The iPhone...Cell Phones are cool once again!!

Today Apple introduced the much awaited iPhone. Usually, I don't get excited about the newest technology gadgets. I can be rather pesmistic about the newest thing, I guess it is all these years living with Microsoft releases. Is anyone here optimistic about Vista? I didn't think so.

In fact, this morning I was telling Nick how tired I am Apple, iTunes, and iPods. I feel iTunes has monopolized my cubicle life. I listen to music on my iPod and I download songs and tv shows on iTunes with little thought how I can only play them on my computer and iPod. In fact there is a class action lawsuit against Apple over this. Time online had this to say about the iPhone:

Apple's new iPhone could do to the cell phone market what the iPod did to the portable music player market: crush it pitilessly beneath the weight of its own superiority. This is unfortunate for anybody else who makes cell phones, but it's good news for those of us who use them.

I readily admit I was skeptical until Nick sent me the Engadget running log on Steve Jobs' presentation at Macworld. As soon as I saw the pictures I was hooked! This is simply amazing. Finally, I feel America isn't 10 years behind Asia and Europe in the mobile market. Finally, a smartphone I would like to own. Finally, a good reason to be a Cingular customer!

I can't remember the last time I was impressed with a gadget let alone a cell phone, but today changed all of that. I'm marking my calendar for June so I can get one.

Just imagine the impact this could have on the local search market. If as Time says revolutionizes the mobile phone industry, with Google and Yahoo already loaded on it, how many millions will they make in mobile internet advertising? I can't wait to see how this plays out, but most importantly to Apple...I can't wait to own one!

Second Life is now open source...what does this mean for the future of the internet?

Even though Nick and I don't venture into Second Life much, we have many friends who do, Ecocandle Riel, being one of them. So for Ecocandle's sake we will post most stories we come across concerning second life.

Today in Techcrunch they touch on how SL has become open source. I found the following interesting from the article...

At current growth trends, though, SL could be a real economic force in a few years. When things really start to hop, SL will look more like it’s own private Internet...What might make more sense in the long run is more of a Wikipedia-like approach to Second Life. A non profit organization running open source software where people can add their own island just by plugging in a server in their living room or the hosting provider of their choice. Whoever builds that and provides a serious alternative to the SL experience could help the world at least as much as Wikipedia has.

What I find interesting is the thought of SL as the future of the internet. Ecocandle, or Meeks as I call him, has preached this to me since I first learned of SL about 6 months ago. From the hundreds of articles I have read on SL I haven't really seen anyone else say it until now. I think for this to truely happen people would have to be able to make their own islands without it being controlled by Linden Labs and then these islands would become their own independent webpages, if you will.

Amazon Personal Shoppers?

In a recent pulse2.o.com post entitled "ChaCha Raises $6M from Jeff Bezos and Other Individuals":

"Recently, the New York Times had published an article entitled, ‘In Silicon Valley, the Race is On to Trump Google.’ One of the search engines mentioned includes ‘People Powered Search,’ ChaCha Search. Scott Jones and Brad Bostic created ChaCha based on their lack of satisfaction with other search engines that produce irrelevant search results. . .When searching with a Guide, the keywords that you choose to search for are sent to real people who are quick at finding relevant information on the Internet, so that it finds the right pages that you want.

"By the development of this new form of search that involves direct communication with Internet search experts gave enough of a reason for ChaCha to raise a $6 million round of investment from Jeff Bezos and other individuals [Source: GigaOM]. Jeff Bezos is the founder of Amazon.com and Bezos Expeditions. Bezos Expeditions has also previously invested in 37signals."

Location Based Future

"AppleInsider is reporting that Apple has been working on OS-level integration of an geographical mapping technology as an integral part of Leopard, its next-generation OS. The technology is rumoured to employ GPS functionality. Will GPS chips make Apple iPod phones and MacBooks location aware? Users would be able to post information at a location, hanging in the air, ready to be browsed by people passing by. Imagine getting highly relevant messages, without even pressing a button, simply because you are in the vicinity and your preferences match the content of the post."

Image being able to locate someone when they are stranded on the side of the road, in an AAA type situation. Instead of multiple phone calls, trying to describe that you are between a phone poll and a bush on the side of the road, you can be accurately located. This obviously brings up relevant questions of permissions and security. Under what circumstances would you allow someone access to you and your phones location?

Stories about your Second Life

Counting the real 'Second Life' population
Last month, the virtual world Second Life reached 2 million registered accounts, an impressive number considering it hit 1 million accounts just eight weeks earlier. C|Net News.com

Second Life and the People’s House
We can just see it now: the scantily clad women, flying chipmunks and robots roaming around the House of Representatives, debating health care policy and energy independence. http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com

Why Second Life Numbers DO Matter
Over at Valleywag, where sanctimony can sometimes reign, a professor named Clay Shirky has been getting some attention for criticizing how Linden Lab reports the numbers for its fast-growing Second Life virtual world. But along with his acidic criticism of Linden Lab's numbers, he seems even more eager to direct vitriol at the business press, including myself. His contempt is aimed at articles in various publications and websites, including a column I wrote in November at Fortune.com. http://money.cnn.com/blogs/

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