The Success of Open-Source Technology - Facebook (Oh yeah, MySpace too)

Well, it's pretty obvious that social networking has evolved into a very important part of our everyday lives. (Especially if you're above 17 years of age and below the age of, well, you really can't tell these days) Anyway, your typical college student, after forcing his or herself out of bed, almost immediately powers up his/her laptop to check new email messages or logs into Facebook to read new wall posts, messages, and upload pictures from the night before (that they usually don't remember taking!) In fact, Facebook is actually picking up where email left off in the first era. Basically, to cut a long story short, college students are becoming much too "addicted", for the lack of a better term, to maintaining and more importantly, displaying a well-balanced social life to their peers through their virtual Facebook profiles.

Anyway, in recent months, as a result of creating an innovative platform for up-and-coming developers and allowing them to release their own applications and Internet services, Facebook has multiplied its membership by a huge margin. Oh yeah, lets not forget MySpace, the most accessed website in the United States (even ahead of Google!) Yes, that's a staggering fact, but the truth is that despite of having a membership base of 200 million and expected revenues of $800 Million USD this fiscal year, the popularity and credibility of MySpace is being increasingly challenged as a result of Facebook's major strategy shifts in the past year.

What I really think is that there is massive potential and opportunity in the field of technology. It is the future of this country. We should all utilize the entrepreneurial attitude that we have stored up somewhere in ourselves to create and contribute something to this industry. Let’s take Facebook for instance. Rather than just signing up to become a member of Facebook, why not actually create a an application that you would like to see on there by researching the necessary requirements.

Also, many of you may have noticed a large number of media publications headlining stories focusing on the rivalry of these two giants. Fortune's feature story titled "MySpace Strikes Back" immediately comes to mind. I felt the story undoubtedly lacked a great deal of substance since MySpace really hasn't done anything yet to combat the recent threats posed by Facebook. Regardless of that, comparisions between these two popular websites can go on for days, and I don't want to delve any further into that topic.

Or in the “real-world”, why not, conceive of a totally fresh and creative idea and implement it into an actual business venture. Of course, this is easier said than done but it’s the effort that counts. Countless “young turks” around the world are running their own businesses/companies before they are even old enough to legally drink! It is time for Americans to step up in a big way and prove to the world that we aren't what we have been classified as: "fat, dumb, and lazy". The successes of many social networking sites such as Facebook, MySpace, LinkedIn.com, as well as other startups such as YouTube and Digg.com, without a doubt, confirm the fact that open-source is a very big thing in the field of information technology. I’m sure it still has a long, long way to go.

Let’s shift the focus back to Facebook. Consumer Internet companies better accept the fact that it is not just an exaggerated fluke. What many consider to be a short-lived frenzy, will soon be launching an IPO. It makes us wonder if this thing has the potential to be the next Google: a stock that has skyrocketed from its $85 IPO to an unreal $700 in just a matter of three years? Of course it does.

The World's Fastest Computer Chip is Coming....

Gone are the days of single core processors. As chipmakers came out with the revolutionary idea of having dual cores on a single chip, computers started to run much faster and consumed much less power. The Babson Lenovo T60 ThinkPads that have been issued to the incoming freshmen can be equipped with single and dual core processers. Well, guess what? Chipmakers are coming out with a single chip that will be able to have 80 cores. Go figure.

This chip is capable of giving mind-blowing speed and no complains for battery life. Quite frankly, the list can go on and on. Well, the wait won’t be too long. Actually, according to the Chief Technology Officer at Intel, Justin Rattner, it will be released in about five years. When it will be introduced to commercial markets, it will change the way computers function, literally.

Intel has been successful in producing such a chip, the size of a fingernail. This chip is capable of producing 1 trillion calculations every second. This could very well be, the fastest chip ever made. It just makes one wonder the possibilities that this chip will provide consumers and businesses. Technology has no limit. It will continue to grow and shock everyone.

In financial markets on Wall Street, tasks that take days to be completed, will take minutes, if not seconds to complete. The possibilities are simply endless. According to BusinessWeek, 10 years ago, a group of supercomputers taking up about “2,000 square feet and [consuming] a half-megawatt of electricity” could do the same job that this fingernail-sized chip will be able to. Information will be transferred at lightning speed and the technology will take a giant leap.

Rivals such as AMD and IBM have been attempting to accomplish such an innovation using multiple chips. After purchasing graphics chipmaker ATI, AMD says a new platform they are working on will also aid to revolutionize the computer industry.

