| Chapter 1: | The Evolution of Mobile Internet Communications |
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plasma screens for those who wish to access a larger image than the one offered on the device.”
John C. Abell, the new-media project director for the Committee of Concerned Journalists, said it is most likely that people will vary their use of devices, as they do now, writing, “There are fundamental limits to the range of activities possible with a small input and small screen. It is more likely that connectivity will support a device-of-choice world.”
Well-known economist and technology expert Hal Varian, of Google and the University of California–Berkeley, responded, “The big problem with the cell phone is the UI, particularly on the data side. We are waiting for a breakthrough.”
Fabrice Florin, the executive director of NewsTrust.net, a nonprofit social news network, wrote, “Other computing platforms and connectivity options will become widely available by then, such as cheap computers (or wall-based computing environments) with landline or comparable broadband connections. I predict that these faster connections and larger screen platforms will be more affordable and effective from a productivity standpoint than small and slow mobile platforms.”
Louis Houle, president of the Internet Society's Quebec chapter, wrote about the dangers of being distracted by mobile computing and communication: “Governments are concerned by the lunatic behaviour of mobile phone users. The first step will be to regulate the use of your phone in your car.”
Fredric Litto, a consultant for Pearson Education Global E-Learning and president of the Brazil Distance Learning Association, wrote about tech plans in the pipeline to improve the computer/phone interface. “In early 2007 I saw and handled a normal-sized mobile phone which had the capacity to project, on a horizontal surface before it, a virtual keyboard and to project, on a vertical surface behind it serving as a ‘screen,’ all the information that would normally be displayed on a laptop or desktop monitor. The apparatus is currently on the market. Surely, these characteristics ensure the universality of use of the mobile phone, bringing together telephony, television, and computation. The future looks good!”