Windows Tips and Tricks

Right now, Google is king of search with Microsoft huffing and puffing in third place trying to make progress in the field. Number two Yahoo, of course, doesn’t seem to know exactly what it wants to do to catch up. BusinessWeek says neither of these Google rivals is the real threat to Google dominance:

No, one of the most formidable challenges facing Google (GOOG) is likely sitting in your pocket or purse. It’s your cell phone, and it will put added pressure on Google and other Internet companies to revamp the way they handle online marketing.

As more people use cell phones and their tiny glass screens to gain access to the Internet, Google and its fellow online advertisers will have less space, or what’s called ad inventory, to place marketing messages for customers. Google makes money selling ad inventory. And its ad inventory is diminished on a cell phone.

There is a lot of talk that in the future the cell phone will be the platform used by many instead of a PC. Mobility has a high premium with users and I have posted before about Walt Mossberg’s prediction that soon we will be online all the time. In developing nations there is also a matter of cost and BBC News has made the case that the cell phone with expanded capabilities, not the conventional computer, is going to be the dominant technology factor in areas like Africa. PC Magazine has had several articles on the cell phone (especially the iPhone) as a computer platform. A recent article has some interesting facts about the use of cell phones versus computers globally. It concludes:

If we do see this shift in personal computing, as many have suggested, the ramifications for our industry are enormous. Today, much of the technology industry is driven by the traditional PC hardware and software vendors. In the future, however, the carriers, handset makers, and a broad range of OS and software companies may be the ones leading the way