If technology vendors are to be believed, wireless communication is the biggest revolution in computing since the floppy disk.
Mankind need never be separated from the Internet again. A worldwide network of pocket-sized devices will fulfil the functions of a phone, computer, credit card, walkman, GPS... the applications are limited only by the imagination.
However, there are a few factual inaccuracies, untruths, and bold-faced lies in the revolutionary talk.
[VIDEO]Firstly, wireless communication is not new. Data has been moved over satellite connections for almost 30 years, while GSM cellular technology is already long in the tooth. Infrared networking for line-of-sight data transmission is a tried-and-tested technology, which never took hold as pervasively as it should have. Handheld devices have been in the market for years, although they have only recently experienced a large uptake.
Wireless technology, despite all the marketing around it, is still predominantly unavailable on the street. Bluetooth, a personal area network wireless networking standard, has had a great deal of press attention, yet a dismal amount of devices supporting it.
A Bluetooth device on its own is as useful as a lightbulb before the invention of electricity. A cellphone that can be used to buy a coke from a vending machine is not much good if there are no vending machines supporting the technology. A third-generation (3G) cellular telephone on a 2G network will bring no benefit to the consumer.
Inconveniently in contact
Another question raised by sceptical consumers is: "Who wants to be connected to the Internet 24-hours-a-day?"
If wireless technology does deliver on its promise of the office in your pocket, then you will be unable to ever leave the office. Like a scenario out of Alvin Toffler`s Future Shock, we will be inundated by a constant stream of e-mails, messages, interactive chat and video streaming, whether we are at our desks or on the toilet.
In reality, technology has only created longer working hours and, if anything, decreased our free time.
Jason Norwood-Young, Technology editor, ITWeb
The invention of electricity, the industrial revolution, and the advent of computers and robots were all meant to cut down on man`s workload, leaving him more time for quality pursuits, such as family, friends and bar time. In reality, technology has only created longer working hours and, if anything, decreased our free time.
With the wireless office, it seems that the marketing spin-doctors have stopped trying to con the public into believing that we will have more time to ourselves. We will, in effect, trade our time for the pursuit of money.
The large following that wireless has managed to garner certainly says a great deal about the priorities of modern man.
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