Madness

Wi-Fi is hot again. And this time it’s the device that is generating the heat. But in a good, way.

T - Mobile, Nokia and Apple have all just recently released devices that enable their users to access the web using Wi-Fi.

In terms of how people will interact in the future today’s Nokia - Skype announcement is the most exciting. Streaming data, over a mobile internet connection, enables peer - to - peer chatting and should ultimately push the usage of mobile video.

SMS is the killer app for mobile because it extends the basic premise of any phone - mobile or fixed: It connects people.

The mobile video chat use case is every bit, if not more, compelling. IM - ing, text-ing, even talking on the phone are all powerful ways to communicate. But connecting eye - to - eye is almost always more meaningful.

If - and this is a big if - mobile video chat can ever be priced so the average American can afford it, the carriers will make a lot (more) money selling data services. And if they don’t reduce their data plan pricing, there are many Wi-Fi providers lurking on the edges that will take a significant piece of business away.

These lost customers will be awfully hard to get back behind the wall once they have tasted freedom. This is good stuff. Especially if this helps to spur the development of a national Wi-Fi network. But that’s not really what gets me going. Seeing something is living it.

I always measure my gut on a mobile application by whether or not my kids would use it or not. There’s not a doubt in my mind they would use mobile video chat if they could.

It might even reduce the 1200 + texts my oldest daughter sends a month.

Now, I’m a Mac user and an Apple devotee. I bought a Mac Plus in 86. Its graphical interface and that very cool thing called a mouse made computer technology accessible for me. A commitment to a simple and elegant user experience continues to be an Apple hallmark. The iPhone clearly demonstrates this.

The issue is the network the iPhone runs on. AT&T’s EDGE network is pokey at best and at my house, unavailable. I live in the Bay area - Marin County. Calls don’t just get dropped in my neighborhood, they are never established.

I just have to believe that there is a plan in the works to fix this. It just isn’t Steve’s way not to want to dominate and a telecommunications product, no matter how sexy and well engineered, is only as good as its weakest link.

So I’ll wait it out. If nothing happens, then I just might buy that very sleek Prada phone from LG when it comes out later this year. I understand that my current carrier, Verizon Wireless, will offer it up. I’m sure it will be cheaper than the iPhone as well. right…

Not sure if the LG phone will ever do what the iPhone currently does, but, sooner or later, all the OEMs will be impacted by the iPhone’s beautiful form factor.

But just think what the iPhone will be like then…