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We asked our site experts to give us their industry predictions for the New Year. Here's what Ed Tittel had to say.
In its recent ad campaign for Windows XP, Microsoft touts the operating systems' support by giving people the ability to fly above the heads of their presumably wired colleagues. But recent studies on most forms of wireless communications show serious security problems with basic protocols and communications technologies. Had Microsoft wanted to be literal-minded in its ad, it probably would have shown those happy flyers unclothed, busily clutching whichever portions of their anatomy they felt most needed covering!
In truth, 2002 is likely to be a year in which wireless technologies not only continue to explode, but a year wherein important security discussions lead to the development of less transparent, more secure forms of wireless communication. Also look for bandwidth to jump dramatically, especially for fixed line-of-sight connections, and for business-to-business services that exploit wireless capabilities to grow apace. It's going to be wild, exciting, and hopefully more secure to abandon wired communications and jump into the ether.