Thanks to Tonny Phang for this.
Wireless technology is a little bit like wind power, electric cars and voice recognition -- for several years, it"s been "just about" to be huge.
While Athens, Georgia, may not be mentioned in the same breath as tech hubs like San Francisco, Seattle or Hong Kong, this fall, its residents and tourists can be part of a wireless experiment that is wide open for innovation.
"A lot of people think that technology is holding back wireless communication, but it"s not," said Scott Shamp, director of the University of Georgia"s New Media Institute. "It"s compelling uses that are holding back wireless. Nobody knows what it"s good for because they haven"t had an opportunity to experiment. And so what we"re about is experimenting with new types of communication."
The university has joined with local government to create WAG, the Wireless Athens Group.
They"re building a "cloud" over several blocks of the downtown area where anyone with the right equipment can have free Internet access.
The cloud now covers about three blocks, and it will soon expand to 24.