IP: RE: FUTURE OF WIRELESS INTERNET: LOCATION, LOCATION, LOCATION

[David Farber <dave () farber net>]

> From: "Alan A. Reiter" <reiter () wirelessinternet com>
> To: <farber () cis upenn edu>
>
> Dave,
>
> I've been analyzing leading-edge wireless voice and data products for 23
> years.  There is no single killer application or technology that will make
> wireless data services a success.  Location is merely one aspect  that could
> help make a difference -- if many other aspects come together.
>
> Business people and consumers do want wide area wireless Internet in their
> pocket.  I get calls and e-mail from around the world.  The problem is
> people can't get what they want ("I want to get my e-mail and surf the Web a
> little") -- and location is NOT at the top or middle of their list.
>
> Currently, the cellular network operators mislead the public by promoting
> "wireless Internet" -- which is typically CDPD at a true data rate of 14K
> bps (more or less, often less), using phones with rotten ergonomics and
> maintaining so-called "walled garden" for content.  We are already seeing
> cellular carriers trying to maintain a walled garden (read: walled prison)
> for new Java applications and continuing to make it difficult for developers
> to work with them.
>
> Customer education -- on an ongoing basis -- about how to use existing
> services more efficiently?  Forget it.  Network operators don't want to
> spend the money.  The wireless industry isn't even effectively marketing the
> services that ARE valuable right now, let alone "wireless services we
> haven't yet seen."
>
> As for "sometime in the next few years we will find ourselves surrounded by
> a pervasive, always-on network" -- that is rubbish.  Within the next few
> years networks will offer packet data coverage and in-building penetration
> that is -- if we are lucky -- **comparable** to existing 2G systems.  Many
> network operators are already misleading the public about the speeds of GSM
> GPRS networks, which are typically 10K bps upstream from the phone and 30K
> bps downstream to the network.  Network operators, infrastructure
> manufacturers and handset vendors are struggling to get 3G to operate so
> that all the components operate efficiently.  Handset software and cell
> handoff software are taking lots of time to optimize.
>
> Location services indeed make sense, and the attacks of September 11 have
> sparked the U.S. government to take a closer look at the waiver requests of
> the cellular operators.  We only need to offer a seamless nationwide
> location solution or integrate multiple technologies, deal with privacy and
> security issues, product the handsets, work with myriad public safety
> organizations, educate the public, etc.  Simple, isn't it?
>
> Never believe anyone who says "once we get THIS...wireless will be
> wonderful."  Wireless data requires numerous components to come together,
> and the process is agonizingly slow.
>
>
> Alan
> ---------------------------------------
> Alan A. Reiter, president
> Wireless Internet & Mobile Computing
> E-Mail: reiter () wirelessinternet com
> Phone: 1-301-951-0385
> http://www.wirelessinternet.com
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: owner-ip-sub-1 () admin listbox com
> [mailto:owner-ip-sub-1 () admin listbox com]On Behalf Of David Farber
> Sent: Wednesday, October 24, 2001 9:16 AM
> To: ip-sub-1 () majordomo pobox com
> Subject: IP: FUTURE OF WIRELESS INTERNET: LOCATION, LOCATION, LOCATION
>
>
>
> >From: Dewayne Hendricks <dewayne () warpspeed com>
> >
> >FUTURE OF WIRELESS INTERNET: LOCATION, LOCATION, LOCATION
> >
> >Author and venture capitalist David S. Bennahum says in Wired magazine that
> >wireless services have been a disappointment so far because "it turns out
> >that having the Web in your pocket is not all that useful." Then what would
> >make wireless services really useful? Benahuman's answer is location,
> >location, location. He writes: "The ability to pinpoint location will
> likely
> >generate the sort of demand for wireless services we haven't yet seen,
> >providing many with an 'aha' moment for mobile commerce and media. It could
> >happen the first time your wireless phone gives you directions to where you
> >want to go, simply and successfully. Or it could occur one quiet afternoon,
> >when your phone alerts you that a friend is nearby, allowing you to
> >rendezvous spontaneously for coffee... Sometime in the next few years we
> >will find ourselves surrounded by a pervasive, always-on network. It will
> be
> >more advanced in some areas, less so in others. The world is moving toward
> >hyper-connectivity. Mobility and physical space will be the new drivers of
> >innovation. And location awareness is the ingredient that will bind the
> >physical world to the virtual." (Wired Nov 2001)
> >
> ><http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/9.11/>  to be posted on-line 11 Nov
> >2001, available on newsstands now.
> >
>
>
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