Wireless Bandwidth the Key
from the oh-really? dept
More predictions in the wireless space. This time from Teledesic's (yes, they're still around) CEO, who says that satellites will increase bandwidth to wireless devices and that will drive accpetance. I still think that this is a bit overhyped. The main example he uses is the ability to video-conference on your mobile phone. For decades people have had the ability to video conference and often chose not to because they don't see much value in it. Why will this suddenly change when we can video conference on our mobile phones?
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Pie-in-the-sky
Maybe I'm dense, but I didn't see a time frame anywhere. Are we talking 2, 10, 20, or 100 years? I'm sure that IN THE FUTURE we will make video calls to each other, but IN THE FUTURE basically includes (now + 1) to infinity.
Ok, I'm a little surly today, but I am real tired of pundits talking about what great things will come once we get around these pesky bandwidth limitations. So many people are betting on "broadband everywhere" when it's still "broadband in a few places". DSL, when you can get it, is still a pain to set up. Cable puts you at the mercy of the cable companies. Wireless broadband is basically a spec sitting on a few guys' desks. Even when you do have access, it is still way more expensive than the basic $9.95-$19.95 dialup/get email/surf that most average people still use.
Finally, when I can get 115Kbps to my cellphone, what will I do with it? Listen to MP3s? I'm going to pay a few hundred extra to have a really cool, battery-sucking digital walkman?
Videoconferencing? Please show me how that will look on a standard Palm-sized handheld LCD display. Please show me the LCD display that can make it look good without costing an arm and a leg.
I predict that, in the future, computers will get faster. Can I be an expert now?
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