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.