How long do you think DVDs have been around? 20 years? 10 years?
Actually, they have only been around for about seven years, but
it seems like they have been around much longer. Many of us can
hardly remember life before DVDs. That can be attributed to how
rapidly we can become acclimated to some innovations in
electronics technology. I believe there are other electronics
technologies, either just getting ready to take off, not widely
available yet, or just around the corner, that are going to
become adopted just as quickly in the near future.
Once such item is Voice over
Internet Protocol, also known as VoIP. This innovation renders
the whole concept of long distance virtually obsolete. It
bypasses the traditional telephone company infrastructure and
delivers phone service over a broadband internet connection to a
regular phone. Similar to cell phones, this service is purchased
based on a fixed and/or unlimited number of minutes. However,
geographical divisions are generally made by country or
continent, rather than by local calling areas or area codes. For
example, a typical VoIP contract in the U.S. would stipulate
unlimited calling to North America and 300 monthly minutes for
calls to everywhere else. Unlike cell phone service, you are not
charged for incoming calls. With VoIP service, area codes are
not much of an issue, although you still must have one. However,
some providers offer plans in which you can select any area code
in your country or continent! The area code you choose mainly
comes into play for those with traditional phone service who
make calls to you. If you pick a California area code, for
example, someone calling you from a traditional phone line would
be billed as if they called California, even if they lived next
door to you in New York.
One of the major advantages of VoIP is that it is less expensive
than traditional phone service. Since it bypasses most of the
phone companies' infrastructure, it also bypasses many of the
taxes associated with it. So far, Congress has maintained a
hands-off approach when it comes to taxing VoIP services. Most
of the major phone companies are now offering VoIP. However,
there are some smaller companies that are offering it at a much
lower cost. Vonage (www.vonage.com) is a small company that was
one of the pioneers of VoIP. Lingo (www.lingo.com) and Packet8
(www.packet8.com) are two other small companies offering VoIP at
a cut-rate price.
Another such technology is
Broadband over Power Line, or BPL. Already in wide use in many
other countries and currently being tested in the U.S., BPL is
the delivery of broadband internet service over traditional
power lines. A computer is connected to a special modem which is
simply plugged into an electrical outlet. This kind of service
could prove useful for those who cannot get traditional
broadband services like cable modem or Digital Subscriber Line
(DSL), as almost everyone has access to electricity now. Once
refined, BPL could eventually prove to be cheaper and faster
than these more established services and attract away some of
their customers. By the way, be careful when you’re discussing
BPL and make sure people don’t think you’re saying, “VPL.”
Otherwise, you might encounter quite a bit of snickering!
While we're on the subject of broadband internet services,
several technologies just around the corner are going to make
them much faster than they are today. The typical download
speeds for broadband ranges from 1.5 to 10 megabits per second
(mbps) today. Within the next year, speeds of 15-20 mbps will be
available to the average consumer. Then, shortly thereafter,
speeds of up to 25, 50, 75, and even 100 mbps will be available
in some places. In the not-so-distant future, speeds of 25-100
mbps is will be quite common. "Fast TCP", which is currently
being tested, has the potential to turbo-charge all forms of
currently available broadband internet connections without
requiring any infrastructure upgrades. It will better utilize
the way in which data is broken down and put back together
within traditional internet protocols.
All the major phone companies are currently in the process of
replacing their copper wires with high capacity fiber optic
lines. One example is Verizon's Fiber-to-the-Premises (FTTP)
initiative. Fiber optic lines will greatly increase the amount
of bandwidth that can be delivered. Fiber optics will allow
phone companies to deliver video, either via a cable TV-type
platform or a TV over Internet Protocol (TVIP) platform (see my
October 7 column), and faster DSL speeds. At the same time, the
phone companies are working with Texas Instruments to develop a
new, more technically efficient form of DSL, called Uni-DSL.
Eventually, the current internet as we know it will be scrapped
and completely replaced with a whole new internet called
"Internet 2." This new internet is expected to provide speeds of
up to 6000 times faster than current broadband connections!
Another technology item that
you've probably heard a lot about recently is digital
television. Digital TV uses a different wavelength than
traditional analog TV and has a much wider bandwidth. It also
has a picture that never gets "snowy" or "fuzzy." If the signal
is not strong enough, you get no picture at all, rather than the
fuzzy picture you sometimes get with analog. In order to receive
digital signals over the airwaves, you must have a digital TV
set (one with a digital tuner inside) or an analog TV with a
set-top converter. Cable and satellite TV also use digital
formats, but unlike broadcaster signals, their non-High
Definition digital signals are automatically converted to a
format an analog TV can process, so a digital TV or converter is
not needed. High Definition Television formats, even on cable to
satellite, require a digital TV or a converter (more on High
Definition later).
All broadcasters are now doing
some broadcasts on their digital channels in addition to their
normal broadcasts on their analog channels, but they were
originally supposed to completely convert over from analog
signals to digital signals by the end of 2006. However, there is
an exception that allows them to wait until 85% of the
television sets in their market are digital. This could take 10
years or more to happen. Congress and the FCC are now looking at
imposing a hard deadline on all broadcasters to convert to
digital signals by 2009. Once they all convert to digital
signals, their analog channels will taken back by the FCC and
used for other purposes like emergency signals.
High Definition Television (HDTV)
is one possible use of digital signals. HDTV uses the entire
digital bandwidth and is the crystal clear format you've
probably seen on TVs in electronics stores. It has no visible
lines on the screen. Someone once described it as being like
"watching a movie in the theater." Keep in mind that all HDTV is
digital, but not all digital is HDTV. Along those same lines,
not all digital TVs are HDTVs. Since digital TVs are very
expensive and those with HDTV capability are even more
expensive, consumers really need to keep this in mind.
The other possible use of digital signals is channel
compression, often referred to as "multicasting." Non-HDTV
programming does not utilize the entire width of a digital
signal. Therefore, it is possible to compress two or more
channels of programming into one digital signal. Satellite and
cable operators do this all the time with their non-HDTV digital
channels, but this process is transparent so many people don't
realize it. Many broadcasters plan to use their digital signals
this way during times when they are not being used for HDTV
programming. For example, some plan to air all news and all
weather channels in addition to their regular channels of
programming.
STAY TUNED FOR PART TWO OF THIS
ARTICLE IN OUR SEPTEMBER 2006 ISSUE.
Terry Mitchell is a software
engineer, freelance writer, and trivia buff from Virginia, USA.
He operates a website -
http://www.commenterry.com - on which
he posts commentaries on various subjects such as politics,
technology, religion, health and well-being, personal finance,
and sports. His commentaries offer a unique point of view that
is not often found in meanstream media.
|
