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Roam. Making Sense of the Wireless Internet
Reviews and press coverage
It's just a matter of being patient
by Nevil Gibson, UnlimitedNet (New Zealand), 1 March 2002
The over-selling of third-generation mobile telephony does not mean the end of it. Business plans may be on hold, but the technology is unstoppable, according to this account of the past, present and future of the wireless internet.
It may be just a matter of being patient. It took 20 years for the microwave to become a ubiquitous household product. It could take as long for the combination of handheld devices and the internet to produce similar convenience.
The war in Afghanistan (which followed the writing of this book) gave new life to the satellite phone. Japan and South Korea are showing the way with mobile phones that exploit the internet.
This Euro-centred analysis (the author is Swiss) is upbeat but realistic regarding what can be achieved in the short term. He sees the Afghanis, with their limited communications infrastructure, as more likely to provide the economies of scale and ubiquity that will makes the technology a winner with consumers. Or remote areas in more advanced countries such as New Zealand, where the cost of replacing or adding to wire networks is prohibitive, could lead the way.
If Nokia was once a forestry company, Fonterra could also be in for a major transformation if it gets the signals right with its venture into cell-phone technology.
(Copyright UnlimitedNet 2002)
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