Salon on 2004 in tech

"When technology became cool again", Salon.com's roundup of 2004's most important technology stories, also provides some cool-headed analysis for some of the headline hype.

For example, in summarizing the impact that blogging had on the national elections, Farhad Manjoo points out that Howard Dean and other candidates who relied heavily on blog financing lost despite all the talk of revolutionizing politics: "Was the entire online political effort something of an illusion -- a mere echo chamber of blue-state optimism, all sound and fury, signifying nothing? Alas, it sure seems that way now. "

Other topics covered include the coming of age of the wireless Internet, the Kyoto Protocol, e-voting security, Firefox reigniting the browser wars, the ongoing campaign against file sharing, California's decision to fund stem-cell research, outsourcing, a reality check for hydrogen-fueled cars, and the growing Big Brother potential of Google.

Of the latter, Andrew Leonard writes:

When any individual or company becomes that omnipresent and all-knowing, there's usually justification for wariness. At Salon we've been pulling for Google since the very earliest days, because we have consistently found the company's offerings incredibly useful and because we believe that the executives of Google are sincere when they say they want to do the right thing. But if a different crew were running the Google ship, and economic circumstances began to force their hand, it's chilling to think of just how much information Google knows about us. It knows what we search for, whom we e-mail, who our friends are, and soon, what books we like to read. That's quite a dossier, and it's scary.