Mobile Doesn't Have To Mean Wireless
An interesting take from Andy Dornan at Network Magazine about why "mobile" doesn't have to mean wireless. He discusses two different examples of this. First, is the ongoing success of internet cafes - which allow people to be plenty mobile and still have internet access. While all of the hype is focused on hotspots and people lugging around their laptops, sometimes (for some people) an internet cafe is just as good, if not better (no laptop to lug). His second example is the increasingly popular USB flash drive that everybody seems to have on their keychains these days. He describes them as the replacement for the floppy drive. While many people have attributed the death of the floppy to on the rise of the always connected network, Dornan points out that file bloat is equally responsible. Honestly, what can you fit on a floppy disk any more? So, a few proprietary solutions and the network had to suffice. Now, however, the USB flash drive is taking its place and finding plenty of willing users who want their files to be quite "mobile" without having to bother with the network.
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