Smart Mobs -> Negroponte on Wi-Fi.
MIT's Nicholas Negroponte says Wi-Fi is "reenacting the bottoms-up process that surprised people so much" in this interview in
Businessweek
[Smart Mobs]
I find part of his answer to the following question interesting:
Q: Do think Wi-Fi will obviate 3G?
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The issue is more about bandwidth than system A vs. system B. If you give me broadband -- something over 2 million bits per second, preferably over 5 million -- I cannot really use it without devoting my fullest attention (which means my hands and eyes, not just my ears). In so doing, I am probably not walking, certainly not at the wheel of a car. Therefore, if I am stopped and "attending," many of the issues that face cell-phone operators aren't present (like hand-off). The problem is different. There really is room to cohabitate.
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Yeah, if we believe everything inportant has to be done and seen in realtime! Ever hear of a cache? file storage? So the role, application and interface used by the mobile user is different and needs to addressed differently. I'm afraid this is not obvious to most and just like in blogging software the mobile user is not considered essential as part of the conversation. Reading the same text or watching video as when glued to your computer doesn't help while walking or at the wheel of a car. But I can be certainly choosing and downloading broadband content as I'm mobile. Come on, use your technolgical imagination and see that there's more than the obvious in the near future. H.G.
10:02:38 AM 
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