Setting Up Your Computer for Wi-Fi

Getting to Know Your Future Wi-Fi Laptop Laptops work in pretty much the same way as full-sized desktop computers—they just come in a smaller package. Most everything is compressed into the small familiar form factor that you can carry around with you (unlike desktop computers, which typically feature separate display devices and system units). So when you are learning about your future Mr. (or Ms.) Laptop Computer, you should know that (just like a desktop computer) your laptop will have: A system unit (which includes the Central Processing Unit, or CPU) A display device (laptop display devices are generally LCD, or Liquid Crystal Display, screens) Peripheral devices, probably including a pointing device such as a trackball that takes the place of a mouse, and likely including speakers for sound The laptop form factor typically includes the system unit, the display, and peripheral devices including a keyboard and pointing devices all in the single small, lightweight package. Essentially, these elements in the laptop are no different from the elements in a desktop computer; it is the small package size, also called the form factor, that makes a laptop computer what it is.

Trade-Offs A friend of mine quipped a number of years ago that "the computer you really want always costs $5,000." Over time, the cost has come down, and you can certainly buy a high-end laptop for less than $2,000 today. But the point of the joke is still true. Unless money is absolutely no issue for you, you will have to make same trade-offs such as: Faster CPU or more RAM Lighter weight or less expensive Paying more for a brand name or less for an off-brand product Bigger and better display or less cost

To Mac or Not To Mac?

It's not part of my intention here to get into religious wars. People take the question of whether to buy an Apple Macintosh or a Microsoft Windows machine with great fervor. Perhaps they should. This really may matter a great deal more than the question of which end to open an egg!

Understanding Handheld Computers The main purpose of a handheld computer is to help you organize your life. All handheld computers include applications that allow you to Manage and organize appointments using calendar and datebook software. This is one of the most important handheld applications. You can enter meetings, appointments, and much more in a format analogous to a "Day-Timer" or similar book-style engagement calendar. Handheld calendar software also allows you to enter repeating events, a great way to track standing appointments, birthdays, and more. Enter notes, memos, or even random poetic musings with a memo pad application. Perform mathematical operations with a calculator. Track the things you need to do with a task list application. Manage your contacts and their information with an address book application. Besides these core applications found in some form or other on all handheld computers, most handhelds also provide a fair number of games and interesting (or useful) applications. Some of the applications ship with the device, but others must be downloaded onto it, usually when the device is attached, or "synched" to a desktop (or laptop) computer, usually via a so-called cradle that is connected using a USB connection to the desktop computer. For example, I can use my Palm PDA to track the phases of the moon and—perhaps more usefully in the San Francisco Bay Area where I live—take the BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit) schedule with me.

Handhelds and Wi-Fi With the ongoing ubiquity of Wi-Fi, it makes a great deal of sense to plan to use your handheld with Wi-Fi. If your handheld is Wi-Fi enabled, you will have the option of using it to connect on the road, in hotels, and in a wide range of places.

The Future of Wi-Fi

It's dangerous to predict the future. I'll take that chance and risk being wrong! Here's what I think is a cheap prediction.

Within 10 years, all new appliances, home electronics, and gadgets will be equipped in the factory with wireless networking, probably of a sort that meets whatever the Wi-Fi standards of the day are. This will mean that this equipment—and more, practically anything you can thing of—will be able to

• Exchange information with other devices. For example, your burglar alarm can "talk" to your smoke detector and your stove.

• Receive commands from across a network.

The benefits of these two abilities are greater than you might think. They include

• Greater automation because all kinds of machines will be better able to work with one another.

• More effective use of data because it can be shared between numerous devices.

• Better personal control of your environment using the power of your computer. You will be able to exercise this control at home using internal networks, and remotely via an Internet connection. For example, you might use Wi-Fi and an Internet connection to set the temperature in your house from your office before you come home.

As you'll see in this chapter, some of this stuff you can do right now. For example, it's easy to add a Wi-Fi receiver to your home entertainment center so that you can use your Internet connection and Wi-Fi network to stream audio and video to your amplifier and/or television.

The software and hardware that enables you to use Wi-Fi in some of these ways has yet to be manufactured. But there's a plethora of new Wi-Fi applications coming down the pike! It's clear today what some of these applications are. Others will probably be a surprise. But surprise is what to expect from Wi-Fi as a disruptive technology that has achieved many things that were never expected.

By learning now about Wi-Fi, what it is, and what it can do, you'll be ahead of the curve when new Wi-Fi applications appear.

In this chapter, I'll show you what you can do easily today. I'll also show you some things that are in the works (and which you could put together if you were a devoted hobbyist). You'll undoubtedly see commercial versions of these Wi-Fi applications in the next few years. Finally, from time to time I'll mention Wi-Fi applications that aren't really being tried yet.

Other Nifty Gadgets

There are all manners of ways that Wi-Fi can be used to make your life more fun and profitable. In the following sections, I'll show you a few of them.

Home Entertainment

I think that some time soon all home entertainment—stereos and televisions—will be equipped with Wi-Fi from the factory. We will be able to download music and movies using our computers and zap it across our Wi-Fi networks to be played.

Of course, the home entertainment devices will also be able to download content directly via Wi-Fi through the home network's router and the high-bandwidth Internet connection.

You will also be able to use your computer to control a variety of aspects of configuring your home entertainment devices, for example, a la TIVO, without having to worry about connecting wires or the physical placement of your home entertainment assets.

In the here and now, as opposed to sometime soon, you can't buy home entertainment devices equipped in this way. What you can buy is a Wi-Fi multimedia receiver that can be plugged into your stereo or television. This device allows you to stream audio or video over the Internet and play it across your Wi-Fi network on your stereo or television home entertainment systems.