Tech analyst, AI & the web
I founded the tech blog ReadWriteWeb in April 2003 and ran it until October 2012. During my time running the business, it was well known for its cutting edge content (“What’s next on the Web”) and its influential global audience. At its peak, RWW was ranked among the top ten blogs in the world by Technorati.
This category contains all of the articles I personally wrote for RWW, now archived on ricmac.org for easier browsing and search. If you’d like to explore the original context, you can also view a year-by-year archive with links to the Wayback Machine
One of the first web design books I bought was Creating Killer Web Sites, a 90s classic by David Siegel. That book was known for pushing visual style over HTML standards. It also encouraged the use of HTML hacks, for example using tables to create layouts. Siegel’s techniques were basically workarounds, but they just workedin … Read more
Early bird registration for the ReadWriteWeb Mobile Summit 2010 is almost over. You only have a few more days to get your tickets for just $295. Click here to get your ticket at this special price. The ReadWriteWeb Mobile Summit will take place May 7, 2010, in Mountain View, California and will be an exploration … Read more
We’re pleased to announce ReadWriteWeb’s latest premium report, Augmented Reality for Marketers and Developers: Analysis of the Leaders, the Challenges and the Future. This report will help you develop a sophisticated understanding of Augmented Reality (AR), the mobile and web technology that places data on top of a user’s view of the physical world. The … Read more
Kaiser Kuo presented today at SXSW about Google in China. He spoke about how the Google situation will impact Chinese Internet users, other companies and the Chinese government. In the presentation, Kuo (who also spoke to ReadWriteWeb a week ago) clarified how censorship in China works. Contrary to popular belief, it is not the Great … Read more
TechStars is an early stage venture fund based in Boulder, Colorado. ReadWriteWeb was given an early peek at historical results data on TechStars companies, which the organization is about to release. The data shows acquisition and failure rates, as well as how many of the TechStar companies have gone on to receive angel or venture … Read more
Digital activism is defined by the newly launched Meta-Activism Project as “the practice of using digital technology for political and social change.” One of the leaders in the field of digital activism is Mary Joyce, the founder and executive director of the Meta-Activism Project. Joyce is among the most knowledgeable and experienced digital activists in … Read more
The popularity of Twitter has produced a number of clones in China, just as there are Facebook clones. Some of China’s Twitter clones have been closed down by the Chinese government, but some have survived. We take a look at both cases in this post. We also assess Twitter’s chances of success in China, should … Read more
The leading social networking site in China, renren.com, started out as a blatant Facebook clone – but it now has tens of millions of users. Despite obvious similarities to Facebook, there is one significant difference from the U.S. in how Renren and other Chinese SNS are used. The bread and butter of these sites is … Read more
Consulting firm McKinsey has just released a report on the Internet of Things, one of ReadWriteWeb’s top 5 trends of last year. The report, available for free if you sign up as a member of McKinsey Quarterly, focuses on the “new sensor-driven business models” that Internet of Things brings. McKinsey sees two categories for emerging … Read more
Today ReadWriteWeb is announcing our second event, the ReadWriteWeb Mobile Summit 2010. It will take place May 7, 2010, in Mountain View, California. The ReadWriteWeb Mobile Summit will be an exploration of the latest Mobile development trends, both the technology and the emerging business applications. Registration is now open, at an early bird rate of … Read more
In the West, the concept of the ‘read/write Web’ is a relatively easy one to get behind. Everybody can contribute content to the Web (‘write’), as well as read it – it’s a very democratic notion. However in countries where democracy doesn’t prevail, the read/write Web is often subject to censorship rules. Indeed in December, … Read more
The big news of the week was Google’s efforts to remove censorship from its search results in China – read on for our coverage and analysis of this news. We also continued our exploration of the significant Internet trends of 2010, including Real-Time Web, Mobile Web and Internet of Things. Note: We’ve refreshed the format … Read more
On March 15, at the prestigious Paley Center in New York City, a conversation will take place between Chinese digital activist and artist Ai Weiwei, Twitter co-founder and chairman Jack Dorsey, and yours truly, Richard MacManus, ReadWriteWeb founder and editor in chief. The moderator will be Orville Schell, the director of the Center on U.S.-China … Read more
Is ‘checking in’ at places using location-based mobile apps like Foursquare and Brightkite resulting in us enjoying life a little less? Is there such a thing as too much data for a fun activity such as running? We address these and other questions in the final installment of our interview with Adam Greenfield, author of … Read more
SXSW Interactive is just around the corner, so it’s time to make your party plans for Austin, Texas! ReadWriteWeb’s SXSW party – in partnership with PBS, NPR, and others – is happening on Sunday, March 14, from 9pm at KLRU’s legendary Austin City Limits Studio. There will be shuttles to and from the Austin Hilton. … Read more