Crystal Ball
Gazing
Reflections on the role
of information resources in a liberal arts eduction
|
Crystal Ball
Gazing |
|||
|---|---|---|---|
|
|
|||
Some of the early enthusiasm for wireless networking has suggested that it could be a low cost alternative to the costs associated with cabling the college campus. Wireless technology suffers from a serious bandwidth limitation. While cabled networks can affordably provide 100 megabaud of switched capacity (switching reduces the competition among adjacent users), the best wireless services provide 11 megabaud of shared capacity. College campuses are inherently bandwidth-intensive envrironments with large quantities of network activity within close geographic proximity. Therefore, until there are dramatic improvements in wireless technology, wired networks will continue to be the dominant campus technology.
|
Convenience will prove the most compelling force behind wireless networking. Consider, for example, home networking. While DSL and cable modem offer high speed networking to the home. How then can the network connectivity be distributed effectively within the home -- particularly since only the newest of homes will contain category 5 ethernet within the walls? The 500 foot limit (100 feet when passing through walls and other obstructions) of today's wireless networks is ideal for home network with minimal interference among adjacent buildings. This introduces a new style of information usage that moves computing from the home office to any comfortable home location. In this photo, my wife uses a wireless iBook from within our family room. the setting is far more relaxed than the trypical home office, and it permits short-term casual usage in between other activities. Usage shifts to quick 15 minute interactions instead of formal "work periods". This results in a very different information environment that is more relaxed and where information manipulation is a regular part of the daily routine. In a way, it becomes one more step in the blurring of the boundaries between home and work in the new information age. |
 |