We trust each other more than we trust producers and advertisers. In the age of information overload, and overwhelming market choice, consumers are looking for 'authentic' reports from peers to help them make purchasing decisions. While we have long been warned to be careful when we get information from the web, that such information has not been vetted and proven to be true, blogs are nonetheless growing in stature as a trusted source of 'truth' in the marketplace.

While the rise of blog readership in recent years is no secret, the power of blogs to influence what people buy is less established. But as a recent study reveals, that power is significant -- so much that a majority of blog readers say blogs are useful when they make purchases.

The study, which polled 2,210 people and was released this fall, found that the increase in blog readership from 2004 to 2008 was 300 percent; 47 percent of online consumers now read blogs. Half of blog readers said blogs were useful when they were considering what purchases to make, and more than half of that group said they looked at a blog just when they were about to buy something.

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With young people everywhere eschewing fixed lines and going 100% cellular for their primary phone service, it's not much of a stretch to imagine that these same people will want to use the next generation of mobile data devices to surf the web while they are moving around. Mobility is the next "big thing".

Most consumers will be accessing the Web through their mobile phones by 2020, according to new research from the Pew Internet & American Life Project.

Pew conducted surveys with about 1,200 online experts, journalists and technologists, and the majority predicted that the affordability, easy accessibility, widespread use and portability of mobile phones will make them the "primary" Internet connection.

http://www.adotas.com/2008/12/report-most-will-access-net-via-phone-by-2020/

A survey of internet leaders, activists and analysts shows they expect major tech advances as the phone becomes a primary device for online access, voice-recognition improves, artificial and virtual reality become more embedded in everyday life, and the architecture of the internet itself improves.

They disagree about whether this will lead to more social tolerance, more forgiving human relations, or better home lives.

http://www.pewinternet.org/PPF/r/270/report_display.asp

Thanksgiving this year will bring us a momentary break from the relentlessly bad economic news and a pause before we see what happens on Black Friday. By all accounts retail is going to take a beating this year, and friday, normally the busiest shopping day of the year, will present a grim preview of our holiday retail season. An interesting bright spot in all the gloom is the growing consensus that mobil technology in the form of smart phones will escape the grim economic picture and enjoy strong holiday sales. People may be cutting back on their land line subscriptions but there's no let up in the upward trend in cell subscriptions. Mobile data is fast becoming the place to be for advertisers.

Subscriptions including broadband Internet access, mobile phone plans, pay-TV and content subscriptions such as Netflix are the most insulated from the economic downturn. 63% of respondents expect their spending to be about the same next year as it was this past year, and 9% plan to spend even more. Only 28% plan to spend less on network subscriptions.

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A stunning prediction from my friend Tom Evslin. Tom knows more about telecom issues and technology than anyone I know.

By the end of President Obama's first term, there won't be any more copper landlines left in the country. One of the challenges facing the Federal Communications Commission and the new administration is how to deal with the fallout from the end of this venerable technology. It's gonna get ugly for some people - people who can't afford to do without communication - unless we're proactive about this problem.

Here's what's happening as you probably know. Young people don't bother with landlines (unless they live beyond cell coverage); they just use their mobile phones or Skype for voice communication. The slightly older set are buying cable's bundle of entertainment, Internet access, and VoIP. They cancel their landlines. People who have broadband access don't need the extra line they used to rent for their dial-up Internet access.

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Does this mean that Google can search phone conversations that we make with their new gMail VOIP functionality?

Pushing ahead in the decades-long effort to get computers to understand human speech, Google researchers have added sophisticated voice recognition technology to the company's search software for the Apple iPhone.

Users of the free application, which Apple is expected to make available as soon as Friday through its iTunes store, can place the phone to their ear and ask virtually any question, like "Where's the nearest Starbucks?" or "How tall is Mount Everest?" The sound is converted to a digital file and sent to Google's servers, which try to determine the words spoken and pass them along to the Google search engine.

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