Doug,
Does anyone manufacture a combination wireless communication/modem device in a PCMCIA card? I'm sitting here at
my laptop, which is networked to my fixed machine at 100 Mb/s by a 50' ethernet cable. This is really wonderful because I
can take my laptop anywhere in the house - including the hammock on the back porch or the "reading room."
This is really swell, but wouldn't it be great if I could just jam in a card with a 3" antenna sticking out the side and be on the
'net in the middle of nowhere? And why not put a GPS receiver on the same piece of silicon, since we've already
incurred the hassle of the antenna?
Is this sort of thing still science fiction, or can I buy one for $199.95?
$299 plus one time activation fee of $45 plus, well:
metricom.com
One of their founders (or backers, not sure) is Paul Allen.
HOWEVER, NOTE THE LIMITED ACCESS AREAS:
The current Ricochet service provides wireless Internet access at up to 28.8 kbps
in the greater San Francisco Bay, Seattle, areas within Manhattan, New York City,
and Washington, D.C. metropolitan areas; on corporate campuses; and at select
gate areas at twelve major airports throughout the United States.
metricom.com
Last time I looked, about 3 months ago, access locales were just SF Bay area and Washington DC.
Tony |
