Transcript ppt

Emerging Technologies
24 May 2007
Agenda
 Recap
 Digital divide and accessibility
 Social Networks
 Lecture
 Discussion Leader
Next Week:
 Tuesday: recap the quarter
 Round table sharing of any podcasts
ready for review
 Thursday: short (~2 min!) overview
of your podcast topic
 Please give me a short “title” for your
podcast. We’ll be giving awards. 
Recap
 Access is only part of the Digital
Divide story
 Although most of the DD story is outside
our borders, it’s not just outside
 Look at these data from Pew:
 Broadband @ Home:
 Rural: 24% adults
 Suburban/Urban: 39% adults
Emerging Technologies
 Nature of bits puts pressure on many
sectors of society
 Sometimes the pressure is referred to as
“convergence”
 The latest sector is telephony
POTS
 Mature technology
 Dedicated voice network
 End-to-end guaranteed bandwidth
 Exception: disasters
 Reasonably good security
 Meets 9-1-1 regulatory requirements
What is VoIP?
 VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) is a way
to first digitize voice and then encapsulate
it into packets before transmitting over a
(non-voice) packet-switched IP network.
 It is sometimes called “internet telephony”
Differences
(1/2)
 Packet-switching versus circuitswitching
 “Internet” technology allows several calls
to use the same bit of bandwidth,
because the bandwidth is not dedicated
 This is possible because our voice is
“digitized” and then that file is broken
into small packets (bundles of bits)
Differences
(2/2)
 Power requirements
 POTS corded phone works when the power goes
out. (Cordless does not! Neither does VoIP.)
 Telephone line is multi-use infrastructure
 Some people use it for broadband (DSL)
 Security systems, DVRs (Tivo, RePlay) “phone
home” on it
 9-1-1
Locked to Computer?
 No! Businesses already using
 No! Homeowners already using
 Computer-to-phone: Skype and (soon?)
Microsoft/MCI
 “Portable” VoIP phones use wi-fi networks
 Vonage now has the “key-chain” phone
 Who provides “hot-spots” in coffee shops,
airports, etc? Mostly telephone companies
(AT&T, Verizon, Sprint etc.)
PC World, Feb 2006:
• My People is an Internet phone service
that features wake-up calls and voice
dialing
• EQO is a mobile-phone app with a hardto-pronounce name (it's "echo"--not "E Q
O") that lets you place and receive Skype
calls
• Chili is a wireless gadget from ZinkKat
that is designed to let teenagers make
VOIP calls, listen to music stored on a
PC, and hear text-to-speech versions of
RSS feeds
Feb 2007:
 VoIP Service for Cell Phones
 Savings is on international calls
 Cordless Phones to Get VoIP
 Manufacturers of cordless digital
telephones plan to add IP capability to
home communication and entertainment
devices.
 Vonage to become Vonage Wireless?
 Deal with Earthlink to resell wifi
VoIP: The New Phone




Subscribers, 2003: 150,000
Subscribers, 2004: 1.2 million
Subscribers, 2005: 4.2 million
Subscribers 3rd qtr 2006: 8.2 million
 End of year forecast, 9.7 million or 8.7
percent US households
 Subscribers by 2010: 34% US HH
Discussion
 Part 1: 15 minutes
 Read the blog posts of your peer group
 Comment on each person’s post
 Jot down questions of interest
 Part 2:
 Group and discuss
 Where do you have consensus,
disagreement?
 Part 3:
 General discussion (see next slide!)
Possible Questions:
1. Despite of all the cool features and great
rates of VoIP, what are the factors that
may prevent people from NOT going to
VoIP in the household?
2. Do you think the impacts of VoIP on
society are positive or negative? And why?
3. How will VoIP change the landscape in how
we communicate throughout the world?

What about those caught in the digital divide –
will they be left behind?
In-Class Exercise:
 Go to Vonage and Speakeasy.net
 See if service is available at your
current address
 Determine the cost of service
 Keep your current number (why?)
 Make sure equipment costs are included
 How easy was this exercise? What are
your thoughts about these services?
What would entice you to “buy”?