Wireless Wonders and Waterfall Watches!
by Mike Banks Valentine
Let's see, I have my pager, my cell phone, my Blackberry, my Palm
Pilot, my laptop, my desktop PC, my e-book reader, my digital camera
and what else? Oh! Then there's the MP3 and the DVD and my local
phone company has now gone digital?
Now the laptop can talk with the desktop, but the PDA can not talk
to the laptop. The e-book reader can talk with the desktop and the
MP3 player can talk with the laptop but not the desktop. The phone
company was just purchased by the cable company with the phone company
name and my Blackberry requires service that can't talk to any of
the other services, or can it?
Welcome to the wonderful world of wireless communications! What's
the hottest prospect for growing businesses in this gloomy economy?
Cross-platform communications enablers. I can't believe I even uttered
those ridiculously tech-y words! But the near future will be all
about getting all of our computing, our communications and entertainment
devices to talk with each other seamlessly and wirelessly.
One might think this is a massive task with hopeless barriers to
overcome if it weren't for the simple fact that it is being done
by hundreds of companies. Many of them start-ups and up-starts with
an eye on digital convergence until we get to the magic of that
one-single-do-everything-device.
One of my friends once wondered if my digital watch with the calculator,
barometer, altimeter and chronograph had a water- fall. Clearly,
he was poking fun at my love of tech gadgets. But I've adopted the
term "Waterfall Watch" to apply to that wild dream of
the single do-everything-device.
There has been plenty of discussion about those wonderful Hewlett-Packard
television commercials offering us futuristic visions of unheard-of
conveniences such as cars that tell us they are in need of a visit
to the mechanic before they break down - then call ahead to the
nearest garage and arrange a cab to deliver us to an important scheduled
meeting at the office without missing a beat. If you haven't seen
it, visit:
http://www.cooltown.com/vision-safety.htm (Discontinued by HP)
Click on the "View the vision" button and see what is
already possible with existing technology - now, today.
Although I find it fascinating, I hadn't stopped to ponder how complex
this idea is. The car must talk to you, check your schedule, contact
the nearest garage, verify parts availability, confirm arrival time,
call a cab, communicate your destination, arrange pick-up of the
repaired vehicle and literally dozens of additional steps to complete
this seemingly simple diversion without your participation.
Voice recognition, wireless communication among dozens of "devices"
and scheduling-perfection itself must be present. Clearly, the complexities
are all cast aside in this vision to illustrate how easy our life
might be made soon. Maybe.
The vision is compelling and Hewlett-Packard is quite serious in
promoting the possibilities. They've launched what they're calling
"The Mobile e-Services Bazaar" at http://hpbazaar.com
In their own words:
To help fuel the creation of innovative mobile e-services, HP has
established the mobile e-services bazaar. Combining an online community
with a number of regional centers of innovation, the mobile e-services
bazaar is an eco-system of participants: application and service
providers, mobile operators, and enterprises who collaborate to
fuel the rapid development of innovative new e-services.
Located around the world, the e-services bazaar is designed specifically
to support the growth of your e-service business. (Discontinued
by HP)
This concept is actually an incubator for small business offering
serious clout for participants and networking opportunities nearly
undreamt-of by smaller companies. HP is on a quest for my "Waterfall
Watch" and although I don't often gush about monstrous corporations,
I'll make this one exception -- and wish them the best of luck and
thank them for supporting the little guy.
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Copyright © 2000 Mike Valentine
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