One major drawback is the fact that software is not able to take advantage of multiple-core chips as of yet since they have not yet been made to do so. Software makers are in a dire predicament while trying to write threaded programs that have the capability to take advantage of just two cores. The announcement from Intel will of course give it a major advantage and simply goes to show that processors have the capability to grow and advance beyond belief.

Our world is becoming more and more digital by the second. Software is starting to replace hardware in many new inventions.

Try to imagine the world without technology. Guess what? You can’t.

The Ups and Downs of Wall Street

Well, the economy of the United States is slowly, but surely beginning to improve when compared to the past few years, during which financial markets were gravely suffering. Despite of experiencing a slowdown in housing and the decline of mortgage applications, Chairman of The Federal Reserve, Ben Bernanke strongly feels that the outlook for inflation, in the near future, is simply put, “benign”.

Nonetheless, that still means that inflation remains a risk, and if the need be, the Fed is ready to take necessary measures. (If you know what I mean). To the Senate Banking Committee, Bernanke, emphatically claimed that the outlook for the coming year, in terms of the economic prosperity of the United States, is very optimistic. Despite the lag from the diminishing housing market, the U.S. economy will advance at a moderate pace.

The primary uncertainty that the Fed is dealing with is undoubtedly commodities such as oil and their arcane, and usually unpredictable prices. The rates presently sit at 5.25 percent, however, as Bernanke puts it, the Federal Reserve "is prepared to take action to address inflation risks if developments warrant."

Financial analysts feel that Bernanke’s outlook for the future means that the prices for US stocks and bonds will rise, the value of the dollar will rise, and the Fed will begin to reduce rates sometime this year. He also expects the Gross Domestic Product to grow. Even though the housing market showed minor signs of getting “back on track”, the economy would not immediately begin to skyrocket. There exists a strong disinterest in residential investment and its weight will continue to press down upon economic growth in the coming months, if not quarters.

Moreover, as far as the job market is concerned, Bernanke feels that the pace of hiring will slow down quicker than people normally expect in today’s market. As “baby boomers” begin to retire and job growth slows down, economic activity could be affected in more than one way. US exports among American trade partners are growing in a robust way. As of now, the Fed has no true timetable that explicitly states when and if they will make any changes to rates or anything of that sort. We will just have to wait and see how, when, and if the constantly changing financial markets pave a clear path indicating the future of America’s economy (The keyword: if).

Steve Jobs’ Next Stop: The iPhone.................. Where Software Replaces Hardware!

The thrill and the excitement upon the announcement of the new Apple iPhone at the San Francisco MacWorld Expo—where it made its debut—has begun to wear off and more critics are beginning to second-guess it. Of course, at any Steve Jobs keynote, anything is possible. He is undoubtedly a perfectionist and will go to any length to prove that his next innovation will change the way we use technology.

For starters, the new iPhone will sell for $499 (4 GB) and $599 (8 GB) and is supposed to be released sometime in the summer. However, there are many things that are still uncertain about it—even its name is still in doubt—thanks to a trademark suit by Cisco!! There are many innovative ( and somewhat ephemeral) features about the iPhone such as its touch screen (which controls basically any feature of the device) or the virtual keyboard (that may lose its functionality after over-use). Steve Jobs did demo it at Macworld, but of course anytime he demos, things are flawless!

Another glitch is the fact that the only mobile-carrier that will support the new Apple iPhone is Cingular. Will T-Mobile or Verizon Wireless users want to switch over to another carrier simply to use the iPhone? Factors such as these raise new doubts about the success of the iPhone.

Moreover, something important to note is the fact that the highly-acclaimed and very popular iPod is not grabbing the share that it used to. Apple, undoubtedly, makes things that work and captures people’s attention but the fact remains, will consumers want to spend $500 for a 4 GB phone/music player when they can buy a 60 GB music player at a cheaper cost?

If the iPhone proves to be very appealing to the present iPod generation, then many critics may be wrong and there may be no stopping the iPhone. Also, if people are in a frenzy to be the first one to buy such a “cool”—for the lack of a better word—device, the iPhone may succeed. For now, only time will tell the future of this new Apple creation.

Or as Businessweek puts it, "is Steve Jobs untouchable"?

Overshadowed by Google?

