Faster than 56K, it's comming

It's powered by a series of technologies that allow you to send and receive data at volumes and speeds far greater than the current 28.8 or 56Kbps analog modem rates.  They are generically known as "broadband" access services, and they exist at speeds of 144Kbps -- at the low end -- and above. And while their availability remains limited, they promise to catch on with gale-force speed.

Plus, even the skeptics agree: These fast Internet connections, like a hurricane, eventually could sweep away the Internet as we know it. By unclogging the pipes into the home and the office, broadband will enable a whole new generation of Internet-based services built on bandwidth-hogs such as streaming video. By offering connections that are always on -- no logging on or off -- broadband will wire workers, friends and families together more tightly than ever. Faster access will pave the way to even more highly sophisticated, feature-rich means to work, to buy, to educate and to entertain. "Broadband services ultimately changes the Internet as we know it today," says Hilary Mine, broadband analyst with Probe Research, a New Jersey firm specializing in telecommunications consulting and research. "Once broadband access services are widely available, it will stimulate development of new applications that can dramatically change how we live and work." But that's the catch -- the "widely available" caveat. Broadband services are not widely available today. Less than 1 million homes are wired for either cable modems or digital subscriber line (DSL) technology, which delivers faster access over telephone lines.

Nevertheless, so many clear indications of market demand are providing strong incentives for established telephone, cable and media companies -- as well as a new crop of small but nimble rivals -- to invest in building out the broadband infrastructure. What's more, the number of broadband users, though small, are still big enough to grab the attention of Silicon Valley software companies, whose imaginations, and applications, could fuel the demand even more. On the other side of the equation, and offering just as much allure, is what broadband can offer to its users. The places where fast access has been implemented offer a tangible glimpse at broadband's impacts and potentials. One immediate result of subscribing to a cable modem or DSL service is that it's always on. The connection is either dedicated, in the case of DSL, or shared, in the case of a cable modem. But in either case, your PC is always ready for surfing -- no need to dial up an ISP or corporate server. As a result, remote offices, home offices or casual telecommuters can be more tightly linked to data network, including video windows. Companies can carve virtual private networks out of the public Internet, creating an extended corporate net that defies geography. Adding voice to a broadband data link can be done simply. A group of startup companies, such as CopperCom of Santa Clara, Calif., Jetstream of Los Gatos, Calif., and Tollbridge Technologies of Sunnyvale, Calif., -- have launched systems that use a single DSL phone line to offer up to 16 voice lines and a high-speed data connection. AT&T and its newly acquired Tele-Communications Inc. cable operations are also aggressively moving to add voice to their cable modem offering. This is good news not just for customers but for service providers, who can charge less but make more. Video-based content also becomes much easier to access, either through video streaming technology or faster downloads to PC-based video players. In a broadband world, video will be used for e-commerce, allowing customers to see much more than the static pictures used today to view clothing, furnishings or cars.

For now, the key to this broadband future and all its marvels lies in three competing technologies, each with its own distinct advantages -- and disadvantages. The three are cable modems, DSL carried over existing copper phone lines, and wireless transmission.

Cable: Able, but beware the share
The cable industry has been the most aggressive in offering two-way broadband access. According to Kagan analyst Ellis, there will be some 1.6 million cable modem subscribers by the end of 1999, a number that will grow to 7.3 million by 2003. Some 70 cable companies are offering service in major metropolitan areas and in communities as diverse as Cookville, Tenn., and Hibbing, Minn. Cable modems are installed by cable company technicians and connect the subscribers to a network that operates the same way as the local-area networks (LANs) used to connect PCs in most workplaces. But the total amount of bandwidth -- up to 10Mbps -- is shared by all users. To date, cable operators are using proprietary modems. But that could begin to change beginning late this year, when the first modems built to an new industry negotiated standard, known as DOCSIS (Data over Cable Systems Interface Specifications), hits the market. The DOCSIS modems have a standard interface intended to work with any cable modem service. By mid-2000, DOCSIS Version 1.1 modems, the next generation of cable modems, which also have more features, may be available. One of those newer features will support different levels of service, says Ellis, which could help them penetrate lower-cost segments of the market. "Cable companies have seen a greater sensitivity to price once they've gotten past the early adopter phase of the market," she says. Cable modem service prices today vary from $29.95 to $62.95, with most falling into the $35 to $50 range. As the number of cable modem subscribers have gone up, however, so have complaints. Scott Greczkowski, a West Hartford, Conn., resident who leads a forum of users devoted to tracking @Home's service, saw his bandwidth drop from 1Mbps to below dial-up rates during peak hours. Cable modems also require additional security measures for those who want absolute certainty that as they share bandwidth they don't also share information. The final complaint against cable modems has been the fact that they're not open to service from Internet service providers other than those associated with the cable companies. The issue of open cable access is now in the federal courts, where the first round, fought in Portland, Ore., went against the cable industry.

