It’s a dark and blustery night and the sirens are blowing. The TV says that a major storm is ripping through the area and you should
stay tuned for updates. There’s a blinding flash and boom; the TV screen goes blue and informs you that your cable connection is ‘temporarily out of service, please stand by’. When you try to call the cable company to find out what’s happening you discover that the phone is dead too. Apparently, when the landlines went down they took the cable with them!
Most of us probably think that Hollywood, and especially Beverly Hills has some sort of 100 GB ultra-super power T1 internet connection. However, this is the furthest from being true. In fact a large portion of the people that live in places like Beverly Hills only have an internet connection option of high speed satellite internet service. Why is this you might ask? Well, it is because people in these types of areas often own such large estates, which in result leads to a very densely populated area. The truth is that it is just too expensive for terrestrial internet companies to set up the equipment needed to expand their network to these types of areas. It is hard to think of anything being too expensive for the residents of Beverly Hills, but unfortunately they are not the ones calling the shots in this scenario. The cable and DSL companies are under strict regulations and they have to be careful that they treat all customers fairly and equally, even the ones in Beverly Hills.
How would you like to live on an island and actually be your own government? Think about it…no laws to follow, no speeding tickets, you could literally do whatever you wanted. You could get a 
, so you wouldn’t really lose connection with the rest of the world. Sounds pretty cool right!? Now, what if this island was made out of concrete and was a floating vessel out in the middle of the ocean? Changes your thought process a little bit, huh. Well believe it or not this is actually what some major business executives are thinking of doing.
Satellite cell phones have been out for a while, however they have never before been a feasible option for individual consumers. Most of us have seen these bulky cell phones with “HUGE” antennas on movies that remind us of the days when cell phones first started coming out. Do you remember the days of the bag phones? I actually think I have still got one of those around somewhere. Anyway, that is pretty much where satellite phones have been until really recently. At&t has partnered with a satellite company called TerreStar to produce a much more modern satellite phone. Actually the phone is designed to work with both satellite and terrestrial networks. By default the phone will work on At&t’s wireless towers, however if you are not able to get a wireless signal you can switch over to satellite mode. The best part about it is that the phone is only about the size of a deck of cards, meaning you can actually fit the phone in your pocket…mind blowing, I know.
I recently posted an article that describes how satellite internet and television may soon be utilizing 3-D technologies such as
holograms in the near future. Well, here is a nice jolt for you, how cool would it be if you could actually smell the images on your TV and internet? No way…right, that’s impossible! Actually, it is not impossible according to new research done by Okada Laboratory at Keio University in Tokyo, Japan. They have developed a new device, they are calling the Fragrance Jet II, which can actually allow you to smell certain smells that correspond to images or sounds. Apparently, the device acts as a sort of scent generator that combines different distinct fragrances to match the smell of a much larger set of smells. This device is still in testing, and is not capable of being paired with the TV or your high speed internet connection just yet, but it is working on it.
What if you never had to go to the grocery store again? Now we all know that you can order books, electronics, and almost
everything else on the internet, but groceries! That’s right some companies are actually starting to sell groceries online. Companies like Netgrocer are allowing you to purchase even perishable items and have them shipped to your door step. It will probably not surprise you too much to know that Amazon and Walmart are also getting into the online grocery shopping business. However, they both are very limited on what type of groceries you can purchase. Generally they do not allow you to purchase perishable items
It seems to be no secret that the music industry has been struggling over the past few years. For the last few decades this is one
industry that has remained relatively unchanged. However, ever since the wide spread integration of high speed internet access the music industry has been forced to either change or suffer the consequences. Surprising enough it is becoming more and more apparent that the industry has chosen to suffer the consequences. The major labels are still fighting hard to keep society from changing their business model. In reality their business model got changed with dial up internet with the introduction of Napster. I
Has anyone noticed that Google seems to be going up against major competitors in pretty much any industry that has anything to do with the internet? In one of my business classes it was recently mentioned that Nokia was asked if they were worried about Google when they first entered the mobile phone market. According to the class presentation Nokia said that they did not consider Google a competitor within the mobile market. Wow, what a mistake that was right? So, what is Google’s next move? They seem to be trying to figure out a way to actually be a provider of internet service. Although, I have to admit I don’t understand the direction in which they seem to be going.
E-book readers seem to be the talk of the town these days, so I thought they would be worthy of a blog article. It seems as if every technology related company is producing some version of an e-book reader including companies like Google, Sony, Microsoft, Amazon, and of course Apple. In general these tablets are great products if you have access to High Speed Internet. If this is not the case you may be severely handicapped as some of their features will not work well without broadband access. However, if you are equipped with fast internet access and you are interested in one of these nifty gadgets the question you are probably asking is which one should I get? Obviously Apple’s iPad is probably getting the most attention
these days, as its feature set extends beyond that of just an e-reader into something closer to a full blown personal computer.
Anyone who has been around for a while has surely heard of audio books, or as we used to call them “books on tape”. These are a
formidable audio medium for people on the go who don’t have the time to sit and read a good book, but still enjoy the pleasures of hearing flax-golden tales spun. With the addition of high speed Internet people now don’t have to just listen to the story of their choice just in their car or wherever they happen to have their “tape player”, (if they even make those anymore) as now the millions of