Google.Google.Google. (How’s that for a tongue twister?) Nonetheless, Google seems to be the solution to most problems in modern times. Also, for many companies, it is the source of numerous tribulations. One company that is directly affected by the success of Google is undoubtedly Yahoo. It surely must be frustrating for CEO of Yahoo Terry Semel, to constantly look at Yahoo’s position in the market and realize that there is an 80000 pound behemoth called Google sitting right above it.

As with any predicament, one must come to a solution to eradicate any complications. In Yahoo’s case, Semel is fervently trying to come up with alternatives to catch the attention of Wall Street and put itself in the spotlight for many investors and analysts. FORTUNE has learned from multiple sources that Yahoo has been flirting with AOL. In other words, Yahoo had recently approached Time Warner and showed interest in purchasing America Online. If this were to happen, there are very likely chances that Yahoo would come into the spotlight that it desperately desires; however, chances are that this would be only ephemeral given the sheer size of Google. AOL seems to be benefiting either way. A quote by senior analyst of Forrester research comes to mind: “AOL's value is driven to the extreme merely because you had two industry giants fighting for it”.

AOL is worth about $13 billion dollars, however, chances are that Time Warner will ask Yahoo for more. Interestingly, both Yahoo and Microsoft have had difficult in internet advertising against Google, so a Yahoo-Microsoft merger could prove to be ground-breaking in many ways. An eBay-Yahoo merger is another possibility, however, it is not very feasible given the starkly different focuses within the Internet.

In 2005, Google beat Yahoo in the race to become a pivotal partner of AOL to become its primary search partner. Google gained a 5% stake in AOL for approximately $1 billion dollars. If Semel, the former co-CEO and co-Chairman of Warner Brothers, does have other options lined up if the deal with AOL does not work out. According to FORTUNE, Yahoo’s market value is about $35 billion dollars. There have also been several rumors within the market, that Yahoo is eyeing the popular networking website Facebook.com for a cool $1 billion dollars.

Ironically, there is also a very likely possibility that Semel may sell his company. Surely, the tables would now turn and Microsoft and Google would become competitors. Even though Microsoft is the more viable and likely purchaser, one can never count Google out in any fight these days.

Google’s dominance in the market, has been the primary reason for the decline of many other companies. Furthermore, Yahoo has definitely missed out on key opportunities to catch up such as purchasing Myspace.com or Youtube.com (bought by Google).

Whichever path Yahoo ultimately chooses, the bottom-line is that it is trying its level-best to improve and come ahead in the race against giants such as Google and Microsoft. It is clear that Yahoo is looking ahead to the future and planning many of the decisions that it is likely to take ahead of time to prevent any potential complications in the future.

Information Technology: Where is it headed?

If you asked me this question, a few years ago, my answer would have been quite different. This goes to show how fast-paced and unpredictable Information technology really is. In the past, all tech gurus and technology pundits assured us that Microsoft would continue to be the leader, the king of innovation in IT. Well, times have changed-- and new predictions have been made.

Microsoft: leader of innovation? Well, it may have saved itself with the release of its new highly-acclaimed Microsoft Office 2007 and even the new Windows OS Microsoft Vista. The latter has been reviewed--and not all of them are positive (but we'll get into both of these some other time).

The World Wide Web is the center of our universe and its importance, as evidenced by the past 10-12 years, will increase at an uncontrollably rapid pace. Does it have flaws in factors such as security? Yes, ofcourse, but new programs are being created equally as quickly to keep up to pace. The flaws are painfully obvious, and innovaters like Google are working to eradicate them as soon as they are introduced in the Internet.

The times of needing a Personal Computer (PC) are over. (Wait, what?!) Yes, it is just too complex and delicate. The Internet is our computer. With the advent of programs that allow the Web browser to be in an application format, users around the world will be able to log on and access, edit any document with anyone else simultaneously to reduce the discomfort of having to email documents back and forth. The Linux OS will undoubtedly challenge Microsoft's zombie-like Windows as it is very flexible with other "third-party" applications.

Security is unquestionably another important concern of many computer-users and businesses. Technology makes it easier for individuals and companies to transfer files and other important information to those you are sending it to. That's the purpose it serves--making life easy for YOU. You can not expect technology to do everything for you because that would just make you a lazy bum wouldn't it?

It must be your responsibility to protect your information, documents, confidential files. Moreover, this information must be easy to locate and send to your clients, customers, or investors. After this importance of information, one must focus more on the delivery aspect. We must apply the benefits and capabilities of IT to improve the speed, accuracy, and efficiency of this very information. Time is of the essence, and patience is absolutely becoming a lost virtue.