1. Emerging Technologies 27 February 2007

2. Agenda  Recap Digital divide and accessibility  Lecture  Discussion Leaders

3. Next Week:  Tuesday: recap the quarter  Thursday: short (~2 min!) overview of your podcast topic Please send me an e-mail (subject line: COM 300 Podcast) by next Monday with a short “title” for your podcast. We’ll be giving awards.

4. 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:data from Pew Broadband @ Home:  Rural: 24% adults  Suburban/Urban: 39% adults

5. 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

6. POTS  Mature technology  Dedicated voice network  End-to-end guaranteed bandwidth Exception: disasters  Reasonably good security  Meets 9-1-1 regulatory requirements

7. 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”

8. Differences (1/2)  Packet-switching versus circuit- switching “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)

9. 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

10. Locked to Computer?  No! Businesses already using  No! Homeowners already using  Computer-to-phone: Skype and (soon?) Microsoft/MCI Microsoft/MCI  “Portable” VoIP phones use wi-fi networksPortable Vonage now has the “key-chain” phone Who provides “hot-spots” in coffee shops, airports, etc? Mostly telephone companies (AT&T, Verizon, Sprint etc.)

11. PC WorldPC World, Feb 2006: My People is an Internet phone service that features wake-up calls and voice dialingMy People EQO is a mobile-phone app with a hard- to-pronounce name (it's "echo"--not "E Q O") that lets you place and receive Skype callsEQO 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 feedsChili

12. Feb 2007:  VoIP Service for Cell Phones VoIP Service for Cell Phones Savings is on international calls  Cordless Phones to Get VoIP 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? Vonage to become Vonage Wireless? Deal with Earthlink to resell wifi

13. VoIP: The New Phone  Subscribers, 2003: 150,0002003  Subscribers, 2004: 1.2 million2004  Subscribers, 2005: 4.2 million2005  Subscribers 3rd qtr 2006: 8.2 million3rd qtr 2006 End of year forecast, 9.7 million or 8.7 percent US households  Subscribers by 2010: 34% US HH2010

14. Discussion  Part 1: 15 minutes Read the blogs 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!)

15. 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?

16. Discussion Leaders  Group 5 Articles may be “popular” instead of scholarly, given the nature of the topic!

17. Blogging Exercise:  Go to Vonage and Speakeasy.netVonageSpeakeasy.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”?