For the most part I live in a tethered world. Remember that commercial where a guy walks up to a vending machine and points his cell phone at it and buys a pop? Where the crap is my Diet Pepsi?
I feel like such a chump having to plug in this and plug in that. All day long, I setup computers and take them apart to move them, or go over to someone’s house to fix one. Have you ever been to a LAN party? It’s cable spaghetti madness.
Think of all the devices that require you to still plug them in… Your home phone, your TV cable, cable internet, DSL, theater system speakers, headphones, mouse, keyboard, printers, digital camera, and the list goes on and on.
But wait you say! There are some wireless devices out there already… Actually, I’m typing this on a wireless keyboard and mouse combo from Logitech. It does a decent job but one thing that I have noticed is that it’s kind of jumpy due to the ball (not optical)… not good for artists or gamers. But it’s kind of nice not to have stupid cords getting in the way. However, it will set you back about $60.
But what about all those other devices? There are some wireless cameras. Check out x-10 http://www.x10.com/ . These are tiny cameras that can be mounted anywhere around the house to keep a watch on things. They also have other wireless devices for all your home security need s. If anyone has any experience with these devices, please post in the forum. Also, with digital cell phones, one could ALMOST drop the land line phone. However, I have found that I use my cell phone 80% of the time but due to poor in a few areas, I still have to use a land line.
I’ve also had some good success with Linksys wireless AP routers. However, most of these’s devices run on the same radio range. So, you have your cordless phone, wireless computer network and the home entertainments system all running on the same band. Unless you you have lead lined walls, it should make for some interesting fun for you and your neighbor. Kind of like when you flush the toilet the shower comes on…
Then there’s Bluetooth, the short range standard that’s supposed to take over and allow all of our devices to talk to each other. Let me take a count of how many devices I have… hmm… oh, wait. None.
Also, what about 3G? This is the brand spankin new cellular service that brings high speed s to wireless devices. It amazes me that we think that the US is a ?high tech? country, when many other European and Latin American countries have long ago skipped the wires.
The truth is that while technologies are available, companies won’t be switching to them until their current products are losing steam. Wireless is a fad and until people start demanding the new wireless technologies those of us that are enthusiasts can only dream of an unconnected tomorrow.
What exciting new products to have to look forward t
? Wireless broadband http://www.nytimes.com/2002/04/30/technology/30WAVE.html
? Information on 3G http://www.pcworld.com/news/article/0,aid,43661,00.asp
? Robot Lawn Mower http: //www.friendlyrobotics.com/
Meanwhile, please post in the forums your own woes and success stories…
