Last week Apple Computers announced at its tradeshow the long-awaited iPhone: a combination iPod, high-end cell phone and pocket computer. Its buzz is tremendous, and it is likely called for. This device promises to be a big-leap forward in personal technology that will bring high-tech palm computers to the masses (or, at least the masses who can afford the $500 price tag). Apple Computers is so confident in the impact its device will have that they announced they're dropping "Computers" from their name. From now on it is just Apple, Inc.

Beyond the kitsch and envy that this device will surely create as "the next big thing," the iPhone does truly represent a step forward in technology. The iPhone, with its web browser, will make the Internet more accessible to the general public in a mobile format than any device before it. This utility alone will continue to march the internet revolution forward: access to Google Maps, YouTube and your newspaper (or blog!) of choice will be with the iPhone user at all times.

Newspapers have been involved with the difficult transition to the web for years now, and the handheld computer revelation will speed this process. Apple's promotions for its phone include prominent displays of the New York Times Web site being cleanly accessed. Readership of physical copies of newspapers has been in decline for years, with consumers switching to the web incarnations, and this device will only aid those users. And it will create new ones.

The iPhone is going to change the way you interact with the world. The expectation of such a device has existed for years but the iPhone, if it lives up to the specs and hype put out by Apple, may just fill this hole. Expect the media — newspapers, televisions and blogs — to undergo even greater changes to adapt to the new way you will be accessing them.