Just walking back tonight. This home network thing really hit me. It completly transforms everything about the internet and social life. It is the difference from when you had to walk to one telephone down the street to when you got a telephone by your bed and even better its FREE.
The first point of astonishment was when Caroline came arounf the other night, she is very NON geeky so I was all ready to apologise for my hanging a computer in the kitchen (an ancient laptop with always on connection to intranet/internet, good speaker system added). When her eyes lit up and she began to get excited about its possibility, like having recipe of the day displayed where you can stand up and see it (rather than finding the computer, dialling up, searching, printing it out (no ink in printer!) and you can listen to ALL your ripped CDs couretsy of musicmatch, no bits of cooking to sick to discs. I tell you, if this is not the start of a major revolution what is.
And then tonight little Em is in her room chatting on MSN with her cousin Sam (other end of country) but equally could have being me in the kitchen! Set up the au=pairs computer in her room too, so that when her friends are around they can mess about together. Power of networks!.
So the question is . what is going to bring this to the masses? I think the answer is like the TV's in the old days. rentals! you rent the kit with your broad band connection. The 'kit' remember is a very low cost computer no computing power is needed and yes icould be a Linux box like TiVo so no Microsoft tax to pay!. Question is wether to make it 802.11 wireless or stick to cables?
Philip came around with his latest business idea, so cool to stand up and check precise definition of 'rendering' on google instantly, whilst it was streaming music.
8:34:52 PM 
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