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To: jhg_in_kc who wrote (33944)	11/9/1999 11:23:00 PM
From: JayPC	Respond to of 41369

Its pure Physics. The ether as a means of distribution for signals of any type is inherently less reliable and limited (in terms of bandwith) compared to fiber. Why go wireless in your house when cable or DSL can do it cheaper and reliably. In your home your devices will be wired, they may have a wireless connection for inside the home, but the last mile will be wire. When you go outside in your car, or with your handheld, you will be wireless. Somewhat like you are right now. The speeds will just be greater. Jay

To: jhg_in_kc who wrote (33944)	11/9/1999 11:54:00 PM
From: JayPC	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 41369

JHG, this book got me started in my interest in high speed bandwidth. obs-us.com It was written in 1995 by Nicholas Negroponte, Founder of MIT's media Lab. Its an old book but still a great read. Much of what I learned about wireless in my early days comes from him. You may of heard of the "Negroponte Switch" George Gilder and I have shared the podium frequently, and I have learned a lot from him. One of our first encounters occurred about 10 years ago at an executive retreat organized by Northern Telecom (now called Nortel). At this meeting, I showed a slide that depicted wired and wireless information trading places. This idea had been prompted, in part, by some early HDTV discussions, during which I and others questioned whether broadcast TV should get any spectrum at all, since stationary TV sets could be better served by wires (read: fiber). In contrast, the theory continued, anything that moves needs to be wireless. Phones, largely wired at the time, would go wireless, and TV, largely wireless, would get wired. Gilder called this "the Negroponte Switch," even though Jim McGroddy at IBM or someone at the Media Lab may have suggested it first. A decade later, it seems that this whole switching of places has been contradicted left and right. Satellite TV is doing fine. HDTV just got new spectrum. And the cable business is starting to include telephony. So how should one look at RF today? Granularity Many cell-phone users, believe it or not, think they are using a walkie-talkie-style communications system that is completely wireless - from one handset to another. In truth, most often there is a lot of wire in between. Typically, the wireless portion is only a fraction of the distance covered. For this reason, instead of the simplicity of the Negroponte Switch, think of the more complex public/private nature of the bits. Bits will travel wirelessly in proportion to the degree to which they're public. The bits that represent the Super Bowl, for example, are well justified for delivery by satellite TV. There really is no better way to get the same bits to 150 million Americans simultaneously. My phone or computer, however, merit less wireless distance. In the case of my newfound marriage assistant and spread-spectrum LAN, it need reach only across my home. In the case of my TV remote control, it need reach only across the room. What this suggests is that wireless communication should be designed with the nature of the bits in mind. This issue is not wired versus wireless but the strength of the signal. It also means that you had better not sell short the landline phone company or makers of fiber optic cable. What this suggests is that wireless communication should be designed with the nature of the bits in mind. This issue is not wired versus wireless but the strength of the signal. It also means that you had better not sell short the landline phone company or makers of fiber optic cable. In the end, we have to remember that nature has provided us with only one radio spectrum, no matter how cleverly we choose to use it. In contrast, insofar as a single fiber is more or less equal to the whole RF spectrum, the bandwidth of fiber landlines is infinite, since we can keep on making more and more, running the factories three shifts a day, seven days a week. For this reason, the granularity of RF will get smaller and smaller, for more and more personal bits. media.mit.edu A wonderful article! For a list of his other articles media.mit.edu Jay