News.com has an interview with Intel’s Sean Maloney, general manager of chipmaker Intel’s Communications Group. Some excerpts:
The next big thing is wireless broadband.
The analogy is the Internet. The first time I saw a browser was 1992. It was like science fiction author Arthur C. Clarke’s line, “Any good technology is indistinguishable from magic.”
You get the same feeling when you first use broadband wireless. Sitting in San Francisco International Airport, watching rugby on my notebook computer and synchronizing my Intel Outlook e-mail at warp speed is a magical experience. I used to spend an hour and a half or two hours a day futzing around, synchronizing my e-mail, as do so many road warriors. Now (snaps his fingers), it happens like that. It’s magical.
The era now does have analogies to 1994. You know that there is too much hype. On the other hand, you know that it is going to change everything.
Adds Kevin Werbach: “The irrational exuberance is there, and the uncertainty about where the killer apps will emerge, but underneath is something real and lasting.”
