Judging from results so far, as well as some industry reports on the PC sector, the first quarter went about as badly as -- and in some cases a little better than -- expected. What's more important, there are signs that some sectors of IT have hit bottom for the year.

In a sign that the recession is taking a bite out of Google, considered practically an unstoppable force in Internet search advertising, revenue for the company declined from the last quarter of 2008, its first sequential revenue decline ever. Revenue for the first quarter was US$5.5 billion, up 6 percent from last year but down slightly from $5.7 billion in the fourth quarter last year.