Articles By Mike Elgan

Will robots soon deliver pizza?

Futurists and science fiction writers have predicted for decades that one day smart robots would roll around town doing errands for us.Today, that future seems still far off. But it's just around the

Published on: June 7th, 2012 Mike Elgan @itbusinessca

How to set-up Google+ automation

Let's take a look at what this automating Google+ thing is all about.If you're as lazy as I am, you'll be thrilled to learn that once created, these automations -- called "recipes" --

Published on: October 12th, 2011 Mike Elgan @itbusinessca

Chromebooks are destined to fail

Everyone wants what Microsoft's got, namely control of the most widely used computing platform. Or, more accurately, everyone wants the billions and billions of dollars that flow in from the dominance of desktop

Published on: May 17th, 2011 Mike Elgan @itbusinessca

Do browser filters ‘dumb down’ Web search results?

Think you're on the Internet right now? Well, you're not. You're on your Internet. The exact version of the online world that you see is available only to you.Most of the major conduits

Published on: May 10th, 2011 Mike Elgan @itbusinessca

Is Page leading Google into a social media fiasco?

Eric Schmidt is out at Google. Larry Page is in. I miss Eric already.Page, who started as CEO on Monday, wasted no time changing the company's focus and direction. He implemented a major

Published on: April 12th, 2011 Mike Elgan @itbusinessca

Google +1 experiment a new bid for control over the social Web

Google announced this week a new social search feature called +1. The new offering competes in some ways with Facebook's "Like" button.By clicking on an optional new +1 button on your Google search

Published on: April 5th, 2011 Mike Elgan @itbusinessca

Web tools that serve as your virtual time machine

Search the Internet for a time machine and you may end up with an empty wallet and painful injuries, if the movie Napoleon Dynamite is accurate.I don't recommend buying a time machine on

Published on: March 1st, 2011 Mike Elgan @itbusinessca

How Google and Apple will eliminate passwords

Imagine sitting down at a public PC, surfing the Web, visiting Facebook, checking your online bank account and buying something on Amazon.com -- all without entering passwords or credit card information. It gets

Published on: February 1st, 2011 Mike Elgan @itbusinessca

The return of the wristwatch – its time has come again

Conventional wisdom says people don't wear wristwatches anymore -- especially young people. The story goes that because we now have cell phones, we no longer need to lash anything to our wrists. But

Published on: September 14th, 2010 Mike Elgan @itbusinessca

Small coffee shops squeezed out by Starbucks’ free WiFi

After years of experimentation, coffee shops are finally figuring out what to do about Wi-Fi. Some have decided that Wi-Fi is a profit killer, and they're shutting it down. Others, most notably coffee

Published on: August 17th, 2010 Mike Elgan @itbusinessca

Google improves already solid Gmail and Contacts services

Google unveiled a redesigned and retooled Gmail and Contacts this week. While a vocal minority is objecting to the update on the social networks, most users seem to like the changes.I think the

Published on: August 16th, 2010 Mike Elgan @itbusinessca

Taking stock of Facebook’s flaws at 500 million users

Facebook has a huge problem. No, it's not privacy, security, application spam or even horrible P.R. from the upcoming movie, "The Social Network." These are short-term annoyances for the company, but not existential

Published on: July 23rd, 2010 Mike Elgan @itbusinessca

Awesome free apps and where on the Web to get them

What, you're not using Microsoft Speed Launch? It's a free application that lets you instantly launch any application, Web site or document using any word or phrase you choose. The app places a

Published on: July 14th, 2010 Mike Elgan @itbusinessca

PearlTrees better than bookmarking for organizing stuff online

Since the Web first came online in 1991, it has grown and improved beyond anyone's predictions. Unlike the gray background, mono-spaced text and ugly graphics on the Web in those early years, today's

Published on: June 23rd, 2010 Mike Elgan @itbusinessca

Use your kids as the excuse to buy an iPad

Have you ever seen a 4-year-old play with an iPhone? It's actually kind of shocking. Kids take to the iPhone's multitouch user interface like they do trucks or dolls. They instinctively know that

Published on: March 8th, 2010 Mike Elgan @itbusinessca