GigaOM

No one company can be all things to all people — not even Google. Even the search giant has an Achilles heel, one that is quite near and dear to its core business: the rise of vertical search engines.

Bad news has been coming out of the telco and cable industries, news that offers further proof that we are indeed heading into a recession. As guest blogger Cynthia Brumfield notes, these industries have traditionally held up well during economic downturns. But will they this time?

Open-source efforts bring with them numerous advantages, and Android, the Open Handset Alliance’s open and free mobile platform that’s backed by Google and 30 other technology and mobile companies, will be a major player in the mobile world for some time to come. But as guest blogger Thomas Howe explains, not everyone will appreciate Android.

Many corporations have a blatant disregard for the privacy of their customers. So what rights should you have? Guest blogger Alec Saunders lays out four principles that form a Privacy Manifesto for the Web 2.0 Era.

Guest Post by Brian McConnell : I recently retired from telecom, after some 15 years designing phone services and starting phone companies. I’ve concluded — after all this time — that it is not a good industry for entrepreneurs, especially those who don’t have access to vast amounts of capital or who don’t want to take on institutional financing.

Baris Karadogan makes a case for five big cloud computers.