When technology became cool again

The incredible disappearing job market

Software developers, designers and customer-service workers have been forced to face the reality that the job market is becoming as international as the market for the products they buy, make and support. Outsourcing has brought the downside of globalization to the American middle class.

But for every underemployed U.S. software developer, how many people in other countries now have hope of finding rewarding and lucrative work? And for every American worker who lost a job to outsourcing, how many others saw their company stay in business and find new markets because of it?

The irony is that some of those offshore outsourcing shops have come to embody the so-called American dream better than some U.S. companies, like Electronic Arts, whose employees routinely work seven-day, 80-hour weeks. And the customer-service call that connects you to the other side of the world became so common that American support workers with Indian names had to get used to callers assuming they were actually on the subcontinent.

Still, in the United States the debate rages on: how best to cushion the blow when American workers lose their jobs to workers overseas.

-- Katharine Mieszkowski

Can California cure George Bush?

George W. Bush began his presidency by forging what he portrayed as a grand compromise on the federal policy surrounding embryonic stem cells, the "undifferentiated" cells that researchers believe could lead to treatments for such ailments as Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, muscular dystrophy, cystic fibrosis, diabetes and perhaps dozens of other diseases. On Aug. 9, 2001, Bush declared that he would allow the government to fund research on stem cells that had already been created by that date, but he would prohibit federal money from going toward the creation of any new embryonic stem cells (which requires the destruction of embryos that some believe represent "inviolable" human life).

In 2004, the shortcomings of Bush's compromise became apparent to all. Only 23 stem cell lines now qualify for federal funding, a pool that scientists say is woefully inadequate for the research that needs to be done. Consequently, many leading universities moved to fund large stem cell labs with private money -- Harvard led the way with its creation of a $100 million effort. The biggest news, though, came in California, where voters approved a $3 billion bond measure to fund research on embryonic stem cells.

California's effort seems likely to prompt other states to open their vaults for stem cell research -- New Jersey and Wisconsin may be the first to follow. But as conservatives enjoy renewed power in Washington, there is a very real worry that some will try to push for a complete ban on such research.

-- Farhad Manjoo

Hydrotopia?

If you thought that in a few years you were going to be driving around in a hydrogen fuel-cell car that emitted nothing but water vapor from the tailpipe, you got a smoggy reality check this year.

California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger lent his considerable political clout -- and star power -- to the hydrogen hype, announcing that a network of fueling stations would be ready for action in the state by 2010.

But critics argue that hydrogen technology and infrastructure are decades from being ready for the mainstream, even as maintaining an adequate supply of oil gets ever more dangerous and expensive and politically messy.

Some charge that the Bush administration is using the futuristic promise of hydrogen fuel-cell cars to do nothing about the gas-guzzling and emissions of the bigger, heavier cars popular with Americans.

Others argue that even if hydrogen fuel-cell cars could be viably manufactured and marketed, they could end up creating more greenhouse gases and actually exacerbate global warming if the hydrogen used in the cars is derived from fossil fuels. Meanwhile, Japan and Europe look poised to derive hydrogen from renewable energy sources before the United States gets around to it, given our lack of federal commitment to solar and wind.

And even the growing popularity of hybrid cars, which use both internal combustion and electric motors to get upwards of 45 miles per gallon, haven't persuaded American car manufacturers to support the new technology. In tune with Bush's pronouncements, Detroit says it is committed to making the hydrogen dream a reality -- some day decades from now.

-- Katharine Mieszkowski

Google, Google everywhere

Reviewing the year in technology, it's hard to find a single month in which Google did not broadside both its critics and its fans with another eyebrow-raising initiative.

Looming over the entire year was the much awaited Google IPO, which finally got off the ground on Aug. 18. Depending on whom you talked to, that IPO either signified the return of the tech boom, gave Wall Street a slap in the face, or marked yet another greedy attempt to cash in by unrepentant dot-commers. The original pricing of the IPO was seen as something of a disappointment, but six months later the stock is doing quite well, thank you, even as Google insiders have started to cash in.

The strong stock performance might have something to do with the relentlessness with which Google keeps pumping out offerings. At the beginning of the year, the company debuted Orkut, its entry into the social networking sweepstakes. Then came Gmail, Google's free e-mail service. In October, it was time for Google desktop search which really does make searching your computer as easy as searching the Web. And to close the year off with a flourish, in December Google announced that it would pay for the scanning, digitizing and uploading of millions upon millions of books. Google is on the march; it is a search engine company no longer -- now it is a force, not exactly of nature, but of something.

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.

Then again, the 21st century is already replete with corporations screwing over their customers, employees and shareholders. So far Google hasn't, and once in a while it is fun to be a fan of a technology company instead of a critic. May 2005 be just as fruitful as 2004 for the company that just won't quit.

-- Andrew Leonard

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