KEY POINTS:
His position gives him the power to make or break new gadgets hitting the market and he's just passed judgement on the most hyped of gadgets ever to debut - the iPhone.
The Wall Street Journal's personal technology columnist, Walt Mossberg, has given the iPhone a
after playing with the device for the last couple of weeks.
"Despite some flaws and feature omissions, the iPhone is, on balance, a beautiful and breakthrough handheld computer," wrote Mossberg.
Steve Jobs will be happy with Mossberg's approval - anything different would have dented Apple's share price and negated much of the hype that has built to a frenzy.
It's one thing to say the iPhone is the next big thing on the internet, but when it's published in Mossberg's column, it takes on prophetic significance.
The New York Times and USA Today have weighed in with favourable comments too. Most of the reviewers say the iPhone's software and multimedia functionality outweigh its disadvantages - the fact that it's quite expensive and locks you into a contract with AT&T which hasn't got the greatest coverage in the US.
David Pogue of the New York Times writes that much of the hype is justified, while USA Today's Edward Baig writes pretty much the same thing.
Surprisingly, the reviewers have been largely forgiving of what could amount to some serious iPhone flaws.
As Baig writes of the iPhone's Edge mobile data capability:
"At times, I fell off the Edge and lost coverage.
"Even at its best, Edge never felt close to the broadband-type speeds I experience on my home network.
"Assuming Apple gets around to supporting 3G in the future, you'd ultimately have to buy a new 3G-capable iPhone for improved network performance, not that Apple is ready to announce one."
Still, the reviews put Apple's iPhone launch on track to be one of the biggest in the history of consumer electronics.
I don't envy the AT&T and Apple store clerks who are going to have to fend the hoards off on launch night.