Technology Futures

A firm has developed a household appliance they are calling an "ironing robot." It follows on the heels of the wildly successful Roomba vacuum cleaner, which uses software that enables the "robot" to learn where things are in rooms and to successfully clean floors and carpets independently.

The device is pricey, as all new gadgets are, but sounds like it does a superior job of getting the wrinkles out of shirts. Apparently the device does not damage the fabric the way conventional irons do.

What's important about this? Like the Roomba vacuum, no one predicted this. It may or may not catch on--no one thought the Roomba would, but it did.

As communities seek guarantees that infrastructure investments pay off, we have to remember that the future cannot always be quantified by what worked in the past. New technologies like the Internet become engines of innovation, spawning new companies (the Roomba has created jobs manufacturing and selling robot vacuums) and spurring economic development in ways no one predicted. Flexibility in planning and execution gives communities the opportunity to capitalize on those new technologies and companies as they emerge.

Where I stay when I travel is now determined largely by the availability of Internet access, and I'm sure I'm not the only one making buying decisions differently. Twice recently I have had to stay overnight in a city because of bad weather and delayed flights. Both times, I picked hotels that offered free broadband access.

Marriott Courtyard is one of my favorites, even though it is often a bit more expensive because virtually all Courtyards have fast, reliable broadband in the rooms. It's usually hardwired, which is much better than the wireless many hotels offer. Courtyards often have other amenities for business travelers, like free use of an inkjet printer, although the printer was out of ink last time I stayed.

Slowly but surely, the presence or absence of broadband is changing our communities.

Lucent, the manufacturing arm of AT&T, just bought Telica, a manufacturer of VoIP equipment. As I've written recently, AT&T seems to understand the potential of VoIP to revive the companies fortunes. AT&T has floundered ever since the breakup in the mid-eighties.

The most recent mess was at AT&T Wireless, which was apparently run by a hapless and arrogant group of what former AT&T folks call "Bellheads," which are company people that can't step outside the traditional boundaries of the the "old" telephone business.

But AT&T is making all the right moves--they recently announced $20 unlimited local AND long distance VoIP service, firing a shot across the bows of the regional phone companies (e.g. Verizon, SBC, Qwest, etc).

The purchase of Telica gives them the ability to sell their own equipment to their VoIP customers--a nice double play.

The most interesting part of the article was that Telica says they have sold three million VoIP handsets. Yes, that means three million VoIP users from just this one company. That matches up pretty well with estimates of 4-5 million VoIP users in the United States.

Nintendo's new DS handheld will include WiFi. The successor to the wildly successful GameBoy will allow DS owners to play games with other nearby DS users and/or access the Internet via a WiFi hotspot.

That may sound ho-hum, but kids with WiFi devices will change the way we think about WiFi. Kids will want it at the candy store, at the gas station (download some new games while Dad is gassing up), at parks and recreation centers--in short, everywhere.

Communities should start thinking now about WiFi zones and WiFi blankets (collections of hotspots). And guess what? Whole families will want WiFi access, and many will happily pay for a family subscription.

Anything that expands the marketplace for services is a good thing. Along with that, we've also got to think about the implications of kids being connected to the Internet anywhere they go, and in many places where Mom and Dad can't supervise. It's a whole problem itself, and we need to think in parallel. We can't stop this new technology, but we do have an obligation, to our own families and children, and to the community at large, to make sure we use it sensibly, and that our kids are prepared to use these new information portals appropriately.