DSL: Dedicated, if you can get it
By contrast, DSL is a direct, private connection to an ISP. But it's also much harder to get. TeleChoice Inc., the leading consulting firm tracking DSL, pegged deployment at 74,000 lines at the end of this year's first quarter. While that's double 1998's number, it still represents a fraction of total cable installments. The most aggressive deployment of DSL is aimed at small businesses. It's been spearheaded by a triumvirate of small local exchange carriers -- Covad Communications Group of Santa Clara, Calif.; NorthPoint Communications of San Francisco and RhythmsNet Connections of Englewood, Colo. They're collectively wiring dozens of cities and selling services wholesale to ISPs and other local exchange carriers. They offer symmetric DSL, meaning it runs the same speeds in both directions, and typically starts at 144,000 bits per second, and includes services at 364Kbps, 722Kbps and 1Mbps. Since many potential customers in upscale suburbs live well beyond the three-mile mark, the telephone companies and their equipment vendors are pushing to find technology solutions, some of which will be commercially deployed this summer. In addition, the newest version of DSL, cleverly named G.lite, is on its way. The new G.lite modems are designed to be installed by consumers without a visit from a telephone company technician, which could lower the cost of service dramatically. G.lite was created by an industry group that included Compaq, Intel and Microsoft, all of whom want to see faster access technologies deployed more widely to stimulate sales of more powerful PCs and advanced software.

Wireless: The clean slate advantage
But amid the heated rivalry between the telephone and cable companies, there is quietly emerging a third contender: High-speed wireless connections. They're capable of speeds up to 1Mbps. Wireless broadband actually comes in two forms. First are the fixed wireless systems, operating at 28GHz and up, that network operators are putting into place today to serve the business market. Companies such as WinStar Communications Inc.  of New York, and Teligent Inc. of Vienna, Va., install small antennas on the top of office buildings and establish a line-of-sight connection to a central base station, which is then connected to the network, usually via high-speed fiber-optic cable. The second is a new technology. It allows a single point on a network to connect to multiple antennas, creating a way to provide high-speed data -- and voice services, for that matter -- to customers without having to lease capacity from the local phone company or build out a wired network. In short, it is cheap -- and fast -- to deploy. Although late to the broadband party, wireless options could easily catch up. "If you consider the fact that there are 100 million households in the U.S., even the widely projected numbers for eight years from now show about 20 to 30 million households with cable modems or DSL," says Dan Taylor, analyst with Giotto Perspectives, a broadband analysis firm in Boston. "That's just one in five households. Wireless could be put into place very quickly and overtake those numbers."

A glimpse into a grand future
The three main technologies -- metaphorical winds from different points of the compass -- will swirl and turn for some time before they settle into a prevailing direction. Once they do, however, the possibilities are grand. Almost every city, suburb, town and village would start looking more like Canyon Gate does today. It's a new development outside Houston, where new homes are hooked to fiber-optic cable and tied into an onsite head-end system that delivers voice, data and video at multi-megabit speeds. A software application, Home Director from IBM, lets its residents control their lights, as well as their security and cooling systems, through a TV interface. And Canyon soon will not be alone. BellSouth, the big telephone company that covers the Southeast, is laying fiber-optic cable right up to the doorsteps of 400 homes in Atlanta, to test what could become its standard new network as early as 2002. Those Atlanta customers will get voice, high-speed data and a variety of digital video services over their very high-speed pipe.

What's with USB?

          What is this new you've been hearing about.  And why is everything on the Dream Computer below USB equipped?   Well first, USB stands for Universal Serial Bus.  It is a new set of two ports on the back of most computers two or less years old.  USB is a feature that was around during the prime time of Windows 95, but you'll need Windows 98 to take full advantage of these new ports becuase of the updated software drivers to run the ports.   These ports allow you to connect all kinds of wonderful new devices with none of the problems that used to come with parallel (Printer) and serial ports.  Parallel and serial ports use what are called IRQ Interrupts.  There are only a limited number of these interrupts that give the device connected to your computer their own "address".  Once you run out of ports or interrupts, you're out of luck, unless you have USB.  USB ports allow you to theoretically connect up to 127 devices to your computer.  In addition to not having the limits of interrupt addresses, USB devices are "hot swappable", meaning you can plug in and unplug these devices without turning off your computer.  When you plug in the device for the first time, Windows 98 automaticly detects the device and asks for the disk that came with the new device.  Once you insert it, the rest installs itself.  After that install, the device can be pluged and unpluged with out having to reinstall the software.
    In order to connect two or more USB devices, you need more ports.   These can be opened up by purchasing a USB hub.  These devices plug into one port and give you 4, 6, or 8, depending on what type you buy.  They also plug into an outlet to give power to the devices.  The power travels in the same cable does, so on most devices, there's no need for an extra power cable.  There are many USB devices out there including digital cameras, video confererencing cameras, speakers, game controlers, speakers, Zip Drives, as well as newer devices including printers, scanners, and even small home network devices.  But what if you already have some of those devices.  Have no fear.  There are adapters for sale by manufactures such as Belkin that alow you to connect printers and serial devices to the USB ports already on your computer, thereby freeing up those ports for other devices.  But beware, some devices or functions of devices will not work, such as All In One devices from manufactures like Brother.

