I have to say that wireless internet might be the most amazing new technology I’ve experienced in my life time. Just the idea that I can sit anywhere I want, and browse, shop, and download pictures, movies, and software. It’s amazing that all that information can seamlessly flow through the air to my computer just as easily as if it were plugged in. I love how the millions of tiny wifi networks are being woven together to form an all ecompassing wireless netowork. Soon, there will be no corners left untouched by the wireless internet universe. But despite the growing popularity of wireless internet, there still is a major ball and chain hanging on my wireless dreams. See no matter how many places have wireless internet we all still rely heavily on wires. I need to power up. I need to plug in. No matter how efficient they make machines, they still run out of power. I want wireless power. Just as wireless internet seemed impossible 10 years ago, so does wireless power today. How could power be delivered through the air? Could we do it without damaging living creatures (aka us and everything else)? I mean would we have to beam some pretty powerful stuff through the air to just power my cell phone? Or could we build some sort of “sail” that could capture all the radio waves that zing through the air at any given moment, and concentrate them enough to power our wireless devices. Do we really need a very powerful signal? Imagine if your device comes with a full battery charge, and you can charge it by plugging it in still, but what if it was constantly being charged by this collection of radio waves? So instead of your cell phone slowly draining power while it sat in your pocket, it would collect just enough power to either sustain battery power or even slowly charge it. I’m sure this technology for cell phones exists today, and I can’t imagine the capability to power laptops, ipods, and dvd players being that far off. But I want it now. Imagine how many millions of people would pay for wireless power. What if you could pay 10, 20, 30 a month more on your cell phone bill to have your phone charged “wirelessly?” I would definitely pay it. How many millions of travelers would pay the same amounts or more to always have power on that laptop, or ipod? I would. I’m sick of the ball and chain, I’m ready to be truly wireless.
Some very interesting links on this subject:
http://www.tfcbooks.com/articles/tac3.htm
http://earlyradiohistory.us/1912tes.htm
Life Putting 