Once there was a war between the search engines. We all know who the won that war: Google. We can hardly remember what we used before Google (Altavista? Yahoo?). A new war is raging. Facebook is stepping up and is putting the pressure on Google. But it’s Google throwing the first punch.

Last week a lot of Google  Software Engineers deactivated their Facebook accounts. This exodus started because of to the announcement on Facebook’s F8 conference concerning the change in privacy settings. Facebook is opening up to third party sites (such as Yelp) to make your surfing a more personal experience. This move by Google’s employees is interesting because the whole things looks orchestrated. Is this a spontaneous reaction or were these Google workers encouraged?

The decision by Facebook to open up is making the social website a serious competitor for Google. The way Google indexes the web is very theoritical, very ‘mechanical’. The 100+ factors in the algorhythm decide the ranking of websites depending on the search query. The machine is the boss. Facebook is going to do the opposite. It is now possible for website owners to place a Facebook ‘I like it’ button on their website. This way the website which is ‘liked’ the best will get higher in the rankings. An added layer is that you see how your (Facebook) friends have interacted with the website you’re looking at. So instead of asking help of a machine (Google) with a search query you now turn to your friends (Facebook). What do they reccomend? Which websites do they like? This technique is not new (delicious is already doing this) but the big difference is the huge user base. Some sources even claim that Facebook’s traffic is surpassing Google’s. This in combination with the opening up to third parties is creating a very powerfull new way to surf the web. If we now look at the Google developers shutting down their accounts in perspective it looks like a pre-emptive strike. To openly question Facebook’s privacy settings and make a public stance means the war has started. Or maybe it already started when Facebook denied Google from crawling their website? Anyway the next couple of years we are going to see some fireworks with Google and Facebook going head to head.

In the end we, the users, are always the winners because this means both parties have to be creative and innovative to obtain a loyal userbase. So I encourage this battle: Go war!

Don’t get me wrong. The iPhone is a great device and if someone asks me advice on which phone to buy I usually recommend the iPhone or (if battery life is an issue) a good old indestructable Nokia. And this coming from a big Android fanboy! Why? The iPhone is the best smartphone if you want to have a good experience and don’t care too much about tweaking and restrictions. I compare it with a golden cage: it’s great but you’re locked inside. And because of this reason the Android phones will (eventually) beat the iPhone. Here are my main reasons:

• The hardware and software are not sold seperately. Remember why Microsoft kicked Apple’s ass when it came to the Operating System battle? Microsoft made Windows available to every PC. Any PC manufacturer could pre-install Windows on their machines. As a result the OS was very widespread very fast. Apple just couldn’t keep up because if you bought an Apple computer you also bought the Mac OS. This decision nearly killed Apple. The same is happening with the iPhone. If you like the phone but hate the software you are screwed. You don’t have an option! Deal with it. Android is becoming availble rapidly on many phones. It is not restricted to one phone.  The Android market share is growing very fast and it seems history is repeating.
• Steve Jobs is watching you(r apps). Apple (and I even think Steve Jobs personally) checks every app before it becomes available in the App store. This means they can censor anything they don’t like. Such apps as Skype, Google Voice or any number of apps. As an App developer you have to invest a lot of time and money into developing an App for the iPhone in hope the Apple Dictators will approve. Android works like a democracy. Anyone can add an App to the market and the people who try the Apps can rate them. Bad apps get low ratings so they will filter out eventually.

This being said Android has a long way to go. It looks a bit clunky and doesn’t have the WOW factor you get when you play with the iPhone. You have to tweak a lot to get a good experience. And with all the different Android versions circulating it’s hard to keep up (for users and developers). Hopefully Android will be improved and have this issues resolved quickly so it can start being the number one mobile Operating System.

With the introduction of the iPad a new device is added into our (already heavy) backpack. Is this device going to change the future of websites? Are websites doomed as claimed by Boris in his post on thenextweb.com? Boris thinks websites will be replaced by Apps. I beg to differ. I don’t think it is about the device, the App or the website. I thinks it’s about data and services. I don’t care if I have to use an App or a website as long as I get to do the things I want to do WHERE I want to do them. For example if I want to check IMDB on my phone I would like to use an App, but if I want to check it on my laptop I would rather use the website. The App or website is just a tool, not the goal. The goal is to get information as quickly as possible.

More likely future websites will have added layers enabling Voice Control or simplified touch controls. Making websites easier to use on the iPad and future iPad competitors without compromising experience for users viewing the website in an ordinary browser. Because it will take a very long time for the iPad (or any similair iPad-like device) to become a household product. Take a look at the penitration of smartphones. In 2009 only 17% of every mobile phone was a smartphone. Offering your data and services merely through Apps won’t cut it! You still need a website to please the biggest share of users. Websites are not dead, they are ready for their second life.