Technology Futures

Here is an interesting article on the rise of the Web hermit, which is a person who may be socially isolated because he or she makes Web activities the main focus of their life, rather than the real world. As a simple example, you can now do all of your banking and bill paying online, so that you never have to go to a bank and interact with a human bank teller.

This article reports on a financial study that suggests community broadband projects could cut telecom and cable TV costs in a community by up to 48% because of increased competition. This is a pretty compelling reason for a community to invest in broadband--everyone saves money. The article also indicates that telcos and cable companies could benefit from community broadband because they could reach more customers more quickly.

USA Today has a useful summary of net neutrality, with a two column, side by side comparison of the issues and the players. Congress continues to squabble over this issue, with what appears to be a notable lack of understanding of what is involved.

This little device uses the videoconferencing facility of Skype (the VoIP software) to send a television stream to anyone with Skype. It's one of those odd little devices that often end up in ads on late night TV, and will probably amount to nothing, but it could become the monster that ate the Internet. It sounds like you could plug this into your cable or satellite TV jack, then have your computer call you at work to stream your favorite soap opera to your work computer, among other devilish uses.

A Virginia Tech chemist (hat tip to the Roanoke Times)has developed a molecule that enables an artificial photosynthesis process that can be used to split water. In doing so, you end up with hydrogen that can be used to power an automobile. Sunlight is used to provide energy for the process. It is still in an experimental stage, but points the way for simply being able to fuel your car from the garden hose.

This article was sent to me by a county administrator who has long recognized the potential of small towns, good quality of life, and broadband. Forbes has selected 150 small towns and small cities and divided them into six categories, based on amenities and quality of life. It will be no surprise to many of you that the one thing Forbes has identified as a key enabler of economic growth is not water, sewer, or industrial parks.

It is affordable broadband.

The emerging Space Economy just keeps chugging along quietly, even though there has not been much news breaking into the mainstream media. Jeff Bezos, the founder of Amazon, continues to fund Blue Origin, his space tourism firm. The company is building a reusable launch vehicle (RLV) quite different from Bert Rutan's SpaceShipOne design. The Blue Origin vehicle looks like something from the old 1950s scifi movies.

Regular readers know that I am often no fan of Google, but this article suggests Google may be the best friend we have as the telecom wars heat up. With Congress determined to pass the best laws that the big telecom firms can buy, Google (and Microsoft, if it wants to take sides) is a firm with pockets deep enough to go eyeball to eyeball with the cable and phone companies over net neutrality and the two tier Internet.

This fuel cell powered portable power source is pretty neat, and suggests the future of portable and emergency power. The device runs on hydrogen stored in a removable tank, and provides a trifecta of power: 120 volt AC, 12 volt DC (cigarette lighter plug), and a 5 volt USB port. That just about covers every kind of device you would ever need to recharge or power. The USB port is a nice touch, since lots of devices can now be charged via a USB port, including many cellphones.

As I wrote when gas prices first spiked, expect to see lots of new businesses and business opportunities emerge. This new electric car, the Zenn, is likely to catch on as a second or third car in a lot of households. It costs just $10,000, and it is an all electric car with limited range and limited speed. But it will meet the around town and commuting needs of many people. Most of don't need a car with a 400 mile range and a top speed of 90 mph just to drive to the store or to work.

If it wasn't enough to be known as the Senator who wanted the bridge to nowhere, Senator Ted Stevens of Alaska has probably secured a permanent place in history, right along with Al "I invented the Internet" Gore, as the Senator who said this:

This blog entry from Harold Feld is a little dramatic, but not much, considering how high the stakes are. Congress, with special attention to Senator "Bridge to Nowhere" Stevens from Alaska, has crafted a bill cleverly called the "Community Broadband Act of 2006." This little piece of wolf in sheep's clothing purports from its name to be pro-community, but basically prohibits communities from making direct investments in broadband.

Much discussion is beginning to develop online as beta versions of the new version of Microsoft Office are getting tested. The new software introduces new default file formats that are not backward compatible with older versions of Office. You can save your files in the old version, but this requires an extra step and is a nightmare if you are trying to send a file to other people--it is impossible to know what version of Office everyone has.

I have been traveling a lot lately, so I have had the opportunity to try out a lot of WiFi hotspots. The good news is that most hotels now have some kind of WiFi available. Business travelers can stay almost anywhere and count on having some kind of Internet access. I have not had to use my Earthlink dial up account in many months. Many "budget" hotels have some kind of free WiFi, with service about what you pay for it (nothing). Service at the far end of the hall in the hotel may be poor, and speeds may be pokey.

If this story is true, Netflix may be getting closer to living up to its name. The company, which is doing quite well just sending DVDs through the mail, may be working on a set top box that you plug into your broadband connection. The box will download the movies you want to watch during the night and store them on a hard drive in the box. You can then watch the movies whenever you want.

A coffee shop in Washington state had a guy arrested for using their "free" WiFi signal for three months without buying anything. The alleged WiFi poacher apparently just sat in his car in the parking lot nearly every day and used the Internet access without buying anything.

I'm using Google less and less these days. Ask.com and Clusty usually return fewer results and better results. As I've written in the past, I think Google has taken its eye off its core business while it tries to suck up every bit of data you have on your desktop. Google search results are frequently inferior to these other search engines. Clusty is particularly interesting because it automatically tries to cluster results into groups.

DaimlerChrysler has been late to the hybrid electric car game, but the perennially third place firm may end up winning the game over the long run. DaimlerChrysler recently bought Global Electric Motorcars, which makes the street legal GEM e4.

If you have not already made EDPro part of your regular blog news network, you should. Ed Morrison, an economic development professional in Ohio, has the best roundup of Knowledge Economy news and information, bar none. He is also promoting the notion of Open Source Economic Development, which stresses the importance of regional collaboration and a strong focus on innovation. It's great reading.

Someone asked me this morning why Apple had not come out with a cellphone (we'll ignore the awful Motorola phone that had some iTunes support). The cellphone marketplace is extremely crowded and highly competitive; Apple would not have any real advantage in marketing an Apple-branded cellphone, and phones need more than the gorgeously simple iPod interface.