ECM105: Introduction to the Internet

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Unit 4 Part II

Wireless Connectivity

The age of wireless is here, at least for leading edge adopters of computer trends. A computer-type friend visiting from a major city over the holiday season mentioned that he hadn't really, truly realized that we lived in a rural area until he couldn't use his city-specific wireless connection to retrieve his email, but had to do it over the TELEPHONE! Arrrgggh!

Seriously, it seems as if every company today markets devices that offer wireless connectivity to the Internet. If you communicate by email and need to check it frequently, this is a major breakthrough. No more finding a phone, fumbling with bulky equipment, and having the connection fail halfway through. An example of such a device is the 3Com Palm Pilot PDA, or Personal Digital Assistant--check it out!

There's even a model made by Clarion Inc. that incorporates a WIndows CE machine into the dashboard of your car. It'll make calls for you, pick up and read your email, all without touching the controls. It's voice activated, since they don't want you to crash. See it at Clarion's website.

And you will have only one telephone, wherever you are--home or out. By 2004, most people will have wireless telephone/Internet connectivity, even at home (AT&T is offering this service now in some areas). What we think of today as a cell phone will be your primary telephone. Satellites are going up around the world even as you read this, and it's going to get so cheap that you'll choose that alternative for communication in a few years. You heard it here first!

See you in the next section...

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