Churchill Club Essay

Submitted By Fletcher80
Words: 1032
Pages: 5

This video is a session of the Churchill club, in which Jon Rubinstein and Paula Jacobs are interviewed about the future of wireless technology. The video is a very light hearted and quite funny. Both men have engineering degrees in electrical engineering. Paul is the CEO and chairman of Qualcomm while Jon was one of the instrumental people in designing the IPod. After the initial bios and backgrounds of the gentlemen the interviewer starts to find out their thoughts on past wireless technology. One of the men takes out there cell phone from 1998 and compares it to the smart phone that they carry today. It is quite interesting to see the comparison and the fact that while larger and slower the phone could still access some of the same information. The gentleman was able to find a sushi place in Maui, while sitting on the beach. While common place today, this is something most people would view as unheard of thirteen years ago but it was possible. The men go on to discuss many of the issues facing the tech and wireless world today. They discuss problems, and what the future might hold for the wireless world. This video really allows one to hear an insiders view on the world of technology. Both men agree that the biggest problems facing the wireless world are that bandwidth and power can not keep up with processing and functions of the mobile devices. The problem facing bandwidth is that the cellular companies are running out of room in the spectrum allotted to them by the FCC. It is estimated that the percentage of mobile data traffic generated by video will double every year until 2015 (Mack 2011). When that happens, wireless video will generate two-thirds of all mobile data traffic. The problem facing the power side is longevity of battery or power use. The more processing power or larger display a device has drains the battery life at a more rapid pace. This quicker loss of battery life is something most users do not want on their smart phones. Until some new concept or alternative power source is found this maybe one of the biggest limiting factors in wireless technology. There is currently a wireless way of charging some utilizing inductance. The only draw back with this technology is that it needs to be practically right next to the charger base. Solar power is and option for wireless power, however it is not efficient enough yet. There is a lack of panel technology and better power storage. The interviewer brings up the topic of the Star Trek tricorder device and poses the question to Jon and Paul, “How close are we to perfecting this technology in real life?” The tricorder is an indispensable tool used to scan various objects, life forms, or even the air itself to find out if it is breathable. While there is an app on smart phones that make it work like a tricorder, it has network analyzer, solar activity, it uses GPS to give exact latitude and longitude, a metal detector, but it is a long way off from being a true tricorder. The gentlemen do touch on one concept of a new medical device that is being developed. This device is able to scan a patient and find out what is medically wrong with them. The device would then escalate the person who is scanning to the correct level of care, whether it is a nurse, or a doctor, or even a specialist. While this new medical device is not technically a tricorder it does have its practical uses. It would allow under developed countries with little medical coverage access to doctors and information that could really save lives. This is probably on reason X Prize Foundation is offering a ten million dollar prize for any one who develops such a device (Anthony). This would be taking the wireless world to a whole new level. Many other devices would surely spring form this one. Just look at the IPOD and cell phone have changed other aspects of