BRANDWIDTH OVER BANDWIDTH

Branding will eventually replace the how. Just as consumers
talk about fueling up down at the local Texaco station but don’t
bother to explain if they filled up with diesel or gasoline, they
will talk about accessing the network via a particular brand.
Wireless Internet access brands will be not unlike the cellular
carriers of today; I’m an AT&T customer but often roam or use
another carrier’s network all while telling others I’m an AT&T
customer.
Even the most insightful futurists can’t guarantee exactly
what the interaction between culture and Wireless Internet
technology will result in. But even though the experts can’t
predict how the Wireless Internet will evolve, please keep one
thing in mind—the answer may someday be in your hand.

WILL THE WIRELESS INTERNET SURVIVE?

In an age where rapid technology development produces concepts
and innovations that disappear often as quickly as they
come it’s only natural to ask the question—Will the Wireless
Internet survive? We believe the Wireless Internet will eventually
disappear.
It will be out of sight, but it will still exist. Not as the
wired or wireless Internet, but simply as “the Internet” or “the
network.” Access method and device will eventually become
irrelevant.
As the Wireless Internet evolves and embeds itself in the
society and culture of our modern world, the phrase “Wireless
Internet” will quietly go away. When is the last time you heard
someone refer to the “electric” light? Or the “gasoline powered”
automobile? Or even “indoor” plumbing? The descriptors
of how eventually fall away as society gets used to
assuming the obvious or irrelevant. What will matter in the
future is that a user is connecting to a network; whether that
user arrives via cable broadband, GPRS, or a public WLAN
won’t really matter.

THE FUTURE OF WIRELESS INTERNET

THE FUTURE OF WIRELESS INTERNET
IS CERTAIN—TO CHANGE!
This book has covered the technologies and applications of the
Wireless Internet in an attempt to give you a high-level glimpse
of the many challenges and issues surrounding its evolution.
On many levels it’s still anyone’s guess as to which protocols
and specific technologies will emerge as part of the standard of
the future.
The wireless industry has many players all working to provide
their contribution to this amazing future of Wireless
Internet access. Not everyone agrees on the best way to ensure
success but the momentum has generated a self-fulfilling
prophecy of sorts, led by industry: If they think it will happen,
it will (eventually anyway). But how much will it cost consumers
and industry? Who will profit?