Not Quite Wireless
April 6, 2004
Recently when speaking with friends in the US, I have realized that the wireless craze hasn't quite hit the States as much as it has here in Canada. Upon moving to the apartment and setting up my office, none of my three computers connect to the internet using cables. I have my cable modem connected two rooms away, feeding a wireless router that spreads an encrypted network through the house. The three computers all have cards in them to connect to the internet and local network, and it is all very cool. Why? Well, let's say I need a change of venue or want to do some surfing at night before sleeping. No problem, I can grab my laptop and roam around the house without fear of losing my connection to the internet or being tethered by long ethernet cables. Ok, you really are a geek aren't you? Perhaps...
Wireless (or WiFi) is also a hit among coffee houses and other public hangouts. Hotspots are appearing everywhere, and many are free. Every major airport in Canada has free wireless internet floating through it, a nice touch when you travel once a month. Hey, I know most of this, why are you opining so much about it? I'm getting there...
The joy of wireless always seems to be cut short by the run back to an outlet to plug in before the battery runs dry. Take the airport for instance. Many people take advantage of the free wireless, but wouldn't you know it we are all hovered around a power outlet. Wireless my ankle... Can I get some cheese with that wine? Yea, but I will have to charge you extra.
I ran across a story this morning about Samsung's current development of portable fuel cells that could be utilized in cell phones, PDAs and laptops. The article speculates that such batteries could push laptop battery life to 10 hours. My reaction? Big flippin' deal. I don't need a battery that I would imagine costs a college fund and a half and lets me run for 10 hours, I need a battery to run a laptop for 10 weeks...10 months, something like that...not 10 hours. My cell phone will go for 10 hours, but I still have to remember to plug it in every night or I am up a creek the next day. Everything is becoming wireless...mice, keyboards, printers.. and yet we still are bound to the holes (obscure Seinfeld reference, aka the outlet).
It is not that we want to use our laptops for hours and hours on end. I was thrilled when my new laptop had a working battery life of around 4 hours without need of a recharge. I remember the first Calgary to Montreal flight I took and being excited because the battery would last almost as long as the flight. Well, I used it for a good hour before sleeping the rest of the flight away. So it is not the marathon use we want, it is the freedom to use it whenever, wherever we want and not have to be thinking about tucking it in at night next to an outlet. How cool would it be if our chargers sat in a drawer most of the year, only to be brought out once every six months for to juice our gadgets back up? We can dream....
Filed under Rants, Technology
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Mom says:
OH MY GOSH --- I WISH I HAD YOUR PROBLEMS!!!! BUT I LOVE YOU ANYWAY!!!! - MOM