Cost of personal genome sequencing plummeting: currently $48k (down from $2mil) and expected to be $5k soon http://bit.ly/CGP3r

Internet may drive trust of technology; Over half of surveyed Americans willing to have remote robotic surgery http://bit.ly/fCpwQ

DuPont solution printed OLED material could lead to much cheaper OLED displays http://bit.ly/5I7dC

Is Microsoft’s Project Natal “the endgame” of console controls? (at least until a direct brain interface) Gizmodo’s take http://bit.ly/regm0

Pig Stem Cell discovery could mean the end of transplant waiting lists http://bit.ly/vu1ob

e-book market about to get much more competitive http://bit.ly/syaco

Concrete evidence of the death of the landline: 20.2% (and rising) households are already “cellphone only” http://bit.ly/Pu8dG

Android phones have a new killer app - video clips recorded using the phone can now be uploaded straight to YouTube http://bit.ly/3uvC2W

#Kindle DX’s large screen is awesome but the near-$500 price will keep it a niche device for the foreseeable future http://bit.ly/7t9aG

Researchers forge ahead towards ultimate human-machine interface with brain-controlled wheelchair http://tinyurl.com/cm3gdd

Wired had a great article last month analyzing why Apple does not currently support Flash on the iPhone. Long story short: author Brian Chen believes, correctly in my opinion, that Flash on the iPhone would take away the control Apple has always held over content on the device.

Flash would let users watch videos through any flash video site, including those that host TV episodes Apple wants to sell you through their iTunes video store. Users could also play Flash games (optimized for the iPhone, even) that would take revenue away from games sold through Apples App Store. There are legitimate concerns of course, such as security, but competitors such as Google’s Android OS seem to be taking those challenges in stride.

If Apple does not wake up and embrace change, progress, and most importantly, openness on the iPhone, the hardcore gadget nerds and software programmers will slowly abandon the platform. They will switch over to more open options such as Google’s Android. Sure, Apple will still retain the mass-market crowd for the time being, but look at the device that formerly held that dubious title: the Motorola RAZR.

I am not saying Apple is Doomed or that the iPhone is a bad device. I own one! All I am saying is that Apple is now at a critical decision point in the iPhone’s development as a computing platform. The Android OS and T-Mobile G1 are very much v1.0 products, but show tremendous promise. Apple still holds the advantage both in terms of users and developers. They can change now, embracing openness — or continue to choose the path of censorship and slowly see their core users trickle away.

UPDATE Feb. 1, 2009 - It seems Apple has finally cleared Adobe to develop flash for the iPhone, for their sake I hope it isn’t too late!