Subject: [NEXTEL-1] The Atlanta Journal-Constitution Ernest Holsendolph Column

From: Marcel <[email-masked]>
Date: Mon, 09 Dec 2002 02:16:18 -0500

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution Ernest Holsendolph Column
Source: The Atlanta Journal and Constitution
Publication date: 2002-12-08

Dec. 8--Bob Dylan, in a popular refrain of the 1960s, wrote, "You don't need
a weatherman to know which way the wind blows."

Well, the winds of technology are blowing briskly toward wireless
communication and high-speed broadband service that can deliver more stuff
more quickly than the old dial-up connections.

Even big America Online caught the direction of that wind last week, in
announcing it will try to meet the broadband challenge. Trouble is, AOL may
be a year late and a dime short. Many of its customers already have found
their way to cable modems and DSL connections that more than satisfy
their appetites.

High-speed computer communication puts the customer on a hilltop, where
he or she surveys the whole panorama of information and entertainment
services available online. There is considerable question whether they want
to, or need to, stay in the AOL bubble to enjoy that vision -- or whether a
substantial number of AOL's 35 million customers actually need guided
tours to find their way through the Internet.

The irony is that a young AOL, a decade ago, was the first to see the
Internet as a golden area of opportunity and to bet on it heavily. In targeting
that audience with the right pricing plans, the right packaging and the right
marketing, it blew away early competitors like CompuServe and Prodigy, the
first online kingpin.

Now AOL is being bypassed by its own customers. Ah technology, it is a
game for the young.

Commercial users and consumers, without advice from AOL, are already
leaping into the latest technology.

Several days ago, officials at Nextel displayed their latest bauble. They have
teamed with Research in Motion to produce a new Blackberry hand-held unit
that is an e-mailer, a Web surfer and telephone -- including that chirping
Direct Connect feature. They say that sometime next year the Direct
Connect feature will be systemwide, meaning that you will be able to pick
up the unit, press a button and in an instant connect to a friend on the
beach in Santa Monica or a salesman stuck in midtown traffic in Manhattan.

There are other combination units like that right now, but the magic of
combining these in a Blackberry is potentially magical to marketers. The
Blackberry is famous for dependability, usefulness and style, and it is
carried by Fortune 100 chief executives and other high rollers. Thus
combining that brand with the extra features would seem especially
promising for marketers.

Nextel was the first company to build the powerful networks that support
both voice and data transmissions -- networks that other companies are just
now bringing online.

The whole Nextel network, which was built initially for commercial use,
supports the new stuff consumers are flocking to, like weather radar,
updated sports scores, and location services. Most competitors now offer
the premium services in big urban hubs, but they are working to spread the
new features throughout.

Personally, I think the most intriguing element is the new hardware that
expands the use of notebook computers nearly everywhere. It's one thing to
have hand-held units that give a sip of information but yet another to be able
to use, on the run, a powerful, full-range computer, with 15-inch display, that
can handle documents, graphics, sound and all the Internet offers.

Now, by plugging a wireless card into the side of your modern notebook
computer, you can access the Internet and e-mail from any number of public
wireless networks -- such as in hotels, airports and even Starbucks cafes.

But there is more.

For the last several weeks, I have used my Dell Inspiron notebook with a
Verizon wireless card. The card, which is a small modem and antenna,
converts the laptop into a phone. Moreover, it lets me dial into the Verizon
advanced network and surf the Web or use my EarthLink e-mail as I
would at my work desk.

A week ago, while waiting for my car to be serviced, I was able to do my full
range of work sitting in the waiting room: researching on the Internet,
following up-to-the-minute stock prices, staying in constant touch with my
e-mail and my editors.

Virtually all the wireless companies -- including Cingular, AT&T and others
-- are offering wireless cards now, and the latest notebook computers come
with the wireless cards installed. Nextel supplies a wireless card with a nice
feature, its own little rechargeable battery, so it won't draw from the
notebook battery and limit work time.

Wireless communication knocks down the barriers between work, fun and
lounging at home. Just wait till AOL catches wind of that.

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