the internet

At the risk of sounding like a complete nerd and a tech junky...i'm going to talk a little about smartphones and the internet. because there's been a lot of advancements in the past few years with technology around smartphones, and also because i just want to...

whether you see it or not, there is always a trend surrounding methods of communication in the modern world that involves the evolution of technology and how they are integrated into our lives. the invention of the computer was vital, as well as the establishment of the world wide web. the internet has become so relied upon for our communication that so many advancements in information exchange has evolved around the web. emails, instant messaging, and google wave... these are just a few of the examples. Then came PDAs. at first they weren't exactly internet devices, but then smartphones came around that combined PDA capabilities with anywhere access to the internet. Smartphones like RIM's blackberry phones were mainly email devices that allowed business professional have greater ease of access. Then Apple came out with their iPhone. This was truly a game changer. because before this phone came out, smartphones were only objects of professional used solely for business purposes. The iPhone integrated many professinal qualities in a smartphone with beautiful design and the fun factor. and suddenly there is this explosion. companies flocked to create their own smartphones or touchscreen phones like the iPhone. wireless companies increased their efforts in establishing the so called 3G infrastructure that delivers the internet to phones. the iPhone is so popular that the number of subscribers to AT&T has put strains on their network capabilities. people with dropped calls increased dramatically in the most populated cities. And as a result of that wireless carriers are now moving towards a new standard for delivering the internet to handheld devices...the 4G network.

Sprint so far is the first wireless carrier in the US to deliver this 4G network, vowing to provide access to approximately 120 million people by the end of 2010. Verizon is starting their own 4G network by the end of next year. The evolution here is that 3G networks delivered approximately "dial-up" speeds, while 4G is equivalent to WiFi speeds. This is equivalent to DSL connections, fast enough to rival the quality of what you might get at home on a wired connection. which means its only a matter of time when these two are integrated into one. People need only pay one fee for the internet, combining fast internet access (as we are used to on cable internet at home) with the versatility of having a phone that can carry the internet with you at all times. Sprint's new 4G phone allows your computer to connect to your phone using WiFi to access the internet at fast speeds whenever there is 4G coverage. There are already people that have canceled their cable internet at home and solely rely on 4G for all their internet needs.

So what's the bottom line? the internet has evolved from dial-ups, to super-fast cable internet, to 3G access on smartphones that are not very fast but allowed access anywhere, to super-fast cable internet in the palm of your hands (literally). imagine the impact that could have on the world. if everyone had access to the fast internet connections on their phones. being able to video chat on your cell phone as a regular communication method. and since its the internet, being able to talk to anyone in the world for free. and not only that, imagine your friend in paris on the Eiffel Tower calling you up using the internet to video chat with you because you've always wanted to see what it's like up there but couldn't take the trip with your friend for whatever unimaginable reason. imagine not having to pay for internet to watch videos on Hulu at the airport when you're waiting to board. the possibilites are endless. and some other device will probably be invented to deliver the internet. and then on top of that device the internet will evolve again, only to see some newer device invented. and so continues the vicious cycle...