The history of voice telephony has had little differentiation—
local versus long distance, similar input and output devices
voice in, voice out. We spoke with our mouths and listened
with our ears. A louder handset for the hard of hearing, a tape
recorder for storing the “data,” and eventually the ability to
“share” voice with more than one person was as innovative as
it got (and this hampered by the fact that no one seems to like
being put on speakerphone).
The ability to visually present data changes everything: It
increases the methods of input as well as allowing for various
types of output depending on the receiver’s current situation
and preference.
Cellular phones and PDAs are improving in many ways to
better accommodate the Wireless Internet. While some devices
opt for a qwerty type keyboard, others have operating systems
that allow the use of stylus or pointer devices to navigate and
input data. All have increased display size and resolution, and
many have added color as well.
It’s easy to find examples of situations when voice is not the
most convenient way to communicate detailed information
quickly and discreetly. Imagine you are in an important meeting
where the speaker has gone over the time limit, yet it would
be seen as rude to leave the room. The problem is you are
expected to meet your spouse at a restaurant and it looks like
you will be delayed by about an hour. The information you
need to communicate to your spouse is essentially:
“Hi honey! Look, I’m still at work in a meeting that’s running
late and I’m not sure when this guy is going to shut up
and let us get out of here. Can you please call the restaurant
and move our reservation back an hour? If I can escape this
snore fest and avoid my boss on the way out of the building
I’m sure I can make it by then OK? Love you Buttercup!”
Given the choice to make a wireless phone call or send a text
message to adjust your dinner plans, what would you do? If you
were my co-worker, I sincerely hope you would choose the text
method. I’m sure we can all agree that work environments can
become uncomfortable when co-workers allow personal phone
calls to be overheard and share too much personal information.
Mobility combined with nonvoice data creates a need for
the user to choose the preferred input and output for each
communication situation. Data can be manipulated in more
ways than pure voice and still communicate most if not the
entire intended message. Data such as text, graphics, and video
can be filtered, shortened, condensed, and reformatted to better
fit the output device.
Universal messaging has a history of being defined to
include only what a given vendor’s solution currently includes—
a system that allows the user to combine voicemail and email
might be called “universal messaging” even if it does not truly
allow the sender to leave a voicemail that the receiver can read
over email. Instead the system might send the voicemail as an
audio file to the receivers’ email inbox.
True universal messaging includes the ability to convert
inputs such as voice and text into the output preferred by the
receiver. Content that is visual—photos and video clips—would
not be converted into text but may someday be summarized by an
intelligent software program that could better describe the content.
This is a 20-second color video clip that shows a group of
children blowing out candles at a birthday party—so that the end
user can choose whether to view it, save it for later, or delete it.
Possible conversions include text-to-voice, voice-to-text,
email-to-fax, video-to-still images, and many other combinations,
such as condensing text and then converting it to voice.
Digital also adds the ability to sort, search, match, and store all
types data. 182
IT Certification CCIE,CCNP,CCIP,CCNA,CCSP,Cisco Network Optimization and Security Tips
WHO CAN I CONNECT WITH?
To increase the number of contactable users available and
reachable on a network requires the ability to be able to reach
others on different systems with different devices using various
protocols. The voice telephony system in the United States
today uses something called the SS7 layer as a common
method that all phone systems can use to transport voice calls
from one system to another. The same common connection for
Wireless data does not yet exist but is critical for growth of the
wireless Internet. This interconnection—ubiquitous availability
to communicate across networks, protocols, and media
types—will create the critical mass of users necessary to add
value to the network. Superior technology that does not
interconnect to legacy systems will offer limited value due to the
smaller network size and limited connections to other users
who do not have the same device or service.
Some systems allow for data to be sent but do not yet offer
a way to reply in kind. This inability to reply suffocates innovation
and adoption of new features and systems. For example all
digital phones are able to receive a text message but not all
have the required software to reply. Cellular phones on one
carriers system do not currently have the ability to send or
receive text messages from phones on other systems.
Proprietary technology only works if it allows for interconnection.
Many new features have these same issue and therefore
must start out focused on a niche market—a community of
some type, like a workgroup, service tech group, plumbers
union, or some other closed group that can all agree to use the
technology. Nextel is an example of a service that mixes general
access with private group access. Nextel wireless services offer
a unique service that allows the user to communicate with others
in a group by simply pushing a button and speaking. This
push-to-talk feature is great but only works if the others you
wish to contact have the same device on the same network.
The Internet is all about access to anything and everything—
the Wireless Internet must offer the same broad access
but Wireless Internet data will need to be altered to fit users’
needs in terms of technology, device, and environment.
reachable on a network requires the ability to be able to reach
others on different systems with different devices using various
protocols. The voice telephony system in the United States
today uses something called the SS7 layer as a common
method that all phone systems can use to transport voice calls
from one system to another. The same common connection for
Wireless data does not yet exist but is critical for growth of the
wireless Internet. This interconnection—ubiquitous availability
to communicate across networks, protocols, and media
types—will create the critical mass of users necessary to add
value to the network. Superior technology that does not
interconnect to legacy systems will offer limited value due to the
smaller network size and limited connections to other users
who do not have the same device or service.
