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We are at a tipping point. Unprecedented growth potential for businesses, on one side. Unprecedented consumer reluctance and fear, on the other. So, where do we go from here?

The word “trust” has made a noteworthy appearance within a recent trademark registration by Google. The search engine world is all abuzz with “Trustrank“, as well it should be. But the signifance of Google’s adoption of Trustrank (a choice that will transform the functioning of the search engine to its very core) reaches out to all of electronic commerce. In a low-tech nutshell, Trustrank is simply teaching the search engine right and wrong, before sending it out to do its job. This differs from the prior case, when the operation of the Google search engine was based entirely on math, programming and theoretical circumstances. The difference is human subjectivity, in other words — OPINION.

By choosing to adopt Trustrank, Google is telling us that it is going to give us its opinion whenever we hit the “Search” button. Further, as regards specific Web sites and domains, Google is telling us that its decision to include a given page in search results will be determined by whether or not Google has given its trust…more

neural networks | google | spider

I may be a naive, idealistic dreamer, but there does seem to be a fresh scribble on the wall of rather enormous significance. I had my back turned to the television a few minutes ago, when I overheard an ad for Intel declare (and I paraphrase):

“For years Intel chips have been trapped inside dull, grey boxes… But all that is going to change.”

From there, the announcer goes on to describe how Macintosh computers will soon be sporting “Intel Inside” stickers on their polished, exceedingly well-designed exteriors.

I may be out of line here, but… I’d say this sounds alot like another hammer meeting coffin-nail.

The image of Microsoft as Exciting Innovator has been dead for years now. The shift in consumer attention away from what has become utilitarian hardware, has re-glamorized the medium. The staggering popularity of the Macintosh School of Technology Design Principles, coupled with the equally staggering popularity (and success) of the i-pod, have positioned the Apple brand in a decidedly “cool and hip” light that is perfectly compatible with other movements that have been gaining popularity during the last 2 years — namely, blogging, RSS and opensource.

As far as I have read, learned discussions on the pairing of Intel and Apple have focused primarily on the implications to the PC manufacturing sector. I think they are missing a much bigger picture. Perhaps, sensing that Apple is about to participate in its second radical transformation of consumer technology, Intel is hedging a bet. Perhaps, the truth is even more dramatic than that. That Apple TV spot I just watched sure didn’t sound like it was produced by a concerned supplier to Microsoft.

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