Section 9.3. Futures

9.3. Futures

Imagine how our surrounding air will fill with even more electromagnetic products and service in the next two years. Already we're bathed in radio and TV signals when we leave the house. Cell phone frequencies just about cover the entire country. Wireless network protocols now compete for space in that same soup.

The idea of "leaving" your connections will disappear. What will you leave? Your PDA or laptop will wirelessly connect to any hotspot. Your cell phone awaits any call, no matter how tense the play or quiet the music at the concert.

Now magnify these connections by your wireless network and therefore all the presence improvements added by Skype and their competitors. Why put a camera in a cell phone when you can now put Wi-Fi in a camera? Why not hardcode your home server or email address and mail your snapped images to yourself immediately from any public hotspot?

The first report of a Skype phone call from high over the Atlantic in a commercial airliner appeared throughout the Skype community on February 20, 2005. Boeing's new Connexion service in an SAS airplane provided the Wi-Fi connection, but just enough for one or maybe two callers at a time because of the limited uplink bandwidth.

Luckily there was only a single caller, using Skype, speaking into the microphone of his Mac Powerbook. In other words, he used the worst case-calling scenario for talking privately, although he didn't have to share the limited bandwidth. Yet the report claimed clear Skype quality, making it better than one of those seatback cell phones that cost so darn much per minute.

Where next? Skype already reported calls from the top of Mt. Everest (although I bet they mean the last camp before the summit). Laptops and PDAs make calls, as well as Wi-Fi phones, either dedicated Wi-Fi or Wi-Fi/cell phone combinations.

When you're curious about whether something happened or soon will, keep an eye on the SummitCircle web site shown in Figure 9-5. They seem to keep up as well as anyone.

Figure 9-5. Third-party Skype news updated daily

One last rumor, no confirmation possible, before we close: Google. They placed an ad asking for someone with experience in Internet Telephony, and the broadband phone community went crazy. Google refuses to comment, just as they always refuse to comment until they're ready to announce a new product.

If it happens, it will do two things: push computer-centric Internet Telephony into the mainstream news cycle, and force companies doing business online to have "operators standing by" on their Computer-centric network for all the users who click their number on a Google ad in some web site. Both of these things are good, but unsubstantiated.

Who knows the future? I know Internet telephony will go more mainstream and get cheaper still, and vendors will provide the products necessary to improve the user experience. I know more value-added services, such as the CallWave discussed in Chapter 7, will be coming soon.

I also know that talking about it helps change people's minds and makes these steps closer to reality. And talking about the future of Internet Telephony over a broadband phone connection pulls the future that much closer.

You will switch one of these days. Go ahead and switch to a broadband phone today, and you will start saving money and get better control over your telephone than ever before.