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Technology Stocks : WDC/Sandisk Corporation -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Craig Freeman who wrote (19639)	3/15/2001 9:27:51 AM
From: Art Bechhoefer	Respond to of 60323

Craig, I'm sure an engineer might be able to explain why some cell phone connections don't work as hoped. My own experience is that building structures may interfere with a PCS signal more than signals at lower frequencies used by, say, Verizon. My own QCOM cell phone warns the user of a weak signal by making three quick beaps. I think the problem has more to do with the placement of base stations, and whether the base stations will cover all areas or miss a few. If I really want reliability in the marginal areas where I tend to use cell phones, I go outside, to be free of any building interference or attenuation of the signal. During the early 1900's the technology for wired phones, though quite primitive, didn't really stand in the way of acceptance of the telephone as a good replacement for bicycle messangers, pony express, and ordinary mail as a modern communication technology. In the same way, flash memory becomes an enabling technology, where low current demand, non-volatile storage, and extreme reliability combine to make possible use of hand held, battery operated computers as a substitute for heavier, higher power consumption units, usually confined to a fixed location (e.g., near a phone jack). Eventually the technology drives applications that weren't possible previously. The "P-tag" or dog-tag type of flash card to be carried by military personnel, containing their health records (the project worked on jointly with SanDisk and Kaneb), has the potential for making a big dent in the cost of maintaining secure, but available health care records. Art