[LINK] National Broadband Network - except it's not national.

[Tom Worthington]

David Boxall wrote:
> On 7/05/2010 10:31 AM, Tom Worthington wrote:
>> ...
>> If the primary way to access the Internet is from a wireless mobile
>> device, then most of the need for fibre to the home disappears.
>> ...
> That's a big if. ...

Wireless mobile is becomming mainstream. Smart phones are getting 
cheaper and more common. Netbooks are now under $500 and a crop of 
cheaper iPad inspired tablet computers is on the way.

The cost of wireless Internet access is dropping and can drop much more: 
never mind mining, the government should put a super-profits tax on 
wireless Internet. ;-)

Many of the people I see each day have a mobile gadget in use much of
the time, either a smart phone or a netbook computer, or both (few
tablets so far). Admittedly these are early adopters, not a
cross section of society.

A few weeks ago I came across Dr Genevieve Bell, Digital Home Group 
Director, User Experience Group, Intel Corporation, at the cafe of the 
State Library of South Australia, with a smart phone in one hand and a 
laptop in the other. Each device had a wireless connection and she was 
looking from one to the other, while holding a conversation on the 
relative merits of the iPad versus Kindle: 
<http://blog.tomw.net.au/2010/04/adelaide-north-terrace-cultural.html>. ;-)


-- 
Tom Worthington FACS CP HLM, TomW Communications Pty Ltd. t: 0419496150
PO Box 13, Belconnen ACT 2617, Australia  http://www.tomw.net.au
Adjunct Lecturer, The Australian National University t: 02 61255694
Computer Science http://cs.anu.edu.au/user/3890