<we had a trade who found he could trade using Ricochet>
Interesting! So, I guess I'm not the only one ;)
The Ricochet service is provided with "micro-cellular" transceivers mounted on telephone poles. Literally, they have to blanket each neighborhood with their equipment. It's kind of like the cellular phone approach, but more transceivers are required, placed closer together (ever few blocks). The transceivers are interconnected over a hardwired network, into the Metricom ISP system. It took them many years to build out the SF Bay Area (they started with Cupertino), then they did Seattle, parts of LA, and Wash DC. Cleverly, they've taken to putting nodes in major airports around the country. When you jump off a plane, you can just pop your antenna up in the boarding lounge, and retrieve your (POP3) email. Lots of heavy users out here in CA especially... but it will take a while to spread because of the logisitics/expense to cover an area. I hear there are several competitors now, doing digital wireless services around the country, which is a good sign. -Steve |
