes it official -- humanity is toast

"I for one welcome our new computer overlords" -- that's a quote from Ken Jennings, the guy who used to be the world's biggest "Jeopardy" egghead until IBM's Watson supercomputer waxed the floor with him and Brad Rutter, his fellow puny human.

Microsoft Bing: Powered by Google?

It doesn't get much better than this: two tech giants playing a game of "cheater cheater pumpkin eater" and "I know you are but what am I?" in public for all the world to see.

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