Visioning 2026 Blog
A World of Connections -- Wireless Broadband -- Empowering the Individual
I ran across an interesting article printed in The Economist and available on-line. It is more justification for the need to build a wireless mesh infrastructure just like we have city streets to support commerce and the community's well being.
"In the years ahead new wireless technologies will appear in a plethora of devices, much as computer chips did in the second half of the 20th century."
"For all the excitement, it
will be a while before machine-to-machine (M2M)
communications and sensor networks become ubiquitous. Although the technology
exists, different approaches do not as yet work well together. Unlike computer
software, which can be deployed with a few mouse-clicks, each system still needs
to be tailor-made. And the melding of communications and computing brings
together two industries and engineering cultures that are generally at odds,
slowing progress. Moreover, the business models to justify the time and cost of
adding wireless services are embryonic."
http://www.economist.com/surveys/displayStory.cfm?story_id=9032088&fsrc=nwlehfree
With more standards being developed to support M2M operations our communitycan be on forefront of building a creative and vibrant culture. Now can you see us evolving into a Borg like society depicted in modern Star Trek series? :-))
Mark Hall
Larry Wenzl April 27th, 2007 7:33 am
Very nice article, Mark. Alas, life is so short to watch all spawnings from the connections of technologies!
Check out this short article:
http://www.muniwireless.com/article/view/5927/
Larry
M.D. Hall April 27th, 2007 7:39 am
Thanks for the article.
Talk about empowering their population. VOIP here we come. Now all their India villages need is an inexpensive renewable energy power source such as wind and solar.
Here's some of the connections I make from reading this article. Can you see the trends in nanotechnology, cellulosic enzyme development for the ethanol industry and the ability to miniaturize power plant technology along with energy storage (batteries and fuel cells) and how our energy policy needs to change even quicker to decentralize energy production and distribution.
What I find amazing is they propose to get this underway in two years and outside companies are interested in participating such as AT&T and British Telecom.
This reminds me of story of HP bringing portable photo equipment and printing capability to their villages as described in "The World is Flat". All they needed was an inexpensive power source and HP collaborated to provide a solar powered system.
World competition is only accelerating with these types of foreign infrastructure investments. The US is quickly finding ourselves at the back of the pack when it comes to wireless broadband access, especially for free. Where we continue to emphasize other infrastructure investments, e.g., interconnecting highways, industrial tracts, which are important, others are just leap frogging by empowering the individual to make these other shortfalls less important.
World collaborations is just starting to scratch the surface. On-line educational material will continue to accelerate. Google has it figured out, put the worlds greatest books (libraries) on the internet and enable the world to self educate themselves.
We are experiencing the 2nd Enlightenment!!!!!
http://www.2enlightenment.com/
How can we help our communities realize this and start changing our culture to effect change quicker (and endorse it)?
Govenor Heineman put out a call and invited people to go with him on a trade mission to Japan and a few other countries in the Orient this fall. Just like what the Action Council did 35 years ago when they recruited companies from around the US should we consider expanding our horizon? Wouldn't it
be neat to sponsor someone (in addition to RJ Baker) to participate on this trip?
http://www.gov.state.ne.us/news/2007_04/25_sept_trade_mission.html
Mark Hall
Jim April 27th, 2007 12:24 pm
Mark and Larry,
These were both great articles. Our economy has been powered over the last several years by the productivity increases that computing and technology have ushered in the workplace. I certainly see communications as the next engine driving our economy forward.
That said, our biggest impediment to the communications revolution is regulation. The article about India villages states "While consumers would cheer, the move holds the potential to kill the telecom business as we know it". This is exactly what the entrenched telecom industry understands and they are fighting very hard to prevent it. They hold tremendous power in Congress and in the Nebraska Legislature. They will maintain this control until a loud enough chorus of voters speaks for change - it will be a difficult and unfortunately long battle. You can get a 100Mb Internet connection in Japan today for around $41 - compared to a 5Mb connection in the US for $50. Twenty times faster for a lower price. We are on a continuing decline in affordable broadband availability in the US compared to the rest of the world. I hope we find a way out of the hole before it becomes too deep. Sorry if I sound pessimistic, but I have not seen anything that indicates we are turning this trend around.
Jim
Susanne April 27th, 2007 12:39 pm
Dear Mark:
Thanks for copying me on your email. It amazes me that America is behind many countries when it comes to technology...here we allow big business, self interest, the government agenda, etc to dictate policy. Oh they have good sounding reasons, but it's time that "we the people" start speaking up. We'd have alternative fuel to run our cars today if the oil companies didn't have such a strangle hold on policy makers...we all know ethanol being subsidized with our tax dollars isn't the long term solution when electric cars, hydrogen type fuel cells, etc are just two of numerous viable options.
I enjoyed the 2 enlightenment website and read the white paper. I was pleased to see that three Norfolkites attended the conference. I think exchange of ideas always expands our mental horizons and is beneficial...I hope you came away feeling good about the meeting.
In regards to Governor Heineman's trade mission, Norfolk needs representation other than those they've sent in the past if they're going to entice other countries to consider NE. Need I say more? The communities challenge will be how to make those changes.
Susanne
Jim May 22nd, 2007 6:17 am
Print Story: Cities struggle with wireless Internet on Yahoo! News
It is always good to look at all sides of an issue. This article refers to some of the difficulties cities are encountering with their Wi-Fi networks. While I do believe there is substantial benefit in a public Wi-Fi network, the costs, benefits, and technologies must be evaluated closely. I am hopeful that mobile Wi-Max will drop the cost of deployment, and I also feel there are many future uses of ubiquitous wireless that will drive up utilization. Thus, some of these early Wi-Fi pioneers may have been just a little bit ahead of the curve.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070521/ap_on_hi_te/municipal_wireless_woes_2
Jim
Larry May 22nd, 2007 6:19 am
Thanks Jim for sharing this article. Wi-Fi is very useful if it is properly sold and taught to the citizens. It is a disservice for a community to get a loan, install a Wi-Fi network, and not train the community.
Nevertheless, with development of Wi-Max cards, more and more computer manufacturers seem to be pursuing Wi-Max emergence. This, or a form of Wi-Max, is a likely future for rural communities - which currently have to resort to WildBlue or other expensive satellite "broadband" services for reasonable speeds.
This article also reminds one of the problem today with wired broadband: too much price and not enough speed. More competition is needed. If competition in broadband ever flourishes in the U.S., this improvement in infrastructure will propel our country ahead in the international community with plenty of economic development.
But with gas at $4/gallon and beyond, broadband at $480/year just might not be in the cards for even city dwellers.
Larry