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WI-FI, "next big thing"!!say Intel's Pres.

I've been reading a lot about Wi-Fi lately and none of the majors has figured out how to capitalize on it yet. Certainly T-Mobile has had limited success at Starbucks but the price is prohibitive for anything other than occasional non-business usage. Estonia has pushed Wi-Fi extensively as a means to provide its citizens with easy access to the internet. Its internet "literacy" program, by the way, is truly amazing. Although my crystal ball is about as accurate as staring into a pool of stagnant water, I think Wi-Fi has the potential to be to internet access what Napster was to the music industry.

Here in my small 10 unit apartment complex we have already been discussing the idea of installing Wi-Fi. The cost for installation would equal about 2 months worth of our DSL payments and the subsequent monthly payment would be negligible.

The phone company, SBC, would lose a lot of revenue as a result but at this point in time, I don't see how they could restrict a Wi-Fi system from being set up to be shared amongst non-related users. It could also be a boon for small office buildings.

The only people who would really make money off of this would be the hardware makers. Enabling a computer to use Wi-Fi would become mandatory, not optional, and I doubt that Intel would gain much from that.
 
He's just pushing his stupid Centrino chips that have some built-in support for 802.11b (NOT -g).

Intel's cut from the same monopolist mold as Microsoft - they never publicly acknowledge any achievements by anyone else. And they still say that the iAPX-432 - oops, I mean the Itanium - is the inevitable future of computing, and it will bury all its competitors.
 
Originally posted by Ugg
I've been reading a lot about Wi-Fi lately and none of the majors has figured out how to capitalize on it yet. Certainly T-Mobile has had limited success at Starbucks but the price is prohibitive for anything other than occasional non-business usage. Estonia has pushed Wi-Fi extensively as a means to provide its citizens with easy access to the internet. Its internet "literacy" program, by the way, is truly amazing. Although my crystal ball is about as accurate as staring into a pool of stagnant water, I think Wi-Fi has the potential to be to internet access what Napster was to the music industry.

Here in my small 10 unit apartment complex we have already been discussing the idea of installing Wi-Fi. The cost for installation would equal about 2 months worth of our DSL payments and the subsequent monthly payment would be negligible.

The phone company, SBC, would lose a lot of revenue as a result but at this point in time, I don't see how they could restrict a Wi-Fi system from being set up to be shared amongst non-related users. It could also be a boon for small office buildings.

The only people who would really make money off of this would be the hardware makers. Enabling a computer to use Wi-Fi would become mandatory, not optional, and I doubt that Intel would gain much from that.
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The only problem with this is that, similar to napster, it is illegal to do this. I hear there are some DSL suppliers who don't expressely forbid sharing your connection, but the cable companies very much frown on this practice. But that didn't stop napster from transforming the music world, and I'm not naive enough to think that the legality factor will deter many. But just like iTMS has given many of us a reason to go legit for music, someday people will figure out a way to make WiFi work too. It really is very cool, once the range issues and compatibility issues go away completly everyone can go wireless. A few more of those ugly wires along the street can go away.
Now if we could only talk about getting a laptop battery that could keep me going for a solid 12 hours of being out and about...
 
Originally posted by mactastic

Now if we could only talk about getting a laptop battery that could keep me going for a solid 12 hours of being out and about...
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Have you ever thought of a solar pack? I've always wondered how well they work, prices seem to be about $200-300 and they don't seem to be very heavy.
 
Wi-Fi will be really big when it's faster and more reliable, look at how big it's gotten already. As far as it being illegal, some companies forbid bandwidth sharing without buying a separate IP address. Most just forbid sharing when not in the same household. You should check to make sure there's not too much interferance first (i.e. 2.4 GHz phones/Microwaves), and understand that bandwidth will be shared, so it won't be as fast. Especially if everyone is on at once.

But it'll still be faster than dial-up.

BTW good one cubist. :D

Originally posted by cubist
And they still say that the iAPX-432 - oops, I mean the Itanium -
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F***in' Intel. No better than M$.
 
Originally posted by Ugg
Have you ever thought of a solar pack? I've always wondered how well they work, prices seem to be about $200-300 and they don't seem to be very heavy.
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PowerMax sells the Electrovaya Powerpad 160 (and 120) for about $350-$450. Supposed to be a longer lasting battery for Apple 'books. Don't know how well it works though.

I think TigerDirect sells one, too.
 
Re: WI-FI, "next big thing"!!say Intel's Pres.

Originally posted by chewbaccapits
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20030609/ap_on_hi_te/intel_wi_fi_1


Love how his remarks come off as they're responsible for the technology....
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Um, I could be way, way off here, but I think I remember reading that Intel *did* create the technology. They just sat on it cause they couldn't figure out which standard to market and such. In terms of research and developement, I think Intel had a huge part, if I remember correctly.
 
Originally posted by Ugg
The phone company, SBC, would lose a lot of revenue as a result but at this point in time, I don't see how they could restrict a Wi-Fi system from being set up to be shared amongst non-related users.
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Check the contract.

Comcast actually puts in a clause in theirs that tells you that one computer per connection.
They won't even allow you to use a router! (doesn't stop me from having my connection routed, going to my Airport BS and my PS2; f 'em I say)

Bastards... I hate monopolies. :mad:
 
Time Warner aka Roadrunner has no problems with having a base station serving multiple machines on one connection. I've had techs out several times to update cable lines to the modem, and all of them thought it was very cool that I had wireless running in my house. Before we got this house, my girlfriend and I lived accross an alley from each other. She could pick up the Airport signal from accross the alley, and we shared the connection that way.

By the by, Mike Dell tried to claim being the first to integrate wireless into machines a year or so ago, and the author of the article got bombarded by Mac users who set him straight. Apple was doing it 2 years before Dell was. :)

Regards,
Gus

P.S. in 4 days, she will be my wife. :)
 
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