A Glimpse of the Future

A review of what WiMax represents in a singular instance. An advanced wireless environment changes the concept of Place. No longer is Work locked to Place. Yet Consumerism will be intimate with Place. From the article –

My cell phone rang just as I pulled my car into a park along the Puget Sound. I needed to add something to a news story I had written a few hours earlier, but I really didn’t want to give up my evening stroll.

Instead of driving back to the office or hunting for a Wi-Fi hotspot, I booted up my laptop, plugged in a PC card, connected to the Internet and updated my story - all from a bench near the water, with a dreamy view of snowcapped mountains.

Such a feat is no surprise to anyone with a wireless card from a cellular carrier, but I wasn’t connected to the networks of Verizon Wireless, Sprint or AT&T. Instead, I used an early version of the relatively new technology WiMax, which is being offered in Seattle by Clearwire Corp.

What’s exciting here is the availability of yet another pipe for accessing the Internet at home, in the office and on the go. It raises the possibility that it not only will be faster but also - in theory - cheaper than the competition.

Full article here.