Marissa Mayer Takes the Helm as CEO of Yahoo

The big surprise in the tech industry this week is the appointment of former Google executive Marissa Mayer as CEO of Yahoo. The announcement was met with mostly positive reactions, even after Mayer revealed she is giving birth to her first child in October and will not be taking maternity leave.

Marissa Mayer is the new CEO of Yahoo

Yahoo is like the elderly statesman of the Internet. It’s been around from the beginning, but in recent years has been overshadowed by newer, younger companies like Google and Facebook, as well as its “CEO Curse,” having gone through five CEOs in as many years. The question is will Mayer be able to turn things around for the company that was once the top site for web search? The answer may depend on which direction she decides to take the company.

These days, most people use Yahoo for email services and as a web portal for news and entertainment. Search is dominated by Google with Microsoft’s Bing breathing down its neck, and Facebook has made it difficult to crack social media, effectively shutting out Google + so far. Yahoo owns the photo sharing site Flckr and some are hoping that Mayer will salvage it, which would mean going head to head with Instagram, the photo sharing app recently purchased by Facebook for $1 billion. Also, taking into consideration that Mayer’s last position at Google was as VP in charge of local, maps and location services, she could try to dominate the local/mobile market, an open niche that has no clear leader at the moment.

Do you think Mayer can save Yahoo? What do you think her strategy should be?

iPhone Beats Toilet in List of "Greatest Inventions"

According to a recent poll done by Tesco Mobile of 4,000 UK consumers, the iPhone was voted a better invention than the toilet.

It comes as no surprise that the greatest invention of all time is the wheel. With the airplane, light bulb, the internet and personal computers in the top 5. But the iPhone came out at #8, beating the toilet and combustible engine at number 9 and 10 respectively.

I am shocked by this. I know we all say we couldn't live a day without our iPhone or other smart phone; but when faced with the choice of living without a toilet or going without a phone, I think we might reconsider.

I think it is also surprising that while every household in the industrialized world has at least one toilet, not everyone has an iPhone.

The fact is the iPhone is a fun, convenient communication tool but the toilet is a sanitary necessity.

There is rationality in the fact that the poll was done by a mobile provider and that the toilet may have been overlooked or taken for granted as an invention. It's hard to imagine life without the toilet - I would hate to consider the alternative.

What do you think? Is the iPhone a better invention than the toilet?

Dyve Deep into the Web

DeepDyve, formerly Infovell has released a beta version of their deep Web search tool designed to dig below the surface of the Internet, reaching resources not indexed in Google and the other major search engines. With over 500 million pages indexed to date, DeepDyve is targeting in-depth, professional content that resides deep within the Web.

By using a search algorithm that matches patterns and symbols, DeepDyve returns complex data that is not likely to be found in traditional keyword searches. The goal is to filter out opinion sites and irrelevant content for researchers looking for highly relevant, non-opinionated information on complex topics.

Although this search tool can be used for free upon registration, a more complete version is available for $45 per month. While the major players in search offer free access without registration, we will see just how much people are interested in reaching these deeply buried web pages.