Skype hits a century... a million times over

There was a time when no one knew what Skype was (in India, many still don't know), but it is now on the forefront of the revival of the Web. So, it is not too surprising when you hear that Skype now has 100 million customers.

For me, Skype is more than just a dotcom, wanting to make it big. Many ask what is the big difference between the 1999 boom and the current boom. For one, the current boom is for real. It is real because the Internet is finally being used for what it was meant for -- services that touch the human heart. No technology will ever be used just for its esoteric nature -- it is only how tech influences everyday life that will determine the Web's success.

Here is what I predict the Web will be most used for (in order of usage) soon:
1) Communication
2) Entertainment - downloads and broadcasting
3) Information gathering
4) E-commerce
5) Banking

As you notice, Skype is at the top of the category rated No 1. Entertainment already has iTunes as No 1, while Google is No 1 for information gathering. Amazon and Ebay (which owns Skype) are No 1s in the e-commerce business. Banking may not have a No 1, but it is a category that cannot be ignored.

Agree? Disagree? Write back!

Google chugs along on track to world domination

I wait for the week when there is no news involving Google. After changing the world (well, almost) by its text, now we hear that Google has patented even voice search. As the Chinese say, "May we live in interesting times."

The 100 Most Popular Laptops

I have an Acer Travelmate, so I was happy that it was placed at No 13 in Cnet's 100 Most Popular Notebooks list. The List is a list of the usual suspects -- Dell, Lenovo (formerly IBM), Sony, HP Compaq, Toshiba and Fujitsu. Of course, this is a US-centric list.

Conspicuous by its absence in the top 50 is Apple's Macbook Pro 2.0, which comes in at 59. The 1.83 version is almost out of the list at 96.

The winner, not surprisingly, is Dell Inspiron E1705.

Is your laptop in the list? Find out...

A Bluetooth iPod?

How cool wil that be -- a Bluetooth iPod! Expensive, for sure, at least in India, but cool nevertheless. Stuff Magazine has the rumour details.

Saturday Sermon
- The Weekend Blah on the .XXX top-level domain

It was in an issue of Mad magazine that I first read about the idea of legalising marijuana. It was revolutionary, even anti-establishment and rebellious, but logical. The moment you legalise drugs, they are no longer "forbidden fruit". For all you know, it might even lose its allure. Prostitution is something like that. If you legalise it, the market will take care of rules, regulations, laws will forbid unprotected sex, and even incidence of HIV may come down. In an illegal market, anything goes, and that is dangerous since the authorities adopt an ostrich-like sand-in-the-head attitude.

Just like prohibition achieves nothing -- in fact, it has a negative impact on society and the state -- talking of banning pornography is all bullshit. The notion is foolhardy, and implementation impossible. Which is why, I was a bit saddened by ICANN's decision not to create an .XXX domain for pornographic sites. It was the best opportunity for the world to cut down on paedophilia on the Web. And since politics makes for strange bedfellows, it was the US, Australia and Iran which negated the move.

A .xxx top-level domain would have meant better and tighter parental control, making kids safer, if not totally immune, from Web pornography. Tracking becomes easier in case of any legal trespass, and the market would corrected itself by becoming more disciplined. Alas, we have lost that chance. At least for the time being.

A .xxx extension also gives corporates a better chance to monitor employee usage of bandwidth, and therefore, at least theoretically, increase productivity. Nobody admits, but some time or the other, we have all accessed porn in the office.

Somehow, though, I get the feeling that corporates and parents (and horror of horrors, the media), are indifferent towards Net porn. For them, it is always something that happens to someone else's organisation or the neighbour's kids. Truth is, the danger is closer than we all think. And the sooner we realise it the better.

iPod Nano? What's that?

When my wife gifted me an iPod 2 years back, I must admit I was honoured. Even the CEO of the place where I worked (he goes to San Francisco the same way we take the weekend off to a nearby beach) envied me. Today, there are more iPods in the office (and with my friends) I can think of. A 50-year-old female cousin of mine, who does not know the difference between a RAM and Ram the male sheep, is buying an iPod Nano tomorrow. In other words, the iPod rocks.

It is, no doubt, as much a mass phenomenon as Rubik's Cube was in the '70s and the '80s even though I seriously doubt it will go the Cube's way. But Cnet's story on iPod Nano alternatives makes for interesting reading. Jasmine France feels (and rightly so) that the iPod Nano, though easy to use, lacks an FM tuner, is prone to scratching (many iPod Nanos were recalled after it was discovered that their screens were brittle), and most importantly, is damn expensive. At least in India.

Before you buy that iPod Nano, I suggest you read the piece. Truly enlightening.

Toshiba is first off the HD DVD block

OK, the first shot has been fired in the high definition DVD battle. Toshiba, which leads the HD DVD alliance, launched its high definition DVD player on March 31. Good news? Perhaps. Because, as we had mentioned in a previous post, this is only the beginning of a long-drawn out war. And since on both sides of the battlefield you have companies which have some of the deepest pockets anyone could ever dream of, it is not going to be a quick one either.

So, dear reader, brace yourself for one of the most confusing times of your lives.