Ha, just found an old article from 2000. I photo copied it for some reason. It was an old ” silicon alley reporter” (New York) magazine article on the future of the wireless revolution.
Needless to say, some group called Ovurn Research predicted 1.192 billion wireless subs, 322 million wireless internet users, and 373 million mobile ecommerce buyers. The article goes on and on about WAP and buying stocks from your phone.
All of this did not turn out, of course. I think cellular is cool, but the reality is that SMS messaging to friends is a Europe thing. I think they do it just because it is cheaper than calling, so the user base adapted and learned how to do it.
Will there be some good new uses for wireless. Sure. Will we all be buying ring-tones, or videos to watch on a sub 1″ screen, or sending emails. Probably not. The form factor doesn’t match.