Some good things never last. Everything has got to end. All good runs finally run out of space. Even civilizations, even species ultimately meet their doom and vanish.

And so far, us humans, we haven’t shown anything, any factor at all, that would vouch for our exemption from this rule. The Mayans may have got it right or wrong, or people reading their ancient calendars might have read correctly or grossly misinterpreted their message.

At the end, however, it does not matter.

The things we do, the violence we inflict on each other, the wars we wage, the hatred we have for one another — these things are more than enough to ensure our extinction as a species whether the world ends next week or not, whether the Mayans foretold or not the world’s demise in the next few days.

iPhone 5S Comes

Local iPhone fans, control your urge to part with your hard-earned money. Listen to the counsel of your elders who told you that money saved is money earned. Not that you would hold on to that money for much longer anyway.

Yes, the much awaited iPhone 5 is just about to hit these local shores, making the coming Christmas truly a season of joy. But even before local iOS adherents could open their gifts, along come reports, or to be more precise, rumors, of Apple’s plan to launch its successor in a matter of few months.

Unfortunately, however, the rumor comes from somebody who has had some track record in seeing his “reports” coming true ultimately. Analyst Peter Misek from global bank and securities firm Jefferies correctly predicted the coming of the iPhone 4S when everybody else was forecasting an iPhone 5 in May 2011.

Of course, people who are buying the iPhone 5 can also take comfort from the fact that Misek has kept missing with his guesses about Apple’s TV venture.

Chinese Apple

Steve Jobs has been reincarnated, apparently. But the late tech titan, Apple’s co-founder and tech magician and marketing genius rolled into one, was not reborn anywhere near the Silicon Valley, at least not in California’s version of it.

China’s smartphone maker Xiaomi Technology might be a boutique manufacturer, but it has quite a grand aspiration — becoming the country’s most famous brand of handset. Barely three years after founder Lei Jun launched his venture, the company became a leading brand in the world’s largest smartphone market, and its founder compared to Steve Jobs.

Unlike China’s mobile behemoths, such as ZTE and Huawei, Xiaomi Technology only makes and sells smartphones, it doesn’t flood the market with too many units, and it sells exclusively online.

Like Apple, the company has created a halo of exclusivity by limiting the number of units sold and putting great emphasis on product quality. Through these Cupertino-ish strategies the company has not only gained for itself only consumers or buyers, but devoted and faithful followers.

That’s all for the meantime, folks. Join me again next time as we keep on watching IT.