Valley Buzz: Apple's Temporary Ban on iPhones, Our Chatty Congress, Gartner's Dire Semiconductor Projection and All Hail King Perez

By mid-morning in Silicon Valley, there was one big story that no one was talking about: What was going on at the Apple Shareholder meeting. That’s because Apple refused to allow any computers or devices in. That’s right, not even iPhones. That means-- gasp!-- no live blogging, live streaming or live Twittering.

Should President Barack Obama be just as draconian with his meetings? At last night’s joint session of congress, lawmakers came down with Twitter fever offering live updates, opinions and even catty missives from their Blackberries as Obama spoke. The press may fawn over Twitter in other cases, but many a blogger and reporter rebuked lawmakers for acting like teenage girls, suggesting congress focus on changing the country instead.

Critics have a point. But the beauty of Twitter is that it peels away the bland veneers normally constructed by lawyers and publicists to reveal that all people—no matter how high the pedestal we put them on—are just people. It’s done wonders for celebrities like Shaquille O’Neal, giving them new ways to connect directly with fans. Couldn’t members of congress benefit from connecting with constituents in an authentic way? Maybe, just not while the President is giving a State of the Nation address...

It wouldn’t be an issue of Valley Buzz without some bad economic news. Research firm Gartner says worldwide semiconductor revenue will decline 24% in 2009, not returning to 2008 volumes until 2013. Ouch. Just a few months ago, Gartner estimated semiconductor revenues would decline 16%. The steep drop in expectations shows the continuing uncertainty—and increasing panic—about just how steep and prolonged the downturn’s effect on technology will be. The good news is Gartner expects positive growth to pick back up in 2010, but after a near-30% drop wouldn’t it be hard to fall further? For those who like comparing recessions, semiconductor revenues fell a record 32% in the 2001 recession. Here’s hoping Gartner doesn’t reset expectations again in a few months signaling a new record.

In the age-old tug of war for bragging rights between Silicon Valley and Hollywood, Perez Hilton has scored one over all tech bloggers. The irascible pink-haired imp racked up an whopping 14 million page views yesterday. To put that in context, Huffington Post has never done more than 7.7 million in one day. Twice as many people reading about celebrities than politics? Sad, but sounds about right. With those kinds of numbers, concerns that the blog’s value is too concentrated on one person flies out the window. Perez is a new media force, period.

Finally, yesterday we brought you fears about social networks corrupting our children. Today, there's a study that says texting actually improves kids’ language skills. So the next generation may have ADD, but the good news is they’ll know how to write when they can sit still. That’s something, right?