SO, think the Apple iPhone will eventually be supported by Smart, Globe or Sun in the Philippines?

I’m not going to lie — the iPhone looks incredibly sexy and I’m drooling with technolust.

How about you, do you have an iPhone already? How are you loving it so far? And to those who are here in the Philippines, would you buy one once it makes its way here?

Of course, based on past experience, our resident geniuses in Greenhills and other shops in the Philippines will probably unlock the iPhone so that it can be used on our carriers’ networks, but it would be great if it would be officially supported and if we would be able to access all the features. Like launching the iTunes store here already, Apple.

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SINGAPORE–As usual, being in Singapore has reminded me how unfortunate we Filipinos are when it comes to our information technology infrastructure.

Frankly, I don’t know how our telcos do it. I don’t how, year after year, they can get away with providing us with lousy service while still raking in money. While the availability and affordability of broadband has, to be fair, improved over the years, it doesn’t change the fact that what passes for broadband in the Philippines is laughable by the standards of other countries, such as Singapore. And forget quality of service — if all the horror stories we hear about the quality of broadband in certain areas are anything to go by, even when we part with our hard-earned money, we’re never really sure just what kind of service we’ll get, depending on which area we happen to reside.

So why do telcos get away with providing broadband services that are sometimes much slower than dial-up connections? Why are we consumers expected to grin and bear it if the service in our area is horrible due to some technical problem or lack of adequate coverage?

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IT took a bit longer than we anticipated, but we’re happy to finally announce the launch of our new INQUIRER.net VDO service in partnership with Yahoo!

iVDO is part of our long-term goal of making our content available on all platforms. It’s part of our whole multimedia thrust, which has been our goal since the beginning, though of course as you know some things happened along the way, heh

But now that we’ve completed the transition to INQUIRER.net under our new company Inquirer Interactive Inc., you’re going to see even bigger things ahead. And we couldn’t be happier that we found a partner like Yahoo!

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I’M happy to announce that blogger Toni Platon-Tiu of Wifely Steps has agreed to blog for INQUIRER.net, and that we’ve launched her blog Happy Nest, which is all about positivity and the good things that can make your every day better.

Lord knows we could all use a dose of positivity, what with all the horrors and injustices we read about all the time. I’m not saying journalists should sugarcoat things — the truth should be the truth, no matter how bitter a pill it may be to swallow — but we also have to find a way to balance things. To take a break from the outrages we’re exposed to everyday. To show readers that not everything has to be tragic in order to be newsworthy.

Because the truth is that the world isn’t completely evil or hopeless. The truth is that a lot of good is happening out there. And people have to know about it.

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IF you were given the opportunity to run a print newspaper, what changes would you make? Say you suddenly become the head honcho of the Philippine Daily Inquirer, Philippine Star or Manila Bulletin, or, um, one of the other papers that I hear are still out there (just kidding, heh), how would you revamp the newspaper?

How would you make the print newspaper more relevant to the needs of readers?

Why am I proposing this thought experiment? Well, mainly because as I’ve said time and again, print is dying. And sure, I’ve been convinced of that for some time, but it’s also good to hear the experts supporting what you believe, heh. So let’s say it again, loud and clear: “Wake up and smell the coffee, Dead Tree People.”

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