11 posts and columns on Jonathan Zittrain

Isn’t There an App for That?

We need some angry nerds.

– Harvard Law School professor Jonathan Zittrain, writing in Technology Review about the need for users and software developers to rebel against closed app platforms like Apple, Google and Microsoft

Q&A: WikiLeaks and the Future of Whistleblowing

in News on July 27, 2010 at 10:35 am PT

The disclosure of 76,000 reports on the war in Afghanistan by WikiLeaks has set off a round of damage control by the White House. But what does the release mean for citizen journalism online, and how does technology play into such leaks?

Cloudy With a Chance of Computing: BoomTown's NPR Debate With Harvard Law Prof Zittrain

in News on August 10, 2009 at 3:00 pm PT

This morning, BoomTown was on the very terrific National Public Radio talk show, “On Point,” along with Harvard law professor Jonathan Zittrain. The program, moderated by Tom Ashbrook on Boston’s WBUR station, was titled “From Desktop to the Digital Cloud” and dealt with the increasing move of data of all kinds online and into the so-called “cloud.” In other words, eventually, a completely virtual life for music, photos, records and more, and the end of packaged software.
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"Inane and Half-Baked" Twitter Is the Forrest Gump of International Relations

in News on June 16, 2009 at 4:30 am PT

In what is quite possibly the most spot-on comment about Twitter that BoomTown has heard thus far, Harvard University Professor Jonathan Zittrain said about its use by Iranians protesting the election results there: “It is easy for Twitter feeds to be echoed everywhere else in the world. The qualities that make Twitter seem inane and half-baked are what make it so powerful.” In other words, Twitter is so simplistic and silly that it is a perfect digital tool to overthrow a government–which kind of makes the trendy microblogging service the Forrest Gump of international relations.
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Kara Visits "The Future of the Internet" Book Party!

in News on May 12, 2008 at 10:00 am PT

This past Saturday night, BoomTown attended the tony San Francisco book party for Jonathan Zittrain’s new book, “The Future of the Internet–And How to Stop It.” It was hosted by megablogger Arianna Huffington and Melanie Ellison, an old friend of Zittrain’s from high school, as it turned out. And BoomTown took our Flip video camera, of course!
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