ddl,
Stories about UWB are popping up all over the place. Scientific American has a good article. sciam.com
Luddites used to be clods, not engineers! Industrial progress used to displace labor, not machines and spectral bands! Cringely bears strong witness to the disruptive aspects of UWB.
<<UWB is going to make a lot of trouble for existing communication businesses as it comes to offer a cheaper, better alternative for almost every way of getting in touch. Local phone companies, cable TV companies, mobile phone companies, and Internet Service Providers all look vulnerable. Even if they adopt UWB in order to compete, the value of their old infrastructure will drop to zero, which can't be good for business. Maybe this is why the big business-loving administration of George W. Bush is suddenly digging in its heels, delaying FCC approval of UWB...
UWB is even worse for those companies that are regulated communication monopolies or have exclusive licenses to certain parts of the radio spectrum. Having given billions to the FCC for those licenses, are they now going to be worth nothing? That is a possibility. Oh, the phone and cable and cell and Internet companies can all switch to UWB and compete, but their cost structure won't make it easy. And because UWB is unlicensed, there can suddenly be a hundred cable companies in town, not just one, with all the new cable companies having a distinct cost advantage. >>
Thanks for posting Cringely's article.
Jerry in Omaha |
