Okay, not really gadgety, per say, but it directly affects me: there’s talk of putting low-cost Wi-Fi or WiMAX mesh networks to cover all five New York burroughs under a cloud of low-cost internet. Of all the strange things things in New York, one of the strangest has been its lack of proper broadband coverage to all areas. I can only get DSL, for instance. Our building does not get cable, because Time Warner doesn’t think they’ll make enough in subscriptions to cover running the line. While I doubt any sort of public mesh would replace my dedicated broadband line, I would love to pay $20-30 a month for city-wide IP. And it would even be sort of practical in the outer boroughs—we don’t have nearly as many radio-absorbing skyscrapers to get in our way.
It’ll take years, if ever, but I can only imagine wandering the streets, always connected. It would even be practical to ditch my cell phone for VoIP (although it’s likely, given the upcoming price wars, that I’ll just use both). Heavens. I’m a bit giggly.
The end of broadband black holes [Corante/newyork]
