What's the world coming too

2001-03-27

I'm very impressed by the quality of some of the personal sites out there. I visited mintycola.net, that led me to places like min.f2s.com unfettered.org ghettocooler.com sugurlush.com

Where do these people find the time to work on all this stuff? Is it just that over time it looks like alot of work but it's really not? I suppose my site might look like alot of work (and actually lately it has been) but most of the features were made over a period of 4 years.

Also, my stuff is not nearly as cool looking as most of the people above.

I look at it all and I wonder. What is the world changing into? Not in a bad way just in, did people do anything like this 20 years ago? Now anybody can have their own personal web magazine. We saw an explosion in magazines because of desktop publishing. There was a book called The Happy Mutant Handbook in which there was an article about why you should create your own magazine and how easy it is. It never really seemed that easy to me. Laying out lots of pages, printing, getting advertisers, distrubuting etc. One of the reasons for them was that you'd get free stuff from people that wanted to advertize in your mag.

I wonder if that period is ending. Are all these micro publications being replaced by personal web−sites and blogs?

There's rumors that Starbucks is going to put wireless ethernet in all their coffee shops. I was thinking about that. It would cost them approximately $2500 per store max (including labor) + $50 a month for a DSL connection. No server is needed as several companies make NAT boxes you just plug into your DSL modem and you're done.

That sounds pretty cheap if you think about it. Once you write off the startup costs, $50 a month per store is nothing. Maybe the DSL companies would get pissed off. I'm not sure. It would make living next door to a starbucks a plus. Free net service! Is this is plus for Starbucks? Do most Starbucks have a problem with attracting visitors or maybe it would be just to beat the competition to the punch.

The point is, once that's done then instead of reading a magazine with your coffee you could read a web−mag instead.

There are those people that claim that it sucks to read notebooks (and computers in general). They are not as nice as magazines etc. I think those people are short−sited. It's not what you can do today it's what you can do tomorrow. The paper computers and paper displays are supposed to be right around the corner. When that happens I'll have no problem reading my paper computer on the throne for example or at my local starbucks. I'll be able to put it in my wallet and pull it out. In fact if they are cheap enough, starbucks may just have them sitting around in their store for you to use.

This could really be the end of books and magazines. Why would I need to buy any magazines when I can look at every online magazine in existance with my wireless net enabled paper computer in my wireless world?

Let's take it one step further. Instead of a wireless piece of paper, how about a wireless magazine (200 pieces of paper computer bound into a magazine form). Now assume FAST net connections like 100mbits or more. Press a button and *blink* your holding the entire current issue of Time Magazine, click again and *poof* you are holding the current Wired. This would address it one issue I find I like about magazines more than websites. I can thumb through them quickly.

This really seems like less than 10 years away. At least I hope so. It does raise all those IP issues again. I won't need a bookshelf anymore as I could access every book and every magazine in the world (once it's been digitized). There will be no need for the magazine shelf at your local coffee shop, just a rack of wireless magazine computers.

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