TABLE OF CONTENTS I have written this introductory chapter to communicate why I am passionate about wireless Internet telecommunications. I hope this chapter will motivate you to read the rest of the book, by introducing an exciting vision of the future of communications, and starting on the road to explaining technologies to realize this vision. In this chapter, I also preview the rest of the book and explain the scope of coverage. Some of the terms introduced in this chapter may not be familiar to you, but they will be explained in due course.
Between the late 1970s and early 1990s, developments and inventions in two different areas wireless and the Internet were going on roughly at the same time, each in its own world. Especially in the 1990s, each area grew and blossomed tremendously. Second generation (2G) digital wireless personal communications phones were acquired by significant portions of the general population, becoming almost a standard personal accessory by the end of the decade. Meanwhile, the Internet also became a part of popular culture, due in large part to the success of the World Wide Web. Today, young people in their teens and twenties are among the most comfortable users of wireless and the Internet, and the next generation may be at the forefront of future advances in these areas. Consider the observation regarding contemporary college students that "they surf the Web during class, get to know their soul mates through instant messaging and talk on cell phones while biking across...
