I suppose if I actually study the history of wireless communication, I'll discover some nerd back in the 1950's who spent his day bouncing wireless signals off of satellites. It's possible he used to sit at the same lunch table as that other nerd form the computer department, networking the damned things. Then one day, the two shared their visions and the wireless communication was born!
|
"It's time for the adult webmaster to consider the implications of an increasingly portable Internet. If our surfers going to be out everywhere, on the Internet everywhere, will they be looking for porn?" |
The only problem is that their project manager told them to get back to work making parts for better bombs or they could dream on the street. And so, both men gave up their dreams to live lives of crushing desperation and rage. The engineering always has to come from somewhere.
Fifty years later, wireless communication is here. The concepts and technologies have been in place for decades, but only today, are we experiencing the reality of the dream.
Wireless hotspot. Isn't that a delicious phrase? Smartphone. That's another tasty word. Internet, on demand, anywhere, anytime. I don't know about you but these terms make me horny. You mean, I don't have to wish for an ethernet port when I take my laptop to the coffee shop? I can surf the web on the patio? By the pool? Out of town? I can watch TV on my cellphone? I don't need wires? Stop it! I'm too excited!
Whether you like it or not, Internet users are changing. Yes, there will always be those dedicated geeks who glue themselves to their office chair and play Warcraft, on a desktop, for seven straight hours. Despite that, there are now too many mobile users to ignore. The people want portability and the hardware has caught up to the demand. Smart phones like the iPod have large, vivid color screens and Internet access. You can check your email or participate in live chat with many of these pocket wonders. And laptops are hotter than ever. The newest ones are screaming fast and as common a sight as a coffee drinker with a book. You'll notice when you price computers that desktops are cheaper than they've ever been. Laptops have remained as pricey as they ever were. That's because buyers want portability. What this all means is that surfers are going wireless, or at least they are trying to.
Untitled Page
Maybe you've heard about this Wireless Spectrum auction thing. When US television ends analog broadcast, there will be all these left over signals. Those signals can be used for wireless networks. Big companies are bidding for these signals along with those interests that promote open wireless access. The open wireless think wireless airwaves should free just like they were for television. With analog TV, all you needed was the set.
At the moment, there aren't that many public wireless hotspots unless you live in a large US city. That's soon to change as wireless networks are popping up everywhere. The most common wireless network are people's homes. Users the nation over are installing routers and freeing their domiciles of ugly ethernet cables. They're accessing their computers through their cell phones. They're hooking up PCs to their Tivos and controlling them both with the same remote. Customers aren't afraid of wireless. No worries about access, it's coming. There are hundreds of thousands of mini-hotspots appearing all over the world.
In the meantime, it's time for the adult webmaster to consider the implications of an increasingly portable Internet. If our surfers going to be out everywhere, on the Internet everywhere, will they be looking for porn? When they are finally released from the bonds of the telephone land line, will they remain glued to monitors, searching for dirty pictures? Will we lose some of them to the outdoors and freedom? It's hard to say but we need to think about it. Maybe, instead of MGPs, we should start charging by the clip for wireless customers. That can be done with SMS and cellphone account billing. Whatever we do we need to do it quick because the devices and the access to wireless will only improve.
The next time you're at the bookstore or airport or mall, look around. Count the number of laptops, cellphones and PDAs you see. They're all connecting wirelessly and when it comes time to buy a new gadget, chances are it isn't going to be a desktop computer. How will we sell smut to these people?
Maybe in some lunchroom somewhere...