San Jose Mercury News

The PC has been at the center of the computing universe for 30 years. But that's about to change. Within two or three years, smartphones will outsell PCs.

After two months of talks with the Chinese government, Google remains determined to shut down its Google.cn search site rather than accept government censorship — but is worried about sacrificing its other business interests in China. Search is just one element of Google's business there.

Recognizing that high-speed Internet has joined telephone service and electricity as essential tools of modern life, the federal government will unveil an ambitious blueprint this week to extend broadband to virtually all Americans.

Sometime in the near future, a federal judge will decide whether Google can proceed with its plan to create a digital library and bookstore out of millions of old books scanned from libraries around the world. Here's a look at three key issues that have emerged at the center of the controversy.

Using technology from top Silicon Valley companies such as Cisco and Intel, advertisers are creating a new breed of digital signs that can be customized depending on a viewer's age and gender.

It is the Internet version of David vs. Goliath -- computer savvy activists who launch guerrilla tech attacks to punch holes in online shields erected by governments to control what their citizens do online.

The unique diversity of Silicon Valley is not reflected in the region's tech workplaces — and the disparity is only growing worse.

I never need to worry about whether I can read a book. As long as a book's a book, that is — printed on paper, in English. I know I can pick it up and read it no matter how long it sits on my shelf after I bought it. But as we move into the era of e-books, that assumption no longer holds.

Reading through people's filings in the Federal Communications Commission's network neutrality proceeding, O'Brien was reminded not only of how vital this issue is, but how fundamentally we've come to depend on the Internet.

Here's the reality: Most of that stimulus money hasn't been spent.