Some systems allow for data to be sent but do not yet offer
a way to reply in kind. This inability to reply suffocates innovation
and adoption of new features and systems. For example all
digital phones are able to receive a text message but not all
have the required software to reply. Cellular phones on one
carriers system do not currently have the ability to send or
receive text messages from phones on other systems.
Proprietary technology only works if it allows for interconnection.
Many new features have these same issue and therefore
must start out focused on a niche market—a community of
some type, like a workgroup, service tech group, plumbers
union, or some other closed group that can all agree to use the
technology. Nextel is an example of a service that mixes general
access with private group access. Nextel wireless services offer
a unique service that allows the user to communicate with others
in a group by simply pushing a button and speaking. This
push-to-talk feature is great but only works if the others you
wish to contact have the same device on the same network.
The Internet is all about access to anything and everything—
the Wireless Internet must offer the same broad access
but Wireless Internet data will need to be altered to fit users’
needs in terms of technology, device, and environment.
METCALFE’S LAW IN REVERSE
There is a growing trend among wired and wireless services to
split the Internet into isolated mini-networks and gain an
advantage in directing and controlling users activities. This
technique is called the “Walled Garden” approach in that the
user is allowed access only to a limited area under the control
of the service provider. While giving the appearance of advantage
to the smaller closed network that can choose what content
and services the users are able to interact with, the reality
is that the mini-network loses value exponentially.
Examples of attempts to split the Internet into smaller isolated
networks include:
• The early days of email. Early email providers resisted giving
send/receive access to users of other email systems.
• Instant messaging systems. Closed IM systems such as AOL
IM have repeatedly blocked efforts of smaller IM systems to
interconnect users of various competing IM systems.
• WAP portals. Many wireless carriers have created WAP services
that are only able to access sites offered by the carrier or carrier
friendly providers. By locking the device settings or WAP
server settings other sites are blocked from access even when
users know and attempt to enter the competing WAP URLs.
• Blocking or banning the ability of other sites to link to specific
pages on another site (deep linking) requiring users to access
content only via the original homepage links. Some content
owners want to block any traffic that does not originate from
their marketing efforts while others welcome official or unofficial
affiliates that point to their site.
The effect of Metcalfe’s law in reverse reduces value for all
parties involved. The networks users lose the value of a larger
more complete network. The networks not only lose value individually
but as a (now separate) group as well. Because of
Metcalfe’s law, the largest network always wins over smaller
networks even when the smaller network initially offers value
creating features or benefits. As the larger networks grow, the
value of the sheer number of reachable users, services and content
ultimately favors the larger networks. Since the Internet is
the largest network of them all, it will not only eventually win
over smaller proprietary networks (wired or wireless) but the
wired internet and wireless internet will only benefit each other
as they join together into a common network.
Attempts to create walled gardens of content and services
for wireless Internet users have failed (and even been declared
illegal) in many European and Asian countries. Service
providers will only succeed in creating long-term value by
focusing on quality of services instead of limiting access to
other perhaps better services.
split the Internet into isolated mini-networks and gain an
advantage in directing and controlling users activities. This
technique is called the “Walled Garden” approach in that the
user is allowed access only to a limited area under the control
of the service provider. While giving the appearance of advantage
to the smaller closed network that can choose what content
and services the users are able to interact with, the reality
is that the mini-network loses value exponentially.
Examples of attempts to split the Internet into smaller isolated
networks include:
• The early days of email. Early email providers resisted giving
send/receive access to users of other email systems.
• Instant messaging systems. Closed IM systems such as AOL
IM have repeatedly blocked efforts of smaller IM systems to
interconnect users of various competing IM systems.
• WAP portals. Many wireless carriers have created WAP services
that are only able to access sites offered by the carrier or carrier
friendly providers. By locking the device settings or WAP
server settings other sites are blocked from access even when
users know and attempt to enter the competing WAP URLs.
• Blocking or banning the ability of other sites to link to specific
pages on another site (deep linking) requiring users to access
content only via the original homepage links. Some content
owners want to block any traffic that does not originate from
their marketing efforts while others welcome official or unofficial
affiliates that point to their site.
The effect of Metcalfe’s law in reverse reduces value for all
parties involved. The networks users lose the value of a larger
more complete network. The networks not only lose value individually
but as a (now separate) group as well. Because of
Metcalfe’s law, the largest network always wins over smaller
networks even when the smaller network initially offers value
creating features or benefits. As the larger networks grow, the
value of the sheer number of reachable users, services and content
ultimately favors the larger networks. Since the Internet is
the largest network of them all, it will not only eventually win
over smaller proprietary networks (wired or wireless) but the
wired internet and wireless internet will only benefit each other
as they join together into a common network.
Attempts to create walled gardens of content and services
for wireless Internet users have failed (and even been declared
illegal) in many European and Asian countries. Service
providers will only succeed in creating long-term value by
focusing on quality of services instead of limiting access to
other perhaps better services.
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