Introduction

You ve been on an extended business trip and have spent the long hours of the flight drafting follow-up notes from your trip while connected to the airline s onboard server. After deplaning, you walk through the gate and continue into the designated public access area. Instantly, your personal area network (PAN) device, which is clipped to your belt, beeps twice announcing that it automatically has retrieved your e-mail, voice mail, and video mail. You stop to view the video mail a finance meeting and also excerpts from your children s school play.

Meanwhile, when you first walked into the public access area, your personal area network device contacted home via the Web pad on your refrigerator and posted a message to alert the family of your arrival. Your spouse will know you ll be home from the airport shortly.

You check the shuttle bus schedule from your PAN device and catch the next convenient ride to long-term parking. You also see an e-mail from your MP3 group showing the latest selections, so you download the latest MP3 play list to listen to on the way home.

As you pass through another public access area, an e-mail comes in from your spouse. The Web pad for the refrigerator inventory has noted that you re out of milk, so could you pick some up on the way home? You write your spouse back and say you will stop at the store. When you get to the car, you plug your PAN device into the car stereo input...