AMD K6-3 Faster than Pentium III?

    If you're like most computer geeks, when you hear the name AMD, you think of low end PCs not as fast and powerful as the genuine Intel processor.  PCWorld has conducted tests that show that the new AMD K6-3 450MHz processor performed as fast an Intel Pentium III 500MHz, in business applications at least.  In multimedia and 3D graphics applications, however, the AMDs ran as much as 44% slower that the same speed Pentium III.  For business use, the AMD is one of the fastest machines you can buy, but for 3D game playing, or complex graphics and multimedia editing, you'll still want to go with the Pentium III for the best performance, eventhough it will take an extra $300 to $600 out of your pocket.

Dell Computer Corp. To Sell Linux PCs

    Last week, Dell Computer Corporation, a direct selling builder of home, network, and portable PCs, announced last week that it will sell computers with the Red Hat version of the Linux operating system.  Linux is an open source code operating system, unlike the closely guarded code of Microsoft's software.  Having an open source code means that anyone can edit the program code to make improvements and fix any bugs that are found.   In addition to fixing bugs, the updated code can be redistributed without copyright infractions.
    Dell and Red Hat said in joint statement that Red Hat's version of Linux will be installed on Power Edge servers and Precession Workstations at Dell's factory in Round Rock, Texas.  Dell will also offer Linux on Optiplex desktop PCs.

The Dream Computer

Having a dream computer isn't what it seems, trust me. In order to have a dream computer, you would have to upgrade your computer every day. With the new technologies comming out every day, upgrading would be a full time job. But if you've got all the money and time in the world, you can have a dream computer.

$200 Case: Super Tower Case With 10 Bays, 10 Expansion Slots, 400w P/S
$400 Motherboard: Quad Pentium III Xenon, 2 AGP 10 PCI, Onboard SCSI
$4000Processors: Four Pentium III Xeon Chips With 2MB Cache
$600 Memory: 1GB 100MHZ ECC SDRAM
$8000Monitors: Two 24 Inch USB LCD Flat Panel Displays

$900 Hard Drives: Two 30GB Ultra SCSI Hard Drives
$100 Floppy Drive: 120MB Floppy Drive
$200 Removable Storage: External USB Removable Cartridge DAT Drive
$200 Removable Storage: USB Zip 250 Drive
$400 Removable Storage: External USB CD-RW Drive

$300 Video Cards: Two 2D/3D AGP 32MB T.V. Tuner/Video Cards (video in, out)
$300 DVD-ROM Drive: 8x DVD, 40x CD-ROM Minimum
$100 Sound Card: 2MB Wavetable with FM Reciever
$200 Ad On Sound Card: 3D Surround Sound Card With Five Outputs
$500 Speakers: Five Piece Surround Sound System With Subwoofer
$100 Modem: Cable Modem, $50 Per Month (10mbps Ethernet Card Included)
$200 Communication: USB Video Conferencing Camera
$3000Printer: USB Color Laser With 2400dpi Output
$900 Scanner: 45-Bit Color Image Processor
$900 Digital Camera: 1280x1024 Res. With 4MB Memory
$400 Power Protection: 2 650V Uninteruptable Power Supplys
$200 Steering Wheel: Force Feedback 180 Degree Turnable With 3 Floor Pedal System(USB)
$200 Joy Stick: Force Feedback (USB)
$150 2 USB 6 Port Hubs
$23,050

Meanwhile.....My POS Gateway

My computer base is a Gateway P55-C. I bought it in July of '97. I had Gateway heavily modify it to meet what I wanted, almost.  Since I bought it, I have had the floppy drive, CDRom drive, video card and sound card replaced.   I'm not too happy with that but the the support that I got from Gateway was not too customer friendly.  If you're thinking about purchasing a Gateway computer, I suggest that you check out this site before buying.  Gateway Problems.  I don't think that I will be buying anymore Gateway systems, but instead, building my own.

Processor - Pentuim 233 W/MMX
Memory - 96MB of SDRAM
Hard Drives - 3GB Quantum(Partitioned), 515MB
CD-ROM - 16/24x
Modem - USR 56k Winmodem, V.90 (ISA)
Video Card - ATI Rage Pro Turbo 8MB (PCI)
3D Accellerator - Diamond Monster 3DII (PCI) 12MB
Sound Card - Ensonique Soundscape (PCI)
Speakers - Altec ACS-41
Subwoofer - Labtec LCS 2408
Joystick - Microsoft Force Feedback Pro
Tape Backup - Hewlett Packard T1000E
Storage - Iomega Zip Drive USB
Printer - USB Brother MFC 4550 Laser (Print, Scan, Copy, Fax)