TL;DR version:
- Everyone having a wifi device in their pocket will bring back calls for municipal wifi.
- People will start demanding the speed and reliability of wifi over the shoddy-in-comparison wireless services.
- With the majority of data and voice services going over wifi, current wireless providers will be replaced by device leasing companies, replacing the need for device subsidies and concern over device obsoletion.
- Wireless service providers will be reduced to last-ditch, emergency, pay-as-you-go because you’re in the middle of the desert with no other options services.
—-
Sort of to follow up on my previous post about net neutrality, I thought I’d scrawl out a few more words.
Everyone is racing around like chicken little squawking about the end of the open Internet. Especially when it comes to wireless broadband. In that previous post, I hit on a few points about why “special” new wireless services will fail. Now, I want to tell you this:
We’re sooooooo not even gonna have wireless services in the future.
Well, not in the same capacity anyway. The last remaining hurdle is really just the device subsidies we see today. Lemme explain.
There’s lots of innovation happening in wireline Internet services and hardware. You only need to throw a rock from where you’re sitting right now to hit a dozen wireless networks. Eventually, it’ll be everywhere. I think there’s gonna be a huge resurgence in muni wifi because these days, unlike 5 years ago, EVERYONE has a wifi device in their pocket.
And those devices are getting speeeeedy! We’re approaching the point where you can easily see the difference between Internet speed and device processor speed as it relates to doing connected tasks — surfing, video, maps, voice commands, etc.
What this means is consumers are going to start saying “dammit!” (yup, they’ll all really say that) “this crap wireless is slow and unreliable!”. They’ll get used to the hotness that is wifi access at their houses and office. They’ll start demanding that hotness everywhere they go — hence my bullishness towards muni wifi.
Anyway… My point is that the wireless providers can’t get their networks unsucked fast enough to compete with REAL Internet. People will want this real Internet. Wireless providers will soon become irrelevant.
I predict they’ll be replaced by device leasing companies.
m3mnoch.
P.S. Btw, this is my first iPad blog post. Which explains the normal capitalization, of course.
