Writer & Tech Journalist
Richard MacManus 
Every December I write a blog post looking back at the leading technology trends of the year. I first started doing this in 2004, when Read/Write Web was my personal blog. That was also the year “Web 2.0” was named, denoting the trend of using the Web as a platform. There’s a connection, at least … Read more
Predicting the near future of Internet technology is a fool’s errand. After all, how many of you predicted that Bitcoin would increase in value manyfold last year? The year before that, the Pokemon Go craze seemingly came out of nowhere. So every year, something new and wholly unexpected happens in technology. However, some trends I … Read more
Often a new technology doesn’t truly break through until someone makes a game of it. Augmented Reality only took off after the release of Pokémon Go last year. Facebook’s initial growth spurt in 2009 was helped by the immense popularity of Farmville. Now, at the end of 2017, blockchain is getting its game craze moment with … Read more
With a ten-fold increase in the value of Bitcoin over the past year, the increasing stabilisation of so-called “altcoins” like Ethereum and Ripple, and the exploding Initial Coin Offering (ICO) market, it’s a boom time for cryptocurrency. However, New Zealand has been slow to catch on – particularly our government and banks. As I explained … Read more
Every week I write a technology column for Stuff, New Zealand’s largest news media website. In a recent column, I wrote about controlling your social media diet. It struck a chord with many people. The problem is that social media is addictive and – to continue the diet metaphor – full of empty calories. Here’s … Read more
Lately I’ve been getting calls to my cellphone from unknown, random UK numbers. The first several times it happened, I didn’t answer. But when the calls kept coming, from a different UK number each time, I finally picked up to see who or what was at the other end of the line. Silence. And before … Read more
The music industry is enjoying a renaissance. After fifteen years of declining revenue, Recorded Music New Zealand achieved double digit growth in 2015 and again in 2016. The renewed upward trend is largely thanks to streaming, which now makes up 50% of local music industry revenue. As consumers, we’re all grateful for the huge variety of … Read more
Recently I’ve noticed an increase in people choosing to disconnect from social media, to escape the noise and constant distraction. Who can blame them, when even the Facebook engineer who created the ‘like’ button, Justin Rosenstein, now restricts his Facebook usage. But before you hit the nuclear button and blast your social media profile out of existence, … Read more
Smartphones have dominated the last ten years of computing, but we’re on the cusp of the next big platform: voice-activated virtual assistants, powered by artificial intelligence. While the smartphone isn’t going away, you’ll soon be able to interact with many more devices thanks to assistants like Apple’s Siri and Amazon’s Alexa. All the big technology companies … Read more
23andMe, the direct-to-consumer genetic testing company, launched ten years ago this month. But despite the hype around genetics, then and now, 23andMe has so far failed to deliver on its promise. That’s largely due to a crackdown four years ago by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The FDA deemed that 23andMe did not … Read more
I’ve written five articles over the past month on Stuff, New Zealand’s largest news website. By far the most contentious was my column on Twitter, about how the tone of conversation on Twitter has gone from banal to brutal over the past decade. The point I was trying to make was that it is almost … Read more
Artificial Intelligence is the defining technology of our generation and, surprisingly, some experts think New Zealand is well placed to take advantage. Partly that’s to do with our perceived ability to adapt to the great changes that AI will bring about. In particular, the threat of automation. Tom White, a Senior Lecturer in Media Design … Read more
Last week I wrote about some issues I have with Twitter; and social media in general. The gist of my column was that Twitter has become a flawed product, because of the amount of provocation, noise and vitriol it now attracts. Needless to say, the Twittersphere strongly disagreed with me. But I have to admit, … Read more
Last week Duncan Garner quit Twitter in a huff, after a column he wrote about immigration attracted a storm of moral outrage. Garner complained bitterly about the “verbal abuse” he was subjected to and the “intolerance, hatred and madness” of Twitter users. Garner’s column was undeniably objectionable, but some of the feedback he got was … Read more
One of the biggest tech trends of 2017 has been the rise of blockchain, the technology behind bitcoin. But unlike with bitcoin, there are promising blockchain projects under development in New Zealand. That’s because our government and banks can’t use their red tape to stifle blockchain innovation, like they’re doing with bitcoin. A very quick